Study to accompany the DAAD’s PROFI and INTEGRA programmes (October 2020 – September 2021)

Refugees studying at German higher education institutions face diverse obstacles which block their access to the local labour market. Some of them are the same as those faced by other international students, but oftentimes bigger, for example as regards the right to stay in Germany. The extent to which refugees are thus able to access the labour market is therefore highly dependent on the support they receive from higher education institutions and other local organisations. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has developed two programmes – Integration of Refugees into Higher Education (INTEGRA) and Promoting the Professional Integration of Academics with a Refugee Background Into the German Labour Market (PROFI) – which are aimed at helping to prepare refugees for their study programmes and find employment after they graduate. Both programmes are funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

The accompanying study conducted by the Expert Council on Integration and Migration (SVR) analyses the effectiveness of the programme strategies when it comes to facilitating refugee students’ access to the German labour market. The goal is to describe success factors and to develop recommendations for higher education policy-makers and practitioners.

The accompanying study was conducted on behalf of the DAAD. The expert report was published in November 2021.

Publication

Expert Report (Summary)

Refugee Integration and Skilled Migration: A New Role for German Universities?