Creating alternate futures through higher education: the refugee mentoring program

The transition from high school to university can be challenging and demanding for both young people and their families when even the most supportive conditions exist. For young people who have been through the refugee process, it can be particularly fraught for a number of reasons. These may include, e.g., challenges associated with the development of language competence, coping with posttraumatic stress disorder and its various manifestations, and dealing with significant differences in cultural expectations between family and school. In this chapter we present a case study of a university/school collaborative mentoring program that targeted young people from refugee backgrounds in Western Sydney, Australia. Issues associated with development and implementation of the program are presented and discussed, along with evaluative data on program effectiveness.