Abstract:

AlterEgauZ is a bridge program facilitating access to higher education for highly qualified refugees pursuing social work studies. Moving beyond an integrationist framework, it seeks to build new, shared forms of belonging within an academic space marked by exclusion and social reproduction. Its implementation highlights structural and organizational factors shaping refugees’ experiences, including language as both barrier and bridge, financial challenges, and the pervasive influence of whiteness in the university. Through a module called Space for the Co-construction of Knowledge and Experiences, the program fosters active participation and opens pathways to collectively rethink academic practices and partnerships with social work organizations.