The Lived Experience of Burmese Refugee Students in Higher Education

Background and Purpose: This study explored the lived experiences of Burmese refugee college students’ resettlement to represent and understand their experience in the host country. Only around 5 % of refugees globally have enrolled in higher education (UNHCR, 2021). This study aimed to learn from this distinct group of refugees who are pursuing higher education. Many studies about refugees focus on mental health and trauma. This tendency may limit refugees to being passive during the resettlement period. Targeting refugees’ mental health in research and among service providers was criticized because it may pathologize refugees. Moreover, studies about refugee students in higher education mostly highlighted their academic success or mental health. Instead of concentrating on the student’s educational outcomes or mental health or trauma, this study explored uncovering refugee students’ voices by spotlighting their lives in the United States.

Methods Thirty-two in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with Burmese refugee students in higher education. Most of the participants (84%) were female. Their ages ranged from 19 to 26, with an average age of 21. Twenty-five of the students had been in the U.S. for over a decade, arriving at an average age of 9.5. The majority (90%) were undergraduates. Only two of the 32 participants' parents graduated from college, and both were fathers, not mothers. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the narrative data which was transcribed verbatim.

Results: Findings indicated that the participants’ challenges and needs during resettlement. The differences in language and culture were uncovered as the primary challenges during the resettlement period. Experiences of racial discrimination were also identified as one of the main challenges to refugee students. Burmese refugee students’ resettlement needs are associated with the challenges they face learning English, a welcome place to feel a sense of belongingness, and lack of transportation. Refugee students actively cultivated their lives and showed aspirations of being successful members of this new environment. Even though they faced many challenges and needs identified through interviews, the participants overcame these barriers including a different culture and language, and prosper in their lives in the host country.

Additionally, most of the participants shared that not attending college meant shame for their parents within their ethnic community. They were expected by their own ethnic communities to show successful outcomes and to be role models. Failure to enter college negatively affects the family’s prestige in the community. Most of the participants are first-generation college students. Through interviews, it was observed how the Burmese refugee community's aspirations for education are high and they see the importance of education as an avenue of upward mobility for their children and their family.

Conclusions and Implications: This study will be a foundation to enhance the importance of studying refugees’ resettlement experiences to seek their social and emotional well-being in the host country. Implications for further areas of social work practice and policies to improve the success of Burmese refugee students' resettlement are discussed.