Refugees' gendered experiences of education in Europe since 2015: A scoping review

Hunt, Lucy; Aleghfeli, Yousef Khalifa; McIntyre, Joanna; Stone, Chris

Abstract

This scoping review aims to explore the role of gender in refugees' educational access, experiences, and outcomes in Europe since 2015. Gender can act as a significant barrier to education, and gender stereotypes and bias can affect learning opportunities and outcomes. As a response, a scoping review was conducted to explore the role of gender in refugees' educational access, experiences, and outcomes in Europe since 2015. This review follows a systematic process of reviewing and synthesising texts compiled in the Hub for Education for Refugees in Europe (HERE) Knowledge Base to fill the gaps in knowledge about gender-related post-migration experiences of refugees and displaced individuals who have arrived in Europe. The review includes studies that focus on educational services for refugees in Europe and uses a meta-ethnographic synthesis approach to data analysis and synthesis. Using a socio-ecological framework, it was found that at the individual level, access and progression were shaped by previous educational attainment, health issues, survival tactics and future aspirations; at the micro-level, by relationships with family, educators and peers; at the meso-level, by public perceptions of refugee learners and home-school interactions; and at the macro-level, by administrative barriers, the asylum system, socio-economic factors and the tailored opportunities and community support available. The majority of the studies referred to the experiences of women and girls.

Citation

Hunt, L., Aleghfeli, Y. K., McIntyre, J., & Stone, C. (2023). Refugees' gendered experiences of education in Europe since 2015: A scoping review. Review of Education, 11(3), Article e3441. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3441

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 3, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Nov 27, 2023
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Nov 6, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 28, 2025
• Journal: Review of Education
• Electronic ISSN: 2049-6613
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 3
• Article Number: e3441
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3441
• Keywords: refugee education; forced migrant education; gender; Europe; scoping review
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/27073626
• Publisher URL: https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rev3.3441