Congratulations to Dr Haya Fakoush for successfully defending her PhD thesis which focussed on the education of resettled young Syrian refugees in England and the figured world of mobility.
Haya was supervised during her research by Professors Jo McIntyre and Volker Wedekind. Her examiners were Professor Juliet Thondhlana from the University of Nottingham and Dr Sinikka Neuhaus from Lund University in Sweden.
Examiners' report
The examiners' joint report included positive comments such as:
"As an examiner I would argue that this study is worthy of publication as a whole".
"In a convincing way Fakoush’s thesis expands our understanding of education of resettled young Syrian refugees in England and the figured world of mobility. The study gives insights vital for refugee education and as a reader you actually learn something new. I hope that this thesis will be read by a wide circle of refugee educators and policy makers since here are aspects worth understanding and trying out in different educational contexts."
"This study could be seen as making a significant contribution to the growth of this important field both in terms of research and practice."
More about Haya and her PhD journey
Haya says:
"Since March 2022, I have been working at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), for the School of Social Sciences think tank Nottingham Civic Exchange as a Knowledge Exchange and Impact Officer.
Recently, and in collaboration with a former University of Nottingham PhD student – Joyceline Alla-Mensah, we secured a consultancy project with UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for TVET, researching the inclusion of migrants and refugees in TVET in the Arab States. This report will be published early 2024.
I am also working on a book chapter with one of my colleagues at NTU, Richard Machin. The chapter will explore the intersectionality among the recent resettlement policies in the United Kingdom, focusing on the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS), the Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) Welcome Programme, and Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Throughout the years, I have had many rejections for jobs, conferences, and funding opportunities. The most recent one was for a bid I had to work on and submit one day after my viva. It doesn’t get easier; we just get better at bouncing back.
This PhD is part of my journey; it was never the journey itself. All the extra opportunities I was granted because of it and beyond it made my thesis what it is today. Every engagement I had with my students, friends, family, colleagues, supervisors, and other members of the academic community taught me as much as the literature did. Take the extra mile for those around you, go to that seminar, apply for that internship and it will all be worth it one day even if it takes longer than you would hope for."
Posted on Monday 25th September 2023