You won’t feel at home there : narratives of access and belonging of students with a migration background in Amsterdam’s two universities

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(1)! ! ! ! !. ‘You won’t feel at home there’. Narratives of Access and Belonging of Students with a Migration Background in Amsterdam’s two Universities. ! !. Master Thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Erasmus Mundus Master in International Migration and Social Cohesion (MISOCO). ! ! ! By !. Emma Joukje Eggink [email protected]. ! ! Date of submission: 06 May 2015 ! ! Supervisor: Dr. Jens Schneider, Universität Osnabrück, [email protected]. ! !. Readers: Dr. Norma Fuentes, (on behalf of the Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao), Fordham University, New York, [email protected] Dr. Bowen Paulle, University of Amsterdam, [email protected]. !. Academic Advisor: . Christine Lang, IMIS, Universität Osnabrück, [email protected]!. !.

(2) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ‘While precisely in that homogeneity, in that strive of our age towards uniformity, lies a very dubitable characteristic, yes, I dare say, the curse of modern life.’ . ! !. Dr. A. Kuijper, founder of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 22 April 1869 !. !.

(3) !. PREFACE. The finalisation of this thesis marks the end of an exciting journey of ‘diversity’. The writing of this thesis provided only the concluding and academic chapter of this journey; throughout the past two years I have also enjoyed the honour to experience ‘diversity’ first hand, in an international group of students and across four different European countries. Therefore, I would first of all like to thank my fellow students within the MISOCO programme, whose jokes, clever classroom comments and warm meals made the pathway throughout this masters programme an enriching and challenging one. . Besides that, there are a few others who deserve special mentioning. First of all, my thesis supervisor Jens Schneider, and the academic advisor in Osnabrück, Christine Lang. Many thanks for your insightful comments, support and guidance throughout the research project of which this thesis is the endproduct. Also, I’d like to say thanks to my readers; Dr. Norma Fuentes who helped me on my way in the initial stages, and Dr. Bo Paulle who provided me with insightful comments on the initial proposal for the project. Besides working on this thesis, I have recently also become involved in the development and coordination of the peer-to-peer coaching project Academic Diversity Lab. Many thanks to the girls with whom I’ve been working, for giving me the much needed connection to the ‘real world’ while doing the research for this thesis. And, importantly, thank you to my parents and my little/big sister Dieuwke. After writing this thesis, it is more clear to me than ever what it means to come out of such a warm nest. Finally, thanks to John, simply for being there, in Frankfurt, Osnabrück, Geneva, Bilbao, and Amsterdam.. ! !. Amsterdam, 5 May 2015 .

(4) ABSTRACT. ! This study investigates the role of perceived diversity in students’ narratives of access and belonging in Amsterdam’s two universities. A Bourdieusian conceptual framework was developed to describe how students’ expectations and experiences of fitting in within the educational environment and interconnected. The study rests on a series of interviews with first year students from various ethnonational backgrounds , who had no family history of higher education and were enrolled in the economics programmes at each university. Whereas the study set out to study ‘diversity’ in terms of ethnic mix, both ethnic mix and a variety of social class backgrounds were elements that shaped participants’ perception of a diverse environment. The findings show that within a group of rather contingent study choosers, social capital is an important element in shaping the participants educational decision. In terms of institutional choice, knowing someone who had enrolled in the university was a decisive element of many students' choice, alongside academic motivations and perceptions of familiarity with the spatial environment of the institution. Some students who had come from predominantly white environments considered ethnic mix as an important aspect in choosing an educational institution, but whereas for some, the presence of others with an ethnic minority background was considered liberating, others deferred from choosing an institution that they considered as hosting to many co-ethnics to prevent increased social control. Participants’ experiences of belonging were shaped by the perceived differences in diversity between their previous high school and current university environments. In particular students who transitioned to an environment that they perceived as less diverse than their previous environment reflected negatively on their belonging in the university environment. .

