LUISS Women in International Affairs, student protagonists between leadership, inclusion and international affairs
WAI meets an international student body that promotes advocacy, professional growth and university participation
In the listening journey promoted by Welcome Association Italy through the WAI Atlas of University Hospitality project, discussion with student associations is a key step.
Understanding the experience of international students also means listening to those who live the university closely every day: associations, student groups, support networks and realities capable of intercepting needs, difficulties and opportunities that do not always emerge through institutional channels.
The discussion between WAI and LUISS Women in International Affairs, a student association active in the context of LUISS Guido Carli and committed to the promotion of women’s participation, gender equality and women’s representation in the field of international affairs, is part of this perspective.
LUISS Women in International Affairs is particularly significant because it combines a strong international component with practical work on issues central to many students: inclusion, access to opportunities, professional development, networking and community building.
An international community with a global vision
LUISS Women in International Affairs was created with the aim of creating a space for growth, discussion and participation for students interested in international relations, diplomacy, cooperation, international organizations and major global issues.
The association has about forty active members during the academic year, with a strong presence of international students. The main nationalities represented include Turkish and Italian students, along with members from other cultural and geographical backgrounds.
This composition makes the association a particularly relevant voice in the WAI Atlas journey. LUISS Women in International Affairs directly lives the international experience through its community, organized activities and daily relationship with students from different countries.
One of the association’s main goals is to help narrow the gap in language, information and access to opportunities between Italian students and international students. In this sense, its work takes on a value that goes beyond the associational dimension: it becomes a tool for inclusion, participation and university growth.
Advocacy, leadership and professional development
Since its founding in the 2024/2025 academic year, LUISS Women in International Affairs has implemented more than forty events and projects dedicated to advocacy, professional development, and community-building.
Among the most representative activities is SheLeads, a series of meetings with women leaders in global business. This initiative offers students opportunities to engage with professional and institutional figures capable of sharing concrete experiences, international perspectives and models of female leadership.
Alongside this pathway, the association promotes academic panels, informal meetings with LUISS professors, career development activities, alumni panels, visits to embassies and NGOs, public speaking workshops, and in-depth discussions on global issues.
These experiences allow students to combine traditional university education with practical opportunities for personal, professional and relational growth.
For an international student, participating in such initiatives can mean expanding one’s network, better understanding the Italian academic and professional context, developing soft skills and feeling part of an active community.
Relationship spaces and community-building
One of the most interesting aspects that emerged from the discussion concerns the value of small, thematic spaces based on common interests.
In large university settings, international students may struggle to build stable relationships, especially when they are in large classes or in environments where participation is less direct. This can be especially evident for three-year students, who often experience pathways with larger groups and fewer opportunities for personalized discussion.
Associations such as LUISS Women in International Affairs respond to this need by creating more accessible spaces where students can get to know each other, share experiences and build authentic relationships.
Activities such as Sip & Learns with LUISS professors, thematic meetings and networking moments allow to overcome the distance between the academic dimension and daily life, offering students more informal and participatory opportunities for dialogue.
In this sense, community-building is not a secondary element of the university experience. It is an essential part of the integration journey because it allows students to feel heard, involved and recognized.
Content production and active participation
LUISS Women in International Affairs not only organizes events, but also promotes cultural, academic and informational production activities.
A significant example is the World Reframed Weekly newsletter, which helps create a space for reflection on international issues and enhances students’ perspectives.
The association also developed a publishing project with theInternational Humanitarian Law & Youth Initiative, collecting some forty contributions and publishing nine papers in the collection Power and Representation in Global Political and Social Transformations.
This type of activity shows how student participation can turn into the production of ideas, content and proposals. Students are not just recipients of events or services, but become active players in the university and international debate.
For WAI, this element is particularly important: the integration of international students also comes through the opportunity to express skills, tell perspectives and contribute to the cultural life of the university.
Why this experience is important for international students
The discussion with LUISS Women in International Affairs allowed some central themes for university reception to emerge.
The first concerns bureaucracy. Students arriving in Italy are often confronted with documents required by different authorities, response times that are not always quick, and procedures that can be difficult to interpret, especially at the initial stage.
