Research Opportunity

As of 2015 there were 21.3 million refugees worldwide, and on average 33,972 people are forced to flee their homes every day (UNHCR). While we are experiencing a global refugee crisis, the political climate in the United States (US) is currently in transition towards less friendly refugee policy, including suspended admittance and increased vetting of refugees (Executive Order, 2017). In our current political climate it is more important than ever to learn from refugees’ experiences.

Higher education may offer refugees a route to economic advancement and improved quality of life in countries of resettlement. It also benefits society in the long-term, as community education has wide-reaching implications. Yet, few refugees attend and graduate from college. There is limited research on refugees in higher education and on what factors can influence the nature of refugee students’ experiences and successes in college.

This is your opportunity to help address this question! Emily Bray, a graduate student in the Community and Prevention Research Program in the Psychology Department, is conducting a research study to investigate the experiences of refugee background undergraduate students.

You are eligible to participate if you:

• Are an undergraduate student at a college or university in Chicago
• Are at least 18-years-old
• Were born outside of the US
• Left your home country because of persecution, war, or violence (legal status not important)
• Fluent English speaker

Participants will be asked to participate in one audio-recorded interview (taking 1-2 hours).

Participants will receive $25 as compensation for their time.

Participants are also invited to continue on in the research process with Emily to offer feedback and to work with Emily to share the results from the study and help make beneficial change for other students.

If interested, please contact Emily at StudentSuccessUIC@gmail.com or text/call (872) 228- 6392 for more information or to see if you are eligible to participate. Eligible students will be interviewed on a first come first serve basis, as only a maximum of 25 students will be able to participate in this study.

For more information, please contact:
Emily Bray
ebray3@uic.edu
StudentSuccessUIC@gmail.com