(5) TABLE OF CONTENTS. ! 1. INTRODUCTION. 7. ! 2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY. 12. 2.1. Ethnic diversity within Dutch higher education. 12. 2.2. Institutional approaches to multicultural diversity. 14. 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. 18. 3.1. Previous research on ‘access’ to higher education . 3.2. ‘Belonging’ within research on educational careers and experiences. 22. 3.3. Conceptual approach. 26. 4. EMPIRICAL APPROACH. 18. 30. 4.1. Sampling. 30. 4.2. Data collection & analysis. 32. 4.3. Limitations & reflexivity. 33. ! 5. CHOICES CONTEXTUALISED: EMBEDDED & CONTINGENT CHOOSERS 35 5.1. Very contingent choosers. 36. 5.2. Somewhat embedded contingent choosers. 40. 5.3. Types of choosers: A difference of class?. 44. ! 6. NARRATIVES OF INSTITUTIONAL CHOICE. 46. 6.1. Perceived academic differences between universities. 47. 6.2. Familiarity with the spatial environment. 48. 6.3. Familiarity through the social network. 50. 6.4. Perceptions of social and ethnic diversity. 54. 6.5. Conclusion. 59.

(6) ! 7. NARRATIVES OF BELONGING WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY ENVIRON… 7.1. 7.2. 7.3. 7.4. 61. Pierre: New Freedoms in a diverse environment. 64. 7.1.1. A spatial transition: a sea of new opportunities. 66. 7.1.2. The university as a diverse environment. 67. 7.1.3. On making friends. 70. Marissa: Having to give up a part of oneself. 72. 7.2.1. Perceiving the university as a homogenous environment. 74. 7.2.2. Experiencing similarity with one’s peers. 76. Jamil & Khadija: When environments do not change. 80. 7.3.1. Academic independence. 83. 7.3.2. Perceptions of diversity in the university and friendships. 85. Conclusion. 87. ! 8. CONCLUSION. 89. ! BIBLIOGRAPHY. 94. ! APPENDIX I - RAW DATA. 100. APPENDIX II - INTERVIEW FORM. 101. APPENDIX III - INTERVIEW GUIDE. 102. !.

(7) 1. INTRODUCTION !. ! ‘With a headscarf you’ll never make it to the top #ITooAmUvA’. ‘Are you studying at the university?… #ITooAmUvA’. ‘But where do you really come from? #ITooAmVU’. ‘But didn’t your skin colour affect the study?’ #ITooAmVU1. ! In the spring of 2014, students from the University of Amsterdam and the Free University Amsterdam started two separate ‘#ITooAm’ campaigns on social media. Inspired by similar projects from students worldwide, photos were posted in which students with diverse backgrounds held signs citing stigmatising comments they had received within the university. The campaigns were set up with the aim to raise awareness of the prejudice, stereotypes, and micro-aggressions with which students with a non-dutch cultural background are often faced, and to bring to light some of the daily interactions that in some cases influence these students’ sense of belonging within the university. . In Dutch universities, students belonging to an ethnic minority continue to make up only a small proportion of the student population (Zijlstra et al., 2013). Yet, as the country is growing more ethnically diverse, so is the student population of its major research universities. This is especially relevant in the country’s capital Amsterdam, a. 1. Translations by the author, original:. “Met een hoofddoek kom je nooit aan de top” #ITooAmUvA. “Studeer jij aan de universiteit?” #ITooAmUvA. “Maar waar kom je écht vandaan?” #ITooAmVU. “Maar heeft jouw huidskleur het onderzoek niet beïnvloed? #ITooAmVU. Campaigns can be accessed online; http://itooamuva.tumblr.com/, http://itooamvu.tumblr.com/. 7.

