Cultural diversity in the Netherlands is increasing. In Rotterdam, for instance, about 40% of the population has a non-western migration background. Yet, we do not see this diversity reflected everywhere: previously, in fact, we have seen that employees with an origin outside Europe are underrepresented in senior academic positions within Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). But what about the cultural diversity among students? Together with several other universities, EUR asked Statistics Netherlands (CSB) to provide a dataset with the inflow numbers of bachelor (BA) and master (MA) students by origin over a period of 14 years (2008-2022) for all participating universities.
The data show that, when looking at the inflow into BA and MA programmes of all students with a Dutch prior education, the percentage of students with an origin from the traditional migration countries (Suriname, Turkey, Dutch Caribbean, Morocco, and Indonesia) has remained approximately same. At EUR, this percentage has decreased. So, the cultural diversity we see in the Netherlands, and especially in the big cities, is not reflected in the inflow at the participating universities.
It is important to do follow-up research and ask ourselves how welcoming the university is. It is also important to consider how we can make the university accessible for everyone, something for which we are already taking the first steps with the Academic Outreach Programme.
The full report with all the results and a short reflection by Prof. Dr. Annelien Bredenoord (Rector Magnificus of EUR), Prof. Dr. Semiha Denktaş (Chief Diversity Officer of EUR), and Prof. Dr. Vinod Subramaniam (UTwente, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Diverse and Inclusive Higher Education) can be found in the document 'Studentenherkomst data EN' below.
The tables with data on which the report is based can be found in the document 'Appendix Studentenherkomst EN' below.