The PhD graduate giving a voice to refugee women through research

She came to Australia from Iran as an international student in 2014 and moved to Newcastle with her husband in 2018.

Now having graduated with a PhD in Education from the University of Newcastle, she hopes to implement change with it for Middle Eastern refugee mothers.

"It has been my passion for all my life to pursue my Education PhD," the Elermore Vale resident said.

Prior to pursuing her PhD in 2020, Ms Ardakani was working in a multicultural centre as an interpreter and educator for refugee families and that's where she acknowledged there was a problem.

"I was thinking about - based on my previous studies - this topic of forced migration. Through my work I found the gaps in practice and then the idea of this as a proposal for my PhD was created," she said.

Through her research, Ms Ardakani found mothers from countries like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan experienced a major challenge in language barriers when adopting to Australian society.

"I spoke to 21 mothers living in the Newcastle region and explored their challenges and experiences prior to coming to Australia and then the challenges they had when arriving," she said.

She said they struggled in learning English, finding housing and communicating their children to school which all led to mental health issues and isolation.

"It's not as simple for them as going to an English language class because for many of these women learning is actually very difficult," she said.

"They are illiterate in their first language so it was a big challenge to learn a second language when they don't know reading and writing in their first."

She said through her research she wants to give a voice to women and mothers who are marginalised in their own countries and also in settlement countries.

"Nobody hears their stories and nobody knows some of them are really isolated in their homes. They do not have any friends. They do not have any families here because of forced migration.

"This is something that people need to hear and I had recommendations in my thesis for English language college, college trainers and support services and policy makers - to help these women," she said.

Ms Ardakani said she was aware of the supportive community in Newcastle and encouraged people to be kind and patient to refugee women.

"If you have time, volunteer your time for these women, have a coffee with them, talk to them, even if they don't understand English they will at some point, because it's important they feel your kindness. That helps keep them going."