WG on Immigration and Ethnical Minorities

The working group on immigration and ethnic minorities (EMIWG) was approved at Board Meeting 57 held in Krakow, Poland in 2009.  The working group is chaired by SAMOK (Finland) and consists of representatives from the following unions: NSUM (Macedonia) LSVb (Netherlands), NUS-UK (United Kingdom) and NASC (Bulgaria). The working group is coordinated by two ESU representatives.

Immigration issues are now, more than ever, very topical all across Europe. In many countries the respect for diversity has taken severe hits. The economy crisis have not contributed to a more open attitude toward immigration issues; conversely it has increased suspicion and even discrimination towards immigrants and ethnic minorities.

The issues of immigration and cultural diversity and access to higher education by different minorities are not only issues of societal equality in education but questions of the diversity and representativeness of the student body. The added value of cultural diversity to higher education is paramount and the composition of the student body should reflect the composition of the society as a whole. However, for different reasons, immigrants and ethnic minorities are to a large extent absent from higher education.

The purpose of this working group is to map out different practices of furthering immigrants’ and ethnic minorities’ access to higher education and to disseminate good the practices and recommendations to the member unions of ESU.

Thus far the group has produced a questionnaire on the status and access to higher education of immigrants and ethnic minorities. The questionnaire was circulated to the 46 ESU member unions. The results of the questionnaire have been analyzed at the end of the summer 2011 and the results will be presented and discussed at the Board Meeting 61 held in November 2011 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

You can contact the group by emailing emwg@esu-online.org.