Introduction: Refugees in Higher Education—Questioning the Notion of Integration

This edited volume shares the proceedings of a symposium that was as held in the summer of 2019 in Hanover, Germany and dedicated to exploring the notion of integration as it relates to access to higher education for students of refugee background. The symposium included presentations and discussions of access to higher education in Germany, institutional contexts, and the challenges and benefits for students of refugee background compared with other groups. Throughout the symposium, we collaboratively questioned the notion of integration within higher education from different disciplinary, methodological and theoretical perspectives. One special panel also included a group of refugee students discussing their experiences and the main challenges they face seeking higher education. Integration is still too often understood in a one-side and narrow way. Informed by those discussions, the edited volume aims to contribute to the emerging research field of higher education for refugees. To introduce the edited volume, we reflect upon the symposium, discuss the state of research on integration of refugees into higher education, briefly introduce each article, and end with implications for further research and development.