Syrian students in Turkish higher education: A systematic review and thematic synthesis

A large scholarly literature now exists concerning displaced Syrian students in the Turkish higher education system. This literature is multilingual, thematically diverse, and dispersed across several disciplines. No systematic review of this literature has been undertaken to date, and there is ther...

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Main Author: Tom Parkinson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:International Journal of Educational Research Open
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666374024000980
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author Tom Parkinson
author_facet Tom Parkinson
author_sort Tom Parkinson
collection DOAJ
description A large scholarly literature now exists concerning displaced Syrian students in the Turkish higher education system. This literature is multilingual, thematically diverse, and dispersed across several disciplines. No systematic review of this literature has been undertaken to date, and there is therefore a need for corpus-level work to summarise its characteristics and synthesise its key concerns and themes. Following a hybrid approach incorporating scoping review and thematic synthesis, this article summarises the state of this literature, before synthesising its key themes and debates, highlighting points of consensus and contradiction, and identifying limitations and gaps to inform further research in the field. The review reveals a broad range of rich, intersecting themes, but also identifies limitations including a lack of developed theory, a reliance on a limited range of qualitative methodologies, limited geographical coverage, and the absence of longitudinal and intervention-based studies. Addressing these limitations in future work will strengthen the interface between academic research and evidence-informed policy and practice to support refugee students.
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spelling doaj-art-97da52cdad2f4251a31cbd926b2c180a2025-08-20T03:00:32ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Educational Research Open2666-37402025-06-01810041610.1016/j.ijedro.2024.100416Syrian students in Turkish higher education: A systematic review and thematic synthesisTom Parkinson0Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NZ, United KingdomA large scholarly literature now exists concerning displaced Syrian students in the Turkish higher education system. This literature is multilingual, thematically diverse, and dispersed across several disciplines. No systematic review of this literature has been undertaken to date, and there is therefore a need for corpus-level work to summarise its characteristics and synthesise its key concerns and themes. Following a hybrid approach incorporating scoping review and thematic synthesis, this article summarises the state of this literature, before synthesising its key themes and debates, highlighting points of consensus and contradiction, and identifying limitations and gaps to inform further research in the field. The review reveals a broad range of rich, intersecting themes, but also identifies limitations including a lack of developed theory, a reliance on a limited range of qualitative methodologies, limited geographical coverage, and the absence of longitudinal and intervention-based studies. Addressing these limitations in future work will strengthen the interface between academic research and evidence-informed policy and practice to support refugee students.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666374024000980TurkeySyrian studentsHigher educationRefugee educationInclusionForced internationalisation
spellingShingle Tom Parkinson
Syrian students in Turkish higher education: A systematic review and thematic synthesis
International Journal of Educational Research Open
Turkey
Syrian students
Higher education
Refugee education
Inclusion
Forced internationalisation
title Syrian students in Turkish higher education: A systematic review and thematic synthesis
title_full Syrian students in Turkish higher education: A systematic review and thematic synthesis
title_fullStr Syrian students in Turkish higher education: A systematic review and thematic synthesis
title_full_unstemmed Syrian students in Turkish higher education: A systematic review and thematic synthesis
title_short Syrian students in Turkish higher education: A systematic review and thematic synthesis
title_sort syrian students in turkish higher education a systematic review and thematic synthesis
topic Turkey
Syrian students
Higher education
Refugee education
Inclusion
Forced internationalisation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666374024000980
work_keys_str_mv AT tomparkinson syrianstudentsinturkishhighereducationasystematicreviewandthematicsynthesis