Lower school advice, internship discrimination, and exclusion are barriers that students with a non-European background often face more frequently than students with a Dutch or European background. Research also indicates that the former group less often progresses to university or progresses via hbo, and sometimes also mbo. Crul observes this trend in the CBS-research as well. However, he also sees reasons for optimism. "The two classic large migrant groups (of Turkish and Moroccan origin) with a Dutch pre-education are slowly increasing in numbers at universities in the Randstad. This coincides with the growing second generation and the gradually increasing participation in havo and vwo among these groups. However, the increase is less significant than expected based on the number of havo and vwo students with a Moroccan or Turkish background."
VU Amsterdam
At VU, there is a particularly strong increase in the number of students of Moroccan origin (a tripling compared to 2008) and Asian students with a Dutch pre-education. Students of Moroccan (and Turkish) origin are well represented in the Law Faculty. The percentage of bachelor students with a migration background and a Dutch pre-education at VU in 2022 is 37%. The same result is observed for master students. At the VU, their share has also increased the most since 2008.
Stacking Route
According to Crul, students with a migration background more often opt for a so-called 'stacking route,' where they progress to university through hbo or even mbo. "This route often correlates with a too low primary school advice and less access to havo/vwo schools based on a vmbo-t advice compared to children from middle and higher-class families of Dutch origin." The data also shows that bachelor students with a migration background less frequently pursue a master's degree. And that has consequences for their later career, he says. "University-educated students more often move into top-level management positions, and hbo students more frequently work at middle levels. And that also has implications for your income."
The problem with the education system in the Netherlands, according to Crul, is that a child must choose a school direction at the age of twelve. In Sweden, they only select children at the age of fifteen. "And twice as many Turkish second-generation youth go to higher education than in the Netherlands, according to a large European study. So that is a clear signal."
Via hbo to VU
At VU, many students with a migration background also enter with an hbo pre-education. For students with a Moroccan migration background, this share was a quarter in 2022, and for students with a Turkish migration background, it was even a third. In comparison, for students of Dutch origin, this applied to only one in five students. The stacking route remains a significant path for students with a migration background. Little has changed in 14 years.
About the research
Previously, universities had insight into the diversity of their student population, but due to tightened privacy regulations, DUO has not provided standard data on the birthplace of students since 2018. At the same time, many universities set up Diversity Offices around that time to stimulate the enrollment and progression of students with a migration background. The lack of data made their work more challenging because they could not measure and evaluate their policies and interventions.