How can volunteering be a pathway to integration? A qualitative study on international students

Thirteen degree-seeking international students enrolled at a large private university in Italy participated in semi-structured interviews to investigate how volunteer experiences can help international students to better integrate socially. Data analysis was informed by the three stages of the volunteer process model: antecedents, experiences, and outcomes. The results suggest that students who identified with the role of volunteers and had prior volunteering experience were more likely to overcome barriers such as limited proficiency in the local language and a lack of connections and knowledge of volunteering opportunities in the host country. Students who interacted with other volunteers and community members described their service as highly formative in terms of language acquisition, cultural understanding, and achieving more profound integration with the new social and cultural environment. Higher education institutions could collaborate with community organizations to provide students with the best possible volunteering environment, connecting their internationalization and social responsibility agendas.