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CMU professor helps expand education access for displaced people
Stephanie Stobbe, Professor of Business and Conflict Resolution Studies at CMU, is co-leading a $2.5-million national research project aimed at expanding access to education, research, and employment opportunities for people with lived experience of forced migration.
Stephanie Stobbe, Professor of Business and Conflict Resolution Studies at CMU, is helping lead a major seven-year-long research initiative focused on equitable access to education for displaced people.
The project, titled "Equitable Opportunities for Research and Tertiary Education for People with Lived Experiences of Displacement," recently received $2.5 million in funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
This support will broaden opportunities for people in Canada with lived experience of forced migration to pursue postsecondary education, engage in research, and build careers.
This is a partnership grant, meaning Stobbe will be working alongside 13 universities, institutions, and community-based organizations, including the University of Ottawa and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, to conduct and distribute the research.
"I think this project is highly innovative and what we want to do is really to contribute to research and transformation of displaced and marginalized individuals, and as far as we know, there's no partnership like this in Canada right now," says Stobbe.
Supported by the funding, the project will enable the pan-national team to provide hands-on research, mentorship, and training opportunities to over 700 individuals–including undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral scholars–who have lived experience of forced migration.
"The end goal for us is to look at institutionalized change, systemic intentional policies and initiatives so that we can provide equitable access, right to education and to the workforce for those who have been forcibly displaced."
Stobbe will examine existing initiatives for displaced students and researchers in Canada and contribute to a team creating a national open-access database of programs for displaced academics living in Canada.
Stobbe will also use her experience as the curator for the Hearts of Freedom project–a multi-media travelling exhibition that documented the stories and experiences of Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian refugees who came to Canada between 1975 and 1985–to direct and organize a similar showcase at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Stobbe also received the King Charles III's Coronation Medal for her work on the Hearts of Freedom project.
Because participants are themselves displaced people, Stobbe says this project will be centred around amplifying the talents of displaced students and researchers.
"The people with lived experience will bring unique perspectives, unique experiences, and unique skills. So, we want to look at how we can enrich teaching, research and labour markets by working with people with displaced experiences."
Stobbe has been working as the president of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, a community of scholars dedicated to advancing and sharing refugee and forced migration research. Experience that will undoubtedly aid in implementing and organizing community-based research placements for this project.
"In terms of what we're looking at, there are systemic barriers and challenges in Canada's education and labour markets for displaced people," Stobbe says.
"There is also institutionalized racism and anti-immigrant bias in hiring, and so we want to be looking at all of this, and we are hoping that we will be able to help displaced students and researchers with opportunities to be successful here in Canada in terms of employment and education."
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