Are some displaced students ‘more displaced’ than others? Institutional categorisation, inequalities and migration governance in higher education

Decentering the traditional state perspective, recent studies call for a stronger analysis of the role of other public actors in migration governance. Contributing to this debate, this article specifically investigates how universities and their personnel categorise students with a forced migration background and how this process intersects with other dimensions of social inequality. Empirically, it examines the heterogeneity of institutional provisions implemented by nine Italian public universities in the period 2015–2024, drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data. Findings show a diversification of university categories for displaced students, in the attempt to capture the multidimensional nature of displacement. However, a closer analysis reveals how written and unwritten preferences at both institutional and individual levels intersect with existing lines of inequality, including: previous educational attainments, preferences for certain citizenships tied to geopolitical crises, or informal assumptions regarding age or gender-related vulnerabilities. Consequently, the imaginary of displaced students as the (deserving) international students coming from at-risk countries emerges as predominant, marginalising students holding or seeking international protection already in Italy. This risks creating an unintended hierarchy of vulnerability and unequal HE opportunities.