(8) ‘majority-minority’ city where today only 49,3% of the population is of native Dutch descent (BOS, 2015; Crul, Schneider & Lelie, 2013). The increasing inflow of ethnic ‘minority’ students and their pathways in education has led to a surge of research into the study success of these students, because education is seen as an important element in the integration and emancipation of minority groups, who continue to be overrepresented within the lower socioeconomic class. On top of that it is believed that with a diversifying population, the challenges faced by policymakers and educators will diversify, too. The two universities in Amsterdam have a rather different approach to facing these challenges, which both universities recognise; the Free University Amsterdam (VU) has officially integrated diversity policy within its strategy, whereas the University of Amsterdam hasn’t. Also the representation of students of diverse ethnic backgrounds at the university differs, the VU hosts to student population that is somewhat representative of the city’s multicultural diversity than the UvA, where students with a migration background continue to make up a minority (Musschenga, 2011), an issue that has recently been problematised in university magazines (eg. Daniels, 2014; Breedveld, 2014; Anwar, 2015), as well as in practical student initiatives such as Amsterdam United and the student protest group ‘University of Colour’.. ! This thesis arises on the one hand from the alarming message sent out by campaigns such as #ITooAm, that show that in both universities, there is much to be done in order to make all students feel like they are equally valued. On the other hand, it arises from the observation of unequal representation at the two universities. Bringing these observations together through a Bourdieusian approach, the research project aims. 8.

(9) to give an insight into the role of diversity in the narratives of access and belonging of ethnic minority students. Access here refers to the study choice process and institutional choice of students, belonging captures the perception that one ‘fits in’, is appreciated, and feels at home in the institution.. Accordingly, the following research question has been formulated:. ! What is the role of perceived diversity in the narratives of access and belonging of Dutch students with a migration background at the two universities in Amsterdam?. ! In greater detail, the research question comprises three sub-questions; . 1. How do students reflect upon their study choice, and how is this shaped by their personal background?. 2. What is the role played by perceptions of institutional openness to diversity within students’ narratives of choosing an institution of higher education?. 3. How do students reflect upon ‘belonging’ within the university environment, and does this interact with their perception of diversity in the university environment. ! The findings of this study are based on a series of interviews with first year ethnic minority students enrolled in the economic faculties at the two universities in Amsterdam. Previous research on the educational pathways of ethnic minority students has mostly focused either on pathways of access towards the university or on students’ experiences within the university environment in relation to student retention. This. 9.

(10) study connects narratives of access and belonging with the aim to provide a deeper insight into the role played by perceptions of ethnic diversity throughout students’ pathways into higher education. The path-determined perspective that arises from connecting narratives of access and belonging provides a deeper understanding of how ethnic minority students appropriate previous experiences and social capital in choosing their learning environment strategically in order to maximise their feeling of belonging within the university environment. This understanding may play a crucial role in improving policy aimed at promoting the educational success ethnic minority students’ educational success.. ! The thesis will commence by giving the reader a brief insight into the context of this study, focusing on data diversity in higher education in the Netherlands and Amsterdam’s two universities, and the approach the two universities have to the diversification of their student populations. Then, the theoretical framework of this thesis project will be presented, starting with a review of previous research on ethnic minority students in higher education. Here, the aim is to identify the place of these concepts within the wider literature, in order to develop a more defined conceptual approach. After this, the empirical approach of the study will be outlined. Chapters five to seven will discuss the results of the study, each addressing one of the formulated research sub-questions. Firstly, chapter five will explore the participants personal backgrounds in relation to their study choice. Then, chapter six describes the factors that played a role in students’ institutional choice. In chapter seven the participants narratives of belonging within the institutional environment will be. 10.

(11) presented and illustrated with four contrasting case descriptions. Finally, the concluding chapter of this thesis will summarise the findings, give answer to the research questions of this thesis, and propose implications for policy and recommendations for further research.. ! But before we continue, a few words on the ‘buzzword diversity’. The term diversity has been used in a variety of ways; it has been applied to policy, used as an adjective, or normatively to describe ‘difference’. As Sara Ahmed notes, the use of the word has become so multidimensional, that ‘diversity is understood as an empty container; we can throw more things into a container if it is empty’ (2012: 80). Talking about diversity without a priori defining the term means that space is given to the interpretation of the term itself. Within this study, I aim to understand the role of ‘diversity’ within the narratives of students with a migration background. In empirical terms, this means that the role of diversity was studied within the confines of the ethnonational diversity of my participants. Despite this, I have attempted to leave room to the participants’ individual perspectives and interpretations of the term ‘diversity’ throughout the interviews. This has led to a twofold definition of the term within the final analysis; diversity in terms of ethnic heterogeneity, and diversity in terms of different class backgrounds. . 11.

