Wolfgram is an anthropologist of education and a senior researcher at the CCWT, housed within the School of Education’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Vang also works with the CCWT, as an undergraduate research assistant.

This WisContext article explores the difficulty refugees face when it comes to education. While many refugees who come to the U.S. have dreams of receiving their degrees and achieving professional post-graduation employment, the reality often is, according to resettlement providers interviewed, that they are expected and pushed to get a job as soon as possible.

However, some refugees do arrive in Wisconsin with college credentials. The only problem is recognition of those credentials. Many refugees also face barriers to education in terms poverty and lack of affordable housing.

These barriers are the focus of Wolfgram and Vang from CCWT, who are dedicated to investigating the barriers and pathways to college success for refugees within Wisconsin. This work has included interviewing not only resettlement providers and educators, but also working with refugee communities across the state.

One barrier this team has noted is the narrowly defined goal of ‘self-sufficiency’ for refugees which thwart and complicate educational goals. Research suggests that a more robust resettlement and social services support system can help facilitate access to higher education.

The full report is available on this WisContext.org web page.

• Wolfgram was also recently interviewed about this topic by Wisconsin Public Radio for a segment called, “Why We Should Focus More On Refugees’ Goals In Higher Education.” Visit this WPR.org web page to listen to the segment.