Eight Indian women alumni — from RWTH Aachen to Sciences Po Paris — speak honestly about safety, family acceptance, hostel life, female mentorship, and building a career as an Indian woman in Europe.
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For an Indian family, sending a daughter abroad is rarely a financial decision alone. Safety. Cultural fit. Hostel options. Whether she will be respected as a woman in a STEM lab. Whether the Indian community will welcome her. Whether she can travel home for Diwali. These are the questions Kadamb Overseas hears every week from parents of daughters. Below, 8 Indian women alumni — placed by Kadamb across Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Austria — answer those questions in their own words. Every one of these women had a hesitant parent, a worried grandparent, or a relative who said “abroad is not for girls.” They went anyway. They thrived. And the Kadamb team — including our female counsellor Mrs. Rajput, who personally onboards every female student — stayed with them through visa, arrival, hostel allotment, and first job.
M.Sc. Automotive Engineering, RWTH Aachen (2023 intake)
Now in Aachen, Germany
“My grandmother cried for two days when I said Germany. “Europe me ladkiyon ka kya hoga?” Aachen is a small university town — literally one of the safest cities in Germany, lower crime than Ahmedabad. I wear my hijab freely. RWTH has 800+ Indian students, a women-in-engineering chapter, and a dedicated female PhD network. My dorm at Studierendenwerk has female-only floors with 24/7 security. Mrs. Rajput from Kadamb video-called my parents weekly for the first month after I landed — she even spoke to my dadi in Gujarati. Today I work part-time at FEV Aachen as HiWi, EUR 14/hour, fully respected by my male colleagues. My grandmother now WhatsApps me Aachen photos to her kitty group.”
M.Sc. Aerospace Engineering, Sapienza Rome (2024 intake)
Rome, Italy
“I am the daughter of a single mother in Indore. My mom is a school teacher earning ₹45K/month. Going abroad seemed like a fantasy. Saumitra Sir at Kadamb did not patronize us — he opened his laptop and showed me the DSU regional scholarship of Lazio: EUR 5,600/year + free tuition + subsidized housing at EUR 280/month. Total 2-year cost: ₹18 lakh, mostly covered by an education loan I will repay in 3 years. Sapienza is a public university — feminist student unions, female-only library halls during exam weeks, gender-neutral bathrooms, women-in-aerospace mentorship. I intern at Leonardo SpA earning EUR 1,800/month — already sending money home. I am the financial head of my house at age 24. Italy made my mother cry, but happy tears.”
MPA Public Affairs, Sciences Po Paris (2024 intake, Emile Boutmy Scholar)
Paris, France
“Paris terrified my father. Bataclan, pickpockets, Sunday strikes — he Googled every horror story. Kadamb connected him to Riya, a Sciences Po alumna already in Paris. She did a 90-minute video call walking my father through her metro commute, her 13th-arrondissement apartment, the well-lit Sciences Po campus, the always-open Indian grocery near Place d’Italie. He calmed down. I won the Emile Boutmy Scholarship: EUR 19,000/year — covers most of my tuition. Sciences Po is intellectually intimidating but feminist to its core — half the cohort is women, our MPA director is a woman, and I have never once felt my Indian-ness or my gender held against me. I intern at OECD Paris now. Saumitra Sir told me at age 22, “Neha, you will negotiate trade deals one day.” He was not joking.”
M.Sc. Embedded Systems, TU Delft (2023 intake)
Delft, Netherlands
“I am the only girl in a 28-person Embedded Systems lab. Sounds isolating — it is not. TU Delft has a Women in Tech chapter, monthly female engineer meetups, and a dedicated mentor program where second-year women mentor first-years. My mentor is a Romanian PhD student who insisted I apply to ASML for my thesis. I did. I am now there full-time, EUR 4,200/month gross. The Dutch are direct — they will not coddle you, but they will respect you if you do good work. Kadamb prepared me with assertiveness coaching before I left — small thing, huge impact. My mom thought Delft would be cold and lonely. I cycle to class every day, share an apartment with two Dutch girls, and host Diwali for 30 people every year.”
M.A. Italian Literature & Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna (2024 intake)
Bologna, Italy
“Humanities? Italy? Everyone in my family said “engineer banogi to abroad jao.” But I love literature, I love Italian Renaissance, I love Bologna. Kadamb did not push me to pivot to a “more practical” course. Saumitra Sir said: “Bologna is the world’s oldest university, founded 1088. If you love this, go.” I won Bologna Unibo Action Scholarship — EUR 11,000/year + tuition waiver. Bologna is a small, walkable city — porticoes shelter you from rain even at 2 AM walking home from the library. I share a flat with my younger sister Kavya, who studies at Padova. Indian community here is small but warm — we have a Bengali aunty who hosts sit-down dinners every month. I am writing my thesis on Indian-Italian literary parallels. Job market for humanities is harder, yes, but I am applying to UNESCO and Italian cultural attaché roles.”
M.Sc. + PhD Robotics, TU Wien (2022 intake, returned to India 2026 to start company)
Vienna, Austria → Bengaluru, India
“Robotics PhD as an Indian woman in Austria sounds intimidating. It was the most respectful academic environment I have ever experienced. My PhD advisor — a German woman, Prof. Vincze — runs a lab where 5 of 14 PhD students are women. I worked on autonomous warehouse robotics, published 4 papers, got my doctorate in 3.5 years. Vienna is statistically the safest capital in Europe — I walked home at midnight from the lab regularly. Kadamb stayed in touch through my entire 4-year stint. When I decided to return to India in 2026 to start my own robotics company, Saumitra Sir connected me to two Indian VCs through his alumni network. We just closed a USD 2M seed round. Europe gave me the technical depth. India is letting me build at scale.”
M.Sc. Water Resources Engineering, KU Leuven (2024 intake)
Leuven, Belgium
“Belgium was not on my radar — I was applying to UK and US. Kadamb showed me KU Leuven’s ranking (#42 globally), the Erasmus Mundus scholarship for water engineering (EUR 1,400/month + tuition), and the Flemish work-permit ease for engineers. I switched my plan in 3 weeks. Leuven is a tiny student town — 100,000 residents, half are students. I bike everywhere, my apartment costs EUR 480/month including utilities, and there is an Indian Society of Leuven that has 200+ members. Two of us cook biryani every Sunday for the group. As a woman in environmental engineering, I work with a Belgian government agency on Flemish flood-management projects. My boss is a Belgian woman who recently became a mother — she normalises maternity in technical fields in a way India is still catching up on. Eye-opening.”
M.Sc. Environmental Engineering, INSA Lyon (2024 intake, Eiffel Excellence Scholar)
Lyon, France
“Lyon was Kadamb’s suggestion — they pointed out that Paris is overrated for engineering and Lyon costs EUR 550/month less in rent. INSA Lyon is a grande école — admission is selective, prestige is high. Won Eiffel Excellence: EUR 1,181/month — covers nearly all my living costs. INSA has a strong Femmes Ingénieures (Women Engineers) chapter. I lived in INSA campus dorms for first year — gender-mixed but female-only floor option, secure entry, female RA on call. As a woman of color in French engineering I expected friction. Reality: my professors actively pushed me toward Veolia’s graduate program, where I now intern. I speak B2 French now — Alliance Française Ahmedabad gave me the foundation Kadamb insisted I get before departure. My mother visits next month — she has never been outside India. I am going to take her to a Lyon vineyard.”
Our female counsellor personally handles every female applicant. Free 30-minute consultation in Gujarati, Hindi, or English. We will video-call your parents, walk through safety, dorms, and female mentorship — exactly the way these 8 women experienced.
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