Beyond the Curtains—Global Refugee Crisis and Gaps in Graduate Enrollment: Exploring Challenges and Possibilities

Abstract

Although the global refugee crisis has gained some attention in global political and social policy discourses, it has not captured similar attention in the higher education sector. This chapter examines and provides insight to the current practice and challenges faced by enrollment management leaders in reaching out and recruiting students for graduate study from war-torn regions of the world which includes Syria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Sudan. The findings highlight what current practices of higher education institutions reflect about their values and leadership approaches. Using snowball sampling and semi-structured interview protocol, enrollment management personnel including administrators, staff, and faculty mentors, the chapter presents new insights on the challenges faced by institutional leaders and graduate enrollment management personnel in reaching out to students from war-torn regions is offered in this study. Then it discusses a few important strategies for accomplishing the task of reaching out to these displaced, refugee students and enrolling them in graduate studies. Our argument is that from a humanitarian and social justice perspective, universities can and should help qualified refugee and displaced students to attain access to higher education, but in order to do so, they need bolder moves and stronger visions at institutional levels that transcend political, economic and social challenges.