In 2024, Dr Yvette Taminiau received the Comenius Senior Fellow grant of €100,000 for her project Professional Companion. Today we speak with Yvette about why she started this initiative, the impact she sees, and what it means for students, professionals, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam).
So culturally diverse students often remain invisible in the glass towers of the Zuidas. What makes the urgency of that so clear to you?
“Exactly. VU Amsterdam is truly a reflection of Amsterdam: incredibly diverse. But as soon as you head towards Zuid station and the Zuidas, that diversity suddenly disappears. At the same time, students have been signalling for years in the National Student Survey that they are critical about how well their studies prepare them for the labour market. I see a double gap here that we can work to close.
For many culturally diverse students, this is their very first introduction to the professional world beyond their studies. This programme quite literally gives them access to a world in which they previously felt like outsiders.”
How did you decide: I’m going to tackle that gap between VU Amsterdam and the Zuidas myself?
“It actually started when I won the Van der Duijn Schouten Education Award in 2022, for my efforts to connect education and practice more closely. It truly felt like recognition, but also as an opportunity to take on something bigger.
In a conversation with Janneke Waelen, director of the VU Centre for Teaching and Learning (VU CTL), I asked myself: how can I use the network I’ve built over twenty years within VU Amsterdam and on the Zuidas for the benefit of students? That’s how the idea came about. Initially, it was only for students from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, but by now students from the Faculty of Law and the School of Business and Economics have also joined.”
How does the programme work in practice?
“Culturally diverse students are matched with a mentor from the professional field. They meet at least three times, and there is always a job-shadowing day, where the student spends a day at the company. The conversations cover everything: from CVs and job applications to how to navigate a professional environment.”
What does that result in?
“The most important thing is that students experience from the inside how a company culture works: they learn to network, develop leadership skills, and discover new career opportunities. At the same time, mentors with a culturally diverse background can act as role models: they themselves have faced the same challenges their mentees are now encountering and can offer very concrete advice.”
Which blind spots do students help uncover in Zuidas culture?
“Take for example the drinks culture (borrelcultuur in Dutch): in many companies this is important, the Thursday or Friday afternoon drinks are where relationships are maintained. But for many students with an Islamic background, that is not at all a natural way of networking. For them, the emphasis is often much more on eating and being together. Ramadan and Islamic holidays also play a significant role. Companies on the Zuidas are still often very monocultural and have little knowledge of culturally diverse perspectives. Students help them to better understand that reality.”
So companies learn just as much from students as the other way around?
“Absolutely. That’s what we call reverse mentoring. Students help them better understand that reality. And white mentors also often learn a lot from their mentees: about blind spots, cultural differences, and the fact that what is ‘self-evident’ is not self-evident for everyone.”
This fits nicely with our motto: At VU Amsterdam: you don’t just become something, you become someone.
“Exactly. And honestly, it’s not always just about their CV or career. They also grow as individuals. You see them becoming more confident, learning to navigate between different worlds. Students see how their studies translate into the professional field, which makes them more motivated. Teachers notice this too: students are more engaged in the lecture hall.”
What is your ambition with Professional Companion: how big could this become?
“If this proves successful, we want to roll it out across the entire VU Amsterdam, to all faculties and programmes. The ambition is for this to become a permanent part of what VU Amsterdam offers its students: a mentor from the professional field for every student.”
