A large part of the migrant population brings with them practically unknown languages and cultures. Languages of Lesser Diffusion (LLD) are a barrier to information, health, and other necessary services, making migrants even more vulnerable. Educated and multilingual migrant women play a key role in facilitating communication between local institutions and newly arrived migrants. These women are not often given the recognition they deserve. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have an opportunity and obligation to give these migrant women a platform to speak and work together, which will help demystify certain stereotypes and show that migrant women acting as mediators, translators and interpreters of LLD are active agents of communication with the foreign population, and essential architects for the creation of inclusive societies.
The University of Alcalá (UAH) stands as a leading example of overcoming communication challenges with foreign populations through its research and third mission activities. The Public Service Interpreting and Translation (PSIT) program and active project collaborations with a wide range of stakeholders help UAH to achieve three main objectives: raising awareness about the importance of quality communication in this diverse society; providing training for language service providers and bilinguals in the field of PSIT; and promoting research on PSIT from a multidisciplinary perspective.
FITISPos stands out for its significant achievements in promoting inclusion and empowering vulnerable migrant women in national and international environments. Since 2021, FITISPos has succeeded in engaging a wide range of stakeholders and community members – migrant women from diverse linguistic backgrounds, university volunteers, local NGOs, academics, researchers, and the wider community - through the project VOCINARES (Voices from the Henares) in innovative and holistic initiatives to facilitate integration. This project is a good example of how universities can promote inclusion through education, community collaborations with diverse participants, and third mission activities. It also showcases the vibrant cultural tapestry of the area of Alcalá de Henares, a town close to Madrid with a large migrant population.
Within two years, VOCINARES gained recognition and funding to expand its holistic approach to specific migrant communities. Thus, in 2024 the project Formación e Investigación con/para mujeres de etnias minoritarias (FEIMEM) (Research and Training with/for foreign women speakers of languages of lesser diffusion) took the lead. FEIMEM aims at improving and giving visibility to the outstanding work of qualified foreign women. These women play a key role in society by serving as catalysts for connection among foreign women in Spain and beyond.
FEIMEM was made possible through the generous support and collaboration of two Education Innovative Groups: Educación Mediante Proyectos de Aprendizaje: Integración, Avance y Servicio (EMPATIAS), and Intercultural Communication and PSIT, as well as several NGOs and/or migrant associations such as Abrazando Ilusiones, Asociación para la Defensa de Valores Africanos (ACUDEVA), Asociación de Mujeres Afganas (AMAE), Aria Project for Afghanistan, España (ARIA-E), Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR), GUADA ACOGE, and Amigos del Pueblo Africano (KARIBU).
What sets the University of Alcalá and FITISPos apart is its recognition of the unexploited potential of qualified migrant women who are already integrated into Spanish society. These polyglot women - fluent in Spanish and speakers of LLD - have valuable skills in intercultural and interlinguistic communication and become powerful agents of change and transformation. Through these initiatives, UAH is showing leadership as an engaged university.
An innovative approach
FEIMEM brought together academic, specialist researchers on migration and intercultural communication, and representatives of four different minority linguistic and cultural communities - Arabic, Afghan, Sub-Saharan, and Ukrainian, along with a variety of lesser known languages (including Amazigh, Farsi, Urdu, Swahili, and Wolof). The common denominator for these community representatives was that they were all female speakers of LLD, educated and with a professional career in Spain, working in different fields (including legal, educational, social, or health sectors), and had developed skills related to communication, such as mediation, translation and interpretation.
By drawing on the expertise of FITISPos, FEIMEM is a timely response to the real needs of migrant women, combining their skills with the expertise of academics, researchers, stakeholders, NGOs, university students at all levels, and interested citizens, thus creating a synergy that promotes inclusion, celebrates diversity, and strives for equality through a series of innovative practices. These activities include a series of lectures and seminars by specialist researchers in migration and communication and a series of workshops given by migrant women speakers of LLD on topics related to the training of women - bilingual or ad hoc interpreters and translators - who want to become professional translators and/or interpreters.
All activities took place at the UAH campus and were further offered online for higher accessibility and to promote an entrepreneurial ecosystem. From the University of Alcalá, mainly students of two of the masters programs dealing with languages and translation (MA in Intercultural Communication and Public Service Interpreting and Translation, and MA in Conference Interpreting) as well as undergraduate students of translation and modern languages participated actively as ambassadors and were responsible for promotion of the different activities in social media and reaching NGO staff and migrant associations, focusing on women from Afghanistan, Arab countries (especially Morocco), Sub-Saharan countries, and Ukraine. These countries were chosen either because of the high percentage of migrants or refugees in Spain.
Community engagement
This singular relationship added holistic value to both the migrant entrepreneurial community and the University of Alcalá in reinforcing community engagement by:
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