For my Final Project I am interested in focusing on Syrian refugees. Right now I am mostly leaning towards looking at educational attainment and the difficulties of it. I know there is always a discussion of forced migration and its effect on educational attainment. From what I have seen in my research it can be quite difficult for Syrian refugees to adapt once in Germany. I think over the entire course of education from grammar school all throughout higher education there is a struggle for people. I think I would particularly focus on from the age around 12 and up. This is because children born in the 2010s are at the age to have been apart of the crisis as well and be entering into their teenage years in the coming years. There is however particular interest in Syrians aged 15–24 “whose higher education, professional development, and technical training has been disrupted as a result of the violence and general deterioration of Syria’s high schools, its public and private universities,”. This is starting even before they were refugees in Germany. We can then add in the burden of having to learn a completely new language and even having to repeat grades. In the courses Syrian refugees are put into they often don’t focus on math and sciences which arguably in this day and age is very important to many careers. In higher education there is no distinction between an asylum seeker or refugee and an international student. For the sake of equality this is not exactly an honest representation of their experiences. I think also adding in the trauma and stress that can impact performance and ambition I think this is a worthwhile pursuit. I think speaking to students across the specified age demographic would be helpful. Also maybe talking to school officials in places that particularly have Syrian populations would be enlightening about how Germany accepts Syrian children. Additionally maybe looking into the mental health aspect would be enlightening or resources to help.
I think that this could be a part of the greater discussion of the German integration regime. My thesis is focusing on Post-interment social mobility of Japanese Americans. This involves the discussion of assimilation ideas of Japanese Americans and opportunity and the imagined social structures that Japanese people were expected to uphold. I think education and citizenship play a role in Germany seeing Syrians as a part of their country. Right now Syrians make up almost 1% of the German population. It would maybe suggest that Germany’s policy of integration over multiculturalism obscures the needs of Syrian refugees in order to actually succeed successfully in Germany. As I did research it showed that some Syrian refugees that desired higher education instead took up apprenticeships because there were so many barriers to education. I think talking to immigration lawyers in Germany or even policy makers around the crisis might be enlightening to my final project endeavors. This might be a bit expansive right now but I think starting big might allow me to hone the final topic.
