Conference Agenda

The epistemological, social and policy implications of the concept of lifelong learning have been widely scrutinized and recognized over the last twenty years (Field, Schmidt-Hertha, and Waxenegger 2015; Jarvis 2011; Maruyama 2020; Oliver 2020). Lifelong learning has been on policy agenda of the European Union for decades. In this perspective, the principles of human dignity, autonomy, active citizenship, personal self-attainment, social inclusion and employability linked to the lifelong learning have represented a strategic lever for the economic growth, the social stability and the redress of structural inequalities of racially minorized target of people (Knight 2008).

The differencing conceptualizations of lifelong learning (included the identification of the non-formal and informal learning) have led to a wide variety of validation and recognition practices for different target groups across the European area. At the same time, it is somewhat unclear which factors facilitate or inhibit the implementation of these processes. An aspect that has become more urgent due to the new immigration waves, as well as the recent spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Amidst growing concerns and unprecedented events, the pandemic significantly reduced learning opportunities for the most fragile and disadvantaged people, like migrants and refugees and clearly showed the inefficacy of existing practices in the university context (Thomas and Arday 2021).

While the literature includes a wide range of definitions of lifelong learning, as well as different practices of recognition and valorization of prior and informal learning each having different strategies for using evidence of learning, limited is a sound scientific evidence that these practices have a positive effect on target groups of individuals. The existing body of literature on recognition of migrants’ and refugees’ learning (i.e., qualifications and/or competencies elsewhere acquired) is generally considered extensive in terms of principles and practices (UNESCO 2019). However, despite the policy recognition of the importance of recognition practices, it has to be noted that this broad field of research shows scant effects (or sometimes ineffective implementations) in the European higher education contexts. If on the one hand, The Lisbon Recognition Convention states that all countries should develop procedures to assess whether refugees and displaced persons fulfill the relevant requirements for access to higher education or to employment activities, even in cases in which the qualifications cannot be proven through documentary evidence; on the other hand, higher education institutions have the autonomy to organize the inflow of third country nationals and to decide on the program of this group of lateral entrants. However, any structure in terms of recognition of qualifications and competences acquired elsewhere is lacking for third country nationals who wish to continue their studies in Europe after they have already made their way into higher education outside Europe. It is clear that there is no proper tool to enable universities to effectively scale up the qualifications and competences of third country nationals acquired elsewhere. Moreover, no systematic analysis has been conducted on evidence gathered from previous studies on recognition practices for migrant and refugee students at university.

The present study moves from the following research questions:

• How is realized the process of recognition of refugees’ and migrants’ previous learning across the EU higher education institutions?
• What are the main practices used for of recognition of refugees’ and migrants’ previous learning?
• What are the characteristics of the research studies exploring recognition of refugees’ and migrants’ previous learning?

In this perspective, thestudy aims to fill this gap providing an updated overview of validation and recognition practices for students with a migratory background within the EU area.

Globally, more than 100 million people are forced to live far from their homes, cities and nations due to war, persecution of various kind and climate change (UNHCR 2022). Out of this dramatic number, only 5% have access to higher education (UNHCR, 2021). Approximately 7 million people holding international protection are hosted in the EU Countries, people settled with the hope of finding security, continuing their studies and building a future (Harðardóttir & Jónsson, 2021). This situation was further exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine. However, at least in Italy, little or no research is available on the refugee’s condition in higher education.

