Refugees in the system of Higher Education (HE): the role of the mentor for inclusion and the development of new intersectional programs for refugees/asylum-seekers

This dissertation discusses the crucial role of ‘mentors’ in the inclusion of refugees in secondary and higher education. The arrival of an increasing number of refugees, mostly in Europe, has dramatically changed societies and laid the foundations for new challenges in terms of inclusion in education. While many studies focus on refugee integration in compulsory education, only recently have scholars shed light on the challenges migrants face in accessing secondary and higher education. In the last few years numerous universities and institutions have taken action to create tailor-made projects to ensure ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ in HE. Mentors could be seen as the ideal figures to collaborate in refugee inclusion projects, since they share the same backgrounds as the person they are supporting, they are already members of the host country and they can work on the creation of emotional ties and a relation of mutual trust with refugees. The aim of this work is to answer few research questions: 1) How can mentors be included in inclusion programmes; 2) How can we adopt an intersectional approach in mentors programmes; 3) What are the views of stakeholders as regards the role of mentors for refugee inclusion in higher education.