Around 25,000 international students and a further 25,000 German students with an immigration background are currently enrolled at the six public universities in the Rhine-Main region. Only a small proportion of these students succeed in gaining academic positions in the industry, the social economy or with public employers. The path to self-employment is also often difficult. In contrast, by 2028, there will be a shortage of 50,000 skilled professionals with an academic degree in southern Hesse alone, according to forecasts by Goethe University’s Institute for Economics, Labour and Culture (IWAK). Graduates with a migrant background can help to close this gap.

A joint project in southern Hesse wants to contribute to closing this gap. Its participants held their first round table meeting on Tuesday, 19 March. The International Career Service Rhine-Main network consist of six public universities: Goethe University Frankfurt (which is responsible for the overall coordination of the project), Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences and Technical University of Darmstadt, as well as Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz as an associated partner. Commercial and public employers from the Rhine-Main region, representatives of the start-up ecosystem and supporting organizations such as the Federal Employment Agency, immigration authorities and municipal business development agencies are also part of the network. Together with the universities, they want to build a bridge into the working world for graduates with a migrant background – whether as an employee or in the form of innovative start-up projects. The network will be established by 2028 with funding from the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture, the European Social Fund and the universities' own resources.