The University of Trento gives refugees and asylum seekers who meet admission requirements the opportunity to undertake university studies through the FUTURA project.
Shamila, a Pakistani student who lives with her family at the Kaleidoscopio residence, is one of them: in the academic year 2020/2021 she was admitted to the Futura Project and enrolled in the Master's degree programme in International Management at the Department of Economics and Management.
Shamila already had a business degree earned while in Pakistan and thirteen years of work experience.
When she arrived at the University of Trento she proved her ability and determination again, managing to complete the master studies without delays despite the three young daughters she has to take care of. During her studies, she carried out an internship at the human resources division of Zobele Group in Trento, dealing with diversity, inclusion and workplace equality issues. She wrote her final dissertation, "Working Mothers Empowerment Through Agile Practices", under the supervision of Professor Roberta Cuel.
Shamila graduated on May 31 after obtaining the status of refugee, a prerequisite in order to graduate.
Her main goal now is to fulfil herself in her work, knowing that female empowerment is possible where work-life balance policies are in place.