CLI Research Projects

From 2011, Erasmus University Rotterdam raised the standards of the Binding Study Advice (BSA) at all faculties, under the name Nominaal is Normaal (Nominal is Normal, N=N). Rob Kickert concludes in his thesis 'Raising the bar' that setting higher standards seems to increase students' study progress, examination grades, self-regulation and motivation. However, he also warns of the risks of higher standards: when exams do not sufficiently match learning objectives, performance may be better, but less learning takes place.

Kickert, R. (2020). Raising the Bar: Higher education students’ sensitivity to the assessment policy. [Doctoral Thesis, Erasmus University Rotterdam]. Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR).

An online narrative goal-setting intervention boosted academic performance among 703 first-year Business Administration students at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam (Schippers, Scheepers, & Peterson, 2015). Findings from the intervention cohort demonstrated that the gender achievement gap closed by 98 percent after the first year and the ethnic achievement gap closed by 93 percent after the second year. While numeral suggestions have been mentioned in the goal-setting intervention studies, a definitive answer to what caused the positive intervention-effect on academic performance is still lacking.

Job’s research therefore has two aims: 1) to examine a potential mechanism of the goal-setting intervention, and 2) to elucidate as to why the intervention would specifically decrease the achievement gaps. To reach these aims, Job conducts a preliminary study at baseline in which he explores several new types of motivational profiles. Subsequently, he tests his proposed mechanism of the intervention while tracking the developments within the gender and ethnic subgroups. Ultimately, on the basis of the findings that evolve from his systematic approach, he will make claims about how the goal-setting intervention closed the gender and ethnic achievement gap. Job works on his research at the Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies of the Erasmus School of Behaviorial and Social Sciences.

M.C. Schippers, Ad Scheepers & J.B. Peterson (2015). A scalable goal-setting intervention closes both the gender and minority achievement gap. Palgrave Communications (online), 1, 15014. doi: 10.1057/palcomms.2015.14

Job Hudig, Ad W. A. Scheepers, M.C. Schippers & Guus Smeets (2022). Motivational mindsets, mindset churn and academic performance: The role of a goal‑setting intervention and purpose in life. Current Psychology. doi: 10.1007/s12144-022-03462-8

During the first year in higher education, drop-out levels are relatively high as compared to following years. At Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), first-year drop-out rates varied between 16 and 20 percent in the period 2014-2018. Moreover, research shows that this percentage is higher among students who are the first in their family to study in higher education (first-generation students) and among students with a migration background. This may be due to specific difficulties that students from these backgrounds experience during their transition into higher education, a period that many students experience as challenging. A thorough understanding of the challenges experienced by diverse students during the transition into higher education, and how these students can be supported is vital, to retain them and to positively influence their academic success.

In his PhD-project, Pieter is therefore researching the barriers to academic success that first-generation students and students with a migration background face during various phases of the transition into higher education. In this project, he examines whether participation in a program prior to the first year at EUR (the ‘Pre-Academic Program’) increases retention among diverse students and whether this positively influences their academic success, how diverse social networks can positively impact academic success, and what the effect of the newly introduced admission procedure of EUR’s Psychology Bachelor is on diversity within the student population. Pieter works on his research at the Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies of the Erasmus School of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Previous research has shown that studying in an international environment can enhance students’ intercultural communication competences (ICC), develop their global citizenship, and ultimately increase their ability to successfully live and work in a culturally diverse society. However, it remains unclear which conditions are conducive to the development of ICC and global citizenship, and which processes may inhibit it. Many things can come into play, such as students’ cultural background, international experiences, motivations, and coursework. Through her PhD project, Leonor aims to help the university reach its goals with regard to international education, as well as contribute to scientific understanding of intercultural competence and global citizenship among university studies.

Leonor Gaitán-Aguilar obtained a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala in 2016. She later obtained an Erasmus Mundus joint master’s degree in Social and Cultural Psychology (Global-MINDS) from ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute and the University of Oslo in 2019. Her thesis focused on the influence of social media on the social identification and cross-cultural adaptation of international students. She has studies in Social Pedagogy and has worked as a researcher of human rights monitoring in the Northern Region of Central America.