Refugee Access to Higher Education in Canada

Principal Investigator: Dr. Sofia Noori, Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy, University of British Columbia. Ph. 604–822–4808; Email: sofia.noori@ubc.ca

Name of the study: Refugee Access to Higher Education in Canada: A Case St

Introduction: You are invited to participate in a research study to investigate the obstacles in accessing higher education for newcomer Afghans in British Columbia (BC). The aim of this project is to find out what these barriers are through surveys and focus groups. We hope to provide insights and recommendations for enhancing Afghan refugee access to higher education in Canada, with a focus on BC. The study will also provide data regarding public education and community- based support services and resources available to these newcomers in their journeys towards post-secondary education. 

Procedures: If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to complete an online survey and participate in a focus group discussion. The survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete and will ask about your experiences applying, enrolling, and completing post-secondary schooling. If you wish to participate in the second part of the study, the focus group, please indicate your interest in this at the end of the survey. The focus group will focus on successful applications, enrolment and completion of higher education.

Participating in the focus group discussion is optional. It will last approximately 60-90 minutes and will be conducted in person at one of the community organization sites. The focus group will provide an opportunity to discuss your experiences and insights in more detail. Focus groups will be audio recorded for transcription purposes. The facilitator will inform you when the recorder has been activated. You may withdraw from this study at any time if you no longer wish to participate. 

Funding: Funding for this research will be provided by the J.H.M and D.D. Andrews Research and Development Award.

Risks and Benefits: There are no foreseeable risks associated with participating in this study. However, you may feel uncomfortable or upset when discussing your personal schooling experiences. To minimize the risk of discomfort, the focus group will be conducted in a supportive and confidential environment. The direct benefits to you for participating in this study is that you may learn about interesting and important educational resources from peers at the focus group. Your participation will help to improve the public educational support and services provided to refugee students in Canadian schools so they can achieve higher education.

Confidentiality: Your confidentiality will be respected. First, the audio records will be transcribed immediately and stored in a locked file cabinet at UBC. Your real name will never appear in conjunction with your personal information; in transcriptions and publications, only pseudonyms will be used. All electronic data will be encrypted and stored on a password protected and encrypted computer.  If you decide to withdraw from the study either during or after the interview your data will not be used in the data analysis and any transcribed data will be deleted. Once you have submitted the survey, that data cannot be withdrawn, as it is kept confidential and anonymized. 

We encourage participants not to disclose personal information discussed within the focus group context. Also, we discourage discussing anything shared from the focus group with anyone outside the zoom session. We cannot control what the participants will do with information disclosed in the focus group. Thus, if you decide to click “I agree” on this form, you will also agree not to reveal personal information discussed during the session.

Voluntary Participation: Participation in this study is completely voluntary. You may choose not to participate or withdraw at any time without penalty. If you decide not to participate, you will not be penalized in any way. If you decide to participate, you may choose not to answer any questions that make you uncomfortable. Individuals who participate in the focus group will have transportation fares paid for and a $50 visa gift card given at the end of the focus group as a gesture of thanks.

Protection of Data: The data collected (audio records and transcripts) will be kept in a secure place. All audio files of the interviews will be transcribed within a week of the interview being conducted; at which time the audio files will be destroyed by erasure from VeraCrypt which cannot be retrieved. All data will be stored in password-protected on a desktop in a locked UBC office. Only the principal researcher will have access to the data. Any printed data needed for analysis would be anonymized and then be shredded after five years.

Knowledge Mobilization: The aim of this study is to publish a report of recommendations to the participating community organizations, educators and public education officers (secondary guidance counselors and administrators; post-secondary admissions and registrations offices, etc.), and the faculty of education that is developing a refugee education program at UBC. The results will be disseminated in the report. The report will be available publicly on the Safi Association for Humanity website. Participants names or identifiable will NOT be published. Relevant data may also be published in journal articles and books. We will use pseudonyms, and the data will be de-identified.

Note that the data collected for this study may be made publicly available to other researchers. This is a part of open access, which is when data is made freely available on the Internet for anyone to download, modify, and distribute without any restrictions. If the data is made publicly available, it will be stored on Abacus, a repository for open data that is hosted by UBC library sources. Any data that is made publicly available will have all identifiers removed. That is, your personal information will not be linked to the data in any manner. Once survey responses are submitted, you will not be able to withdraw your data.

Contact Information: If you have any questions or concerns about this study, please contact Sofia Noori at sofia.noori@ubc.ca. If you have any concerns or complaints about your rights as a research participant and/or your experiences while participating in this study, contact the Research Participant Complaint Line in the UBC Office of Research Ethics at 604-822-8598 or if long distance e-mail RSIL@ors.ubc.ca or call toll free 1-877-822-8598. Ethics ID# H24-01395