Beyond Resilience: Barriers and Pathways in Higher Education for Double First-Gen Myanmar Refugee-Background Youth

Between 2008 and 2013, a hundred thousand refugees fleeing Burma/Myanmar’s civil war resettled in the US. In this qualitative study, we interview 15 1.5-generation Myanmar refugee-background high school graduates to understand their access to higher education (HE). Using a critical grounded theory approach, we ask what supports families, communities, and educational institutions provided (or not). We coin the term “double first-gen” to describe first-generation immigrants and college students. By analyzing family, community, and institutional factors, we move beyond theories of individual psychological “resilience” by interviewing participants who thrived and struggled in HE. We conclude that K-12 schools offer varying levels of support; that parents provide financial and emotional, but not usually academic support; that oldest siblings and those from single wage-earner families face higher barriers; that racially and socio-economically diverse communities or concentrations of Myanmar refugees are advantageous; that Myanmar refugee-background youth are less likely to ask for help than US-born peers; and that HEIs could offer a stronger sense of belonging to this population. We also discuss participants’ identity tensions, including varying definitions of success and responsibility, and US perceptions of refugees versus their lived experiences. We suggest how K-12 schools can construct pipelines to college and career that HEIs extend: create diverse, safe, and welcoming schools; offer college-prep, mentoring, and peer support starting in middle school; and hire college-level faculty and support staff who are first-gen and/or immigrants. These supports may also help refugee-background youth from other countries.