(12) 2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY. ! In this chapter, the background of the study will be discussed. The aim is here, to give the reader an insight into the context within which the study is placed. Firstly, account will be given of numbers of ethnic diversity within higher education in the Netherlands, and how these are reflected in the student populations of Amsterdams two universities. After this, the institutional approaches towards the diversification of the student bodies of the two universities will be outlined.. ! 2.1 Ethnic diversity in Dutch higher education Between 1997 and 2011, the Dutch university population with a non-ethnic Dutch background rose by 153% (Zijlstra et al., 2013: 57). In 1997, the majority of these students were of Surinamese, Antillian, Turkish or Moroccan descent, and until today most students belong to the second generation of those ethno-national groups. Whereas this is still the case, the group of ‘other’ non-western minority students has grown and drastically diversified. In a 2013 review of policy measures taken by the five biggest universities in the country, the numbers and success rates of students with a non-western ‘allochtonous’2 background are well documented. Among all Dutch universities, the. 2. Data on student enrolment and ethnicity are collected by the Dutch national statistics institute (CBS), which has demographic data on the family background of the population. A distinction is made between autochtonous, which refers to people of whom both parents were born in the Netherlands, allochthonous refers to the population born abroad to at least one non-dutch born parent, as well as to the population born in the Netherlands with at least one foreign-born parent. Among those who are allochtonous, a distinction is also made between ‘western’, and ‘non-western’. That the western/non-western distinction also has an interwoven class element becomes evident from the fact that Japan and Indonesia are exempted from ‘non-western’ status despite being Asian; it is assumed that people stemming from those countries have stronger socio-economic and socio-cultural position (Kerncijfers OCW 2009-2013: 158).. 12.

(13) Erasmus University (EUR) and Free University Amsterdam (VU) have the highest percentile of students with a non-western background. In 2011, 21% of new enrolees at the VU were students of non-western allochtonous descent, at the Erasmus this was 26% (see also Table 1). The majority of those students at the VU are Surinamese, followed by a large group of students of Moroccan descent. Musschenga has compared these data to the percentage of non-western allochtonous inhabitants of the university’s recruitment area in three nearby provinces, to demonstrate that the VU’s student population is relatively representative of the population (Musschenga, 2011). While the University of Amsterdam (UvA) comes second to last in terms of its total percentage of non-western allochtonous enrolments (13%), it also has the most diverse allochtonous population; 54% of its non-western population does not belong to one of the largest minority groups. . Table 1. New enrolments of autochtonous and non-western allochtonous students UvA. VU. G5* Average. 2008. 2011. 2008. 2011. 2008. 2011. Western allochtonous. 14%. 14%. 9%. 9%. 12%. 12%. Non-western Allochtonous. 12%. 13%. 21%. 21%. 16%. 17%. Autochtonous. 74%. 73%. 70%. 70%. 72%. 71%. * G5 refers to the five universities in the Randstad area of the Netherlands, including the VU, UvA, the University of Utrecht (UU), Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) and the University Leiden (UL).. !. Some statistical differences can be observed between ethnic minority and majority students. In terms of study choice, students with a non-western minority background are overrepresented in the fields of law and economics. Whereas in 2011 only 11% of the native population enrolled in law and 15% in economics, 22% of non-western allochtonous students enrolled in law and 21% in economics (Zijlstra et al., 2013: 73).. 13.

