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As higher education becomes increasingly globalized, institutions face growing pressure to serve diverse student populations, including those from refugee, ethnic minority, and first-generation backgrounds. Among these, Somali Bantu students—a historically marginalized ethnic group from Somalia—encounter layered barriers in higher education, shaped by institutional invisibility and racialized refugee status. Despite being part of broader discourses on refugee student experiences, their unique positionality remains largely overlooked. Drawing on data from a larger qualitative study, this study offers a focused phenomenological analysis of seven Somali Bantu students attending predominantly white institutions in the U.S. Guided by Anzaldúa’s Borderlands Theory and using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), it explores how they navigate intersecting identities—ethnic, racial, religious, refugee, and first-generation—within academic environments. Findings reveal a pervasive theme of ethnic invisibility, unfolding across three dimensions: the homogenization of Somali identity, institutional unawareness of Somali Bantu presence, and the overshadowing of ethnic identity by religious identity. These layers of invisibility produced deep feelings of isolation and marginalization, impacting their sense of belonging and persistence. By centering their lived realities, this study contributes to decolonial, diasporic, and refugee-centered discourses in higher education, calling for more nuanced institutional responses that affirm African refugee identities and foster academic inclusion.
Lul M. Baba (Fri,) studied this question.