The creation of a social design campaign that supports refugee high school students in thinking big about their futures and navigating a complex tertiary education system.
Problem Statement
Western Sydney University has one of the largest numbers of refugee students attending their university across New South Wales (approx. 500 students), and yet only 1% of the total number of students attending the university are from refugee backgrounds.
Research
The purpose of my research was to determine what barriers prevented these students from attending university. To understand the problem, I conducted interviews with relevant key stakeholders including:
1. Deputy CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia
2. Young refugees in the community who had been through the high school system and were now studying at Western Sydney University.
3. Program officers at Western Sydney University to understand the current outreach programs offered to refugee high school students.
I created two user personas to understand my target audiences better.
Mentor User Persona
Mentee User Persona
Concept Development
The top insights I gained from my research were:
1. Western Sydney University does not currently offer any programs between refugee tertiary students and high school students. All communication is currently on a staff-to-student basis.
2. Refugee high school students faced several barriers when attempting to enrol in universities, including a lack of clarity about the process of getting into university (students were unaware that alternative paths existed), trauma, and language barriers.
I then conceptualised the problem space through the below framework and conducted brainstorming through the lotus bloom technique, to map out potential solutions.
Conceptualising my approach to navigating the problem.
Using the lotus bloom technique to brainstorm potential ways to navigate this space. The yellow circles indicate ideas pursued.
The Solution
I devised a mentoring program that would bring refugee high school students (mentees) together with refugee tertiary students (mentors). The program covers a six-week curriculum that covers:
- Addressing perceived barriers to entry and understanding the alternative pathways to university
- Navigating the university handbook to understand the courses and subjects offered
- How to apply for scholarships to help ease the financial burden of university
- Exercises to help deal with trauma including 'art as therapy' and exploring wellbeing techniques.
My mentoring program concludes with an event day on campus. This allows the high school students and their parents a chance to celebrate completing the program as well as the opportunity to speak to university staff to clarify any further questions.
Visual Outcome
My visual outcome was created using my own photography, sketches, and typography. It included the following touchpoints:
1. A Mentor and Mentee Manual that the students could use to navigate across the six weeks.
2. Posters to garner the attention of potential mentors and mentees.
3. A style guide that can be used by Western Sydney University staff to implement the program.
4. Social media videos to engage with the younger demographic and build interest in participating in the program.
5. A website to provide authenticity to the brand and allow parents, teachers and principals to navigate through questions about the program.
An excerpt from the Mentor Mentee Manual.
Posters seeking mentees and mentors to join the program.
An excerpt from the Style Guide.
Social media video.
Static homepage design.
A look through the website functionality.