Against this framework and due to the lack of specific research in the area, the generative research question of this study seeks to examine the process of reception and inclusion of refugee students at the University of Bologna. More precisely, the study aims to investigate, describe, and analyze the measures taken and the services offered to ensure students with a background of forced migration the access to degree programs, fundings, and support activities, as well as the role played by various actors within the process. The purpose is to contribute to the creation of a common knowledge useful to improve the overall process and guide future developments and comparisons with other universities.
The overall analysis includes two sets of data, but this paper will discuss the empirical part:
National and regional regulations, University resolutions, decrees and agreements. This first data set has allowed to understand the key elements that characterize the reception of students with a history of forced migration.
Data generated based on qualitative empirical research, as described in the following section.
Firstly, it has been noted that the university ensures different ways of access, and the initiative Unibo for Refugees represents the general framework for all initiatives since 2015-2016. Through the adoption of facilitation of the enrollment process, the project makes it possible for asylum seekers to enroll in single courses and it funds scholarships (12) and study awards (10) for refugees and displaced students. Other opportunities are the CRUI grants funded by the Ministry of Home affair and the UNICORE project, in which the University collaborated with UNHCR to pilot the Italian model of university corridors. The university has also responded to the recent humanitarian crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine accepting students from the second semester of 2021-2022. The measures have been taken in emergency circumstances and have led to differences in the reception processes.
From the analysis of the data it emerged that the University adopts channeled procedural facilitation measures in support of registration, funds scholarships and provides services and activities in cooperation with the regional institution for the right to study and other actors. The international desk staff successfully deals with technical enrollment aspects but lacks the resources to ensure in-process and post-graduation support.

This exploratory research sets out to identify characteristics of the transition undertaken by returning learners as they move away from their workplace and begin embarking on postgraduate study.

The findings stem from a preliminary study carried out at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic amid the many nationwide lockdowns. This data has contributed to the doctoral research currently being pursued by the author; implications for the main study are discussed.

The research questions:

1. What transitional experiences characterise the change from a workplace to higher education?

2. What are the implications of individual-level transitions on higher education organisations’ design of policy and practice?

Populations of learners are growing progressively diverse – with many individuals retreating to education later in life to fulfil various distinct goals. Despite this, little acknowledgment has been given to this transition in the literature. The lack of knowledge available in this area has led to inadequately prepared learners, as is evidenced in this study, as well as clusters of students unaware of the support available to them as they enter the new domain. Formerly, much of the literature has discussed the linear ladder of progression, the move from school or university to the workplace, with little coverage of those individuals shifting between but nonetheless progressing ‘back’ to education.

This research explores the accessibility of the learning experience, taking into account the remote nature of teaching and learning during the pandemic, along with the benefits and barriers that the students were acquainted with as they attempted acculturation and affiliation with their new role and context through a virtual learning environment.

Over the summer term of the 2020-21 academic year, a focus group of postgraduate students was held at a world-leading faculty of education in the UK. While this could only be carried out safely over a virtual platform at the time, the Zoom meeting proved to be a compassionate and comprehensive conversation. Through the exchange of narratives, the participants benchmarked and empathised with one another. The participants’ contributions weren’t short of social cues and gestures either, evidencing how they had adapted to the virtual space after a year of online learning. Bringing the participants together to discuss their experiences in this way provided them with a platform upon which they could reflect, and attempt, if only briefly, to combat the isolation.

To explore the data, a framework of transitions (Anderson, Goodman & Schlossberg, 2012; 2022), organizational culture (Handy, 1991; 1993), and identity was assembled; as the population crossed over into their new context, insight from these three pillars bridged together intellect from across the domains of practice. Schlossberg’s (1981) seminal work on transitions, in particular her model of 4 S’s, has facilitated the analysis of unique coping mechanisms employed by the participants. In discovering the characterisations of the participants’ ‘situations’, data was extracted to build a holistic illustration of the transition process that each returner encountered as they enrolled back into higher education.

Undertaking this move during the Covid-19 pandemic spurred on a series of unanticipated events for the participants, which required that they drew upon and further sourced assets and coping mechanisms to facilitate their acculturation and engagement with learning during this time.

The author has since carried out a thematic narrative analysis, following which a series of themes were created in order to retell the lived experiences of the individuals. Through this presentation, the author will be exploring the intricacies of the data, discussing the role that the various virtual environments played in the participants’ transitions, their experience of remote learning, digital pedagogies, and how this mobility contributed to their multi-membership during this unprecedented time.