(14) The success rates of non-western allochtonous lag behind in comparison with their native peers. They drop out more often, and switch to a different programme or institution more often. Alarmingly, the report shows that the gap of non-western allochtonous students who are switching is growing in comparison with their native peers (ibid.). Student retention for all groups has improved between 2005 and 2008, but students of non-western allochtonous heritage continue to drop out without diploma 19% more often than those of native Dutch descent (ibid). In particular students who study longer are at higher risk of not completing their studies.. It is important to mention, that the data on the basis of which these analyses of study success are made, only focus on ethnic and educational background, and therefore obscure the role of other factors in study success. Ethnicity intersects to a large degree with socio-economic status, leading to an overrepresentation of non-western allochtonous students when selecting out students from poorly educated families and low-income milieus. Paulle and Kalir (2013) point out that the tendency of researchers to focus on statistical differences between members of ethnic minority and majority groups has led to an overplaying of the ethnic effect. To support this, the authors cite a series of studies that have shown that when controlled for socio-economic background, the children of lower educated ethnic minority parents do better than their native peers (eg. Hustinx & Meijnen, 2001; Dronkers & Levels, 2005; Jungbluth, 2007; Tubergen & Van der Werfhorst, 2007; Werfhorst, 2015).. ! 2.2 Institutional approaches to multicultural diversity For a long time, educational institutions feared that policy aimed specifically at ‘allochtonous’ students would lead to stigmatisation (Waterval & Meziani, 2009). When. 14.

(15) overwhelming research brought the urgency of the growing educational gap between ethnic majority and minority students to light, this changed. In 2007, universities brought the issue to the attention of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW3), which resulted in the provision of funding to implement sustainable measures to increase the inflow and retention of students with a migration background (ECHO, 2013). All measures were to be aimed at inclusive excellence, or the setting of high expectations of all students, in combination with a broad offer of support programmes. The participating universities were free to implement measures they deemed appropriate. The VU and the UvA both received such funding, but maintain little transparency as to how it was used.. At the VU, an official diversity policy was adopted in the same year government provided additional funding. A coordinator of diversity was appointed, and in September 2014, Karin Oudenhoven-Van der Zee, whose scholarly work focuses on cultural diversity within organisations, was simultaneously appointed as Dean of the faculty of social sciences and as ‘chief diversity officer’. In its strategy, the diversity policy at the VU focuses on three themes; (1) inclusivity in its organisational climate and staff representation, (2) diversity as a theme within the education, and (3) the improvement of the rendition and labour market perspectives of bicultural students. The university thus leaves open what ‘diversity’ really means, and aims to address the entire population. In practice, the policy is for instance visible in the organization of events that aim to attract students from as many backgrounds as possible together, such as the sport event ‘VU Olympiad’ and a trip to Israel and Palestine.. 3. In translation: Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap (OCW). 15.

(16) The VU’s decision to adopt a diversity policy should be seen in light of the university’s identity. The university was founded by a group of Protestants Christians led by Abram Kuyper who fought for the freedom and equal funding of religious education. On the VU’s own website, the university describes itself ‘marked by her Christian character, her emancipatory function for the Protestant ‘common people’ and her societal engagement’ throughout its history.. !. In contrast, the UvA has not adopted an official diversity policy. Founded by the. municipality of Amsterdam, the university has always been secular and public, therefore ‘welcomes students and staff – from all backgrounds, cultures and faiths - who wish to devote their talents to the development and transfer of academic knowledge as a rich cultural resource and foundation for sustainable progress’ (Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2014, italics added by the author). This has also induced the university to always distance itself somewhat from addressing issues that may come up in relation to differences in ‘background, culture and faith’. In reaction to a twitter question about the absence of a prayer room at the university for instance, the UvA responded that this is ‘because the UvA is a public university’ 4. Yet, in the university’s most recent strategy formulation, the issue of the increasing diversity of the university population is addressed. Here, the university states that the rapid growth and increasing diversity of its population might lead to the deterioration of the quality of education. Therefore, the university aims to deliver education that is more precisely fitted to the different preuniversity pathways and cultural backgrounds of its students through the provision of ‘support of the institution’. Recently however, some steps towards becoming aware of 4. @UvA_Amsterdam, 25 March 2015, https://twitter.com/kizamag/status/580680426458648576?lang=en. 16.

