Completing a PhD is hard for aspiring academics, let alone those from refugee backgrounds but Abang Othow, who only had six years of formal schooling in Sudan, is determined to get it done.
The 42-year-old high school teacher in Western Sydney came to Australia about 25 years ago after her father was killed in the protracted civil war and she became separated from her mother and siblings when she was just five, surviving in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya by herself.
Arriving alone as a teenager on a humanitarian visa, she quickly learnt English, graduated from TAFE and then acquired a bachelor's degree followed by a master's.
She wanted to build on her string of achievements a couple of years ago by pursuing a doctorate at the University of New South Wales but felt the goal posts kept shifting.
"I did a master's in accelerated mode as a single mum with a one-month-old baby. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It was so hard" she told AAP.
"But I was being asked to do another certificate that would have cost me a lot of money - around $20,000 and and take more years before I was eligible."
"It's very, very bureaucratic the amount of paperwork," she said.
"I am good at reading and writing ... I've helped so many people fill in applications to try to get into TAFE and university ... so imagine someone who's just trying to understand the paperwork without my background."
In June, the university launched the Justice Inclusion Access (JINA) program to understand the higher education and career development challenges of women from forced migration backgrounds such as Ms Othow, to make it easier to pursue academic qualifications.
"The first step for universities is to acknowledge and recognise women students from forced migration backgrounds as a separate cohort with particular challenges that require tailored solutions," said JINA researcher and PhD candidate Sherine Al Shallah.
With the government looking to cap the number of international students to drastically reduce its migration intake, there has been push back from several sectors on how the lucrative industry would affect the economy.
International education contributes about $36.4 billion to the Australian economy and has been a lightning rod for policy debates on migration and housing.
In a June report, the NSW auditor-general found the state's universities earned nearly twice as much from an overseas student (over $41,000) compared to a domestic student (about $23,000).
Refugee students on temporary visas are classified as international students and end up paying exorbitant fees.
Ms Al Shallah, who has two decades of experience in policy roles and is affiliated with the university's Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, said institutions can work on getting rid of silos that often baffle students.
"Forced migrant students feel that they are being ungrateful and asking for too much if they ask for additional assistance in higher education after being offered a resettlement opportunity," she explained.
Ms Othow, a public speaker and Refugee Council ambassador, said support is needed from academic institutions to recognise how many qualified people with experience are turned off pursuing a career in academia by cumbersome processes.
"I'm not saying to reduce the quality but to make it less complicated," she explained.
"Keep it simple, keep it clear, and still you can keep it high quality."
