Unpacking Networks in Forced Displacement and Education

Over 123 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide, yet safe and regulated migration routes remain scarce. Education Pathways (EPs)—legal migration channels that enable refugees to enrol in higher education—are expanding under global initiatives such as the 15by30 pledge, but research remains fragmented, narrow, and largely descriptive. Little is known about how refugees mobilise social networks across the migration journey, or how identity factors and governance regimes shape their access to EPs.UNPACK-NET addresses these gaps by examining how networks enable or constrain refugee participation in EPs in the United Kingdom and Australia, two countries with robust higher education systems and contrasting policy approaches. The project integrates social capital theory, multilayer network analysis, and intersectionality to capture how relationships, resources, and power dynamics operate across pre-, post-, and transnational phases of displacement.Using a participatory, mixed-methods design—combining social network mapping, interviews, focus groups, and surveys—UNPACK-NET will deliver the first comparative, transnational study of EPs. Outputs include an open-access toolkit for participatory Social Network Analysis and policy-relevant recommendations for ethical and inclusive expansion of EPs.Hosted by the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Birmingham, with a secondment at ICMC/SHARE Network, the fellowship will strengthen the researcher’s expertise in socio-legal and participatory methods, foster knowledge exchange with global scholars and practitioners, and inform EU and international agendas on migration, education, and inclusion. The project contributes directly to Sustainable Development Goals 4.3 and 10.7 and to Horizon Europe priorities on inclusive societies.