A second issue concerns housing. Searching for housing can be complex for those unfamiliar with the Italian housing market, unfamiliar with contracts, or struggling to distinguish reliable offers from possible scams.
An additional aspect concerns the language of communications. In an environment that aims to be increasingly international, it is important that information about university services, opportunities, events, and activities also be accessible in English. The language in which an event is held should also be clearly stated from the promotion stage.
Finally, the issue of access to professional opportunities emerged. International students, particularly non-EU or non-fluent in Italian, may find it more difficult to identify internships, open positions and paths compatible with their profile. The presence of low or unpaid opportunities can make it even more complex to stay in Italy and build a sustainable career path.
Welcoming begins before arrival
One of the most relevant elements that emerged concerns when the difficulties become most apparent.
For many international students, the critical issues begin before arrival in Italy. At this stage, visas, residence permits, administrative documents, university payments, practical information and initial orientation must be handled.
Even when support offices and services exist, the student may feel that he or she has to deal with a significant part of the journey on his or her own.
Payment procedures are a concrete example of this complexity. When the arrangements change depending on the type of expense, as in the case of tuition and residence fees, international families may encounter additional costs, difficulties related to currency exchange, and additional documentation to be produced.
This confirms a central point for the WAI Atlas: reception is not just about when the student physically arrives in Italy, but begins even before departure, when he or she needs to understand what to do, what documents to prepare, and what steps to follow.
Language, access, and participation
Language affects the international student’s ability to understand procedures, participate in events, access services, navigate association life, and take advantage of available opportunities.
When some communications are available only in Italian, or when events promoted in English are then held entirely in Italian, the risk is that a part of the student community is left out or less involved.
Therefore, bilingual communication is not just a formal element. It is a concrete condition of inclusion. Making information accessible means enabling international students to fully participate in university life.
This issue also affects association life. If institutional meetings or association moments are held only in Italian, English-speaking or internationally-minded entities may find it more difficult to participate fully.
The role of student associations
LUISS Women in International Affairs shows how student associations can play an important role in processes of acceptance, participation and integration.
Associations do not replace institutional services, but can supplement the student experience through relationships, activities, training, networking and spaces of belonging.
For an international student, participating in an association can mean finding community, developing skills, accessing opportunities and actively contributing to university life.
In the case of LUISS Women in International Affairs, this function takes on a specific form: women’s leadership, international affairs, advocacy, professional development and community-building become tools through which students can experience the university not only as an academic path, but also as a personal, cultural and professional experience.
A practice to be enhanced
In the WAI Atlas of University Hospitality journey, entities such as LUISS Women in International Affairs represent important interlocutors because they allow us to observe the university from the perspective of students and the networks they build.
The association provides an example of international student participation geared toward inclusion, leadership, representation and professional development.
His work shows that welcoming does not depend only on administrative procedures or formal services. It also depends on being able to participate, build relationships, access opportunities and feel part of a university community.
LUISS Women in International Affairs thus represents a practice to be enhanced: one capable of transforming international experiences, skills and sensibilities into concrete initiatives that benefit the student community.
Toward a more inclusive and international university
The university of the future will have to be increasingly able to accommodate students with different languages, backgrounds and paths.
This means making information clearer, strengthening bilingual communication, improving support in the arrival and orientation stages, but also creating opportunities for meeting, participation and professional growth.
The contribution of student associations will be increasingly important in this process. Realities such as LUISS Women in International Affairs demonstrate that students can be active participants in university life, not just recipients of services.
Through advocacy, education, networking, content production and a focus on women’s leadership in international affairs, LUISS Women in International Affairs offers an example of how a student body can help make the university experience richer, more inclusive and global.
For Welcome Association Italy, listening to and enhancing these experiences means strengthening the path started with the WAI Atlas of University Welcome: a project created to better understand how international students experience university in Italy and to bring out, alongside critical issues, the good practices already present in academic contexts.
The discussion with LUISS Women in International Affairs is therefore an important part of this journey: an opportunity to learn about an international student reality and to enhance its role in the debate on welcome, inclusion, participation and access to opportunities.