(17) the role of diversity in the student body have been taken by the Graduate School of Social Sciences. Currently, the faculty gives limited funding to Amsterdam United, a student platform that aims to promote appreciation of diversity in the university. On top of that, the faculty has commissioned a small-scale study investigating ‘ethnic diversity’ at the University of Amsterdam. . 17.

(18) 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. ! With the ethnic diversification of higher education, research into the study experiences of ethnic minority students has surged. This section will provide an insight into previous research on ethnic minority students in higher education. Firstly, research focusing on these students’ access to university will be discussed, giving an insight into the elements researchers have identified as determining students’ pathways towards, and their choices of higher education. Secondly, research addressing the issue of belonging will be explored. In doing so, the section outlines the theoretical framework upon which this study rests, identifying the place of the concepts ‘access’ and ‘belonging’ within the wider literature. This will provide the basis for the development of a conceptual approach to tackling the research question, and the formulation of further sub-questions.. ! 3.1 Previous research on ‘access’ to higher education. In the Netherlands, research into ethnic minority students’ access to university usually focuses on the processes in which students are selected to enrol into university through the various levels of the Dutch secondary education system (eg. Crul, 2013; Bol et al., 2014). With the exception of the somewhat outdated work done by Mol (1992; 1993), there is little cohesive research into the study choice of ethnic minority students in particular (Hanna, 2012; Adlouni & Hermsen, 2009). Hanna has conducted a study on the study choice of male Moroccan-Dutch students, in which he found mostly differences in choice related to the values of the participants themselves. Ethnic identity played a role in the students’ motivation to study, because they wanted to break free. 18.

(19) from stereotypes, but also came to the fore in their choice for a particular university. Students who had positive experiences with multicultural high schools, usually enrolled at the VU. Secondly, students stated not being accepted by Dutch students on the basis of their background as a reason to choose for a university with a multicultural student population. Thirdly, several students expressed that they attached value to the stronger support among ethnic minority students. Students at the UvA stated having ‘too many friends’ at the VU, and had decided to enrol in a more isolated area in order not to get distracted. . In the Dutch analysis of the Pathways to Success project some attention has been paid to study choice. This project is a follow up of the quantitative TIES study, and relies on a series of in-depth interviews with highly successful Turkish and Moroccan young professionals (Crul et al., 2013). The authors compared students who immediately made the right study choice and those who initially made a wrong study choice and then switched to another programme. She found that among those who did not switch, parents had been had more closely involved in the study choice and had higher ambitions for their children. Both groups reported that their parents had not been able to offer much practical support from their parents. Those who switched were also less often supported by peers or siblings (ibid.).. With regards to institutional choice, Oosterbeek et al. (1992) conducted a study with the aim to analyse the relationship between university choice and earnings. They found differences in choice patterns with respect to the educational level of parents as well students’ gender, and also concluded that the expectation of life time earnings was of minimal importance compared to such factors as the university’s distance from the parental home, and (in order of importance), the academic reputation of the department,. 19.

(20) the attractiveness of the city, whether friends were enrolled in the same university, and whether the university had the right religious denomination. The UvA was chosen more often by students who considered the attractiveness of the city important in their choice, the VU stood out in particular among students who attached value to the religious denomination of the university. The authors also found that the UvA attracts the ‘best’ students in terms of their grades in high school and their parents’ level of education.. In the UK, the institutional choice of ethnic minority students has been studied in greater depth. Several studies have confirmed that some minority students are doubtful about entering universities in which only a small percentage of students or staff comes from their own ethnic background, and desire to go to institutions with a more pronounced ethnic mix (Allen, 1998; Acland & Azmi, 1998). A study done by Reay and her colleagues (Reay et al., 2001b) showed how the choice process of working class students, in particular those from minority ethnic backgrounds, strongly differed from their middle-class counterparts (871). A first set of differences was clearly class-related; (1) most working class students were confined to choosing a university within close vicinity to their home in order to save costs for transportation and independent housing, and (2) many of the students were working in order to finance their studies; a factor leading them to have less time for studying and resulting in lower study success. A second set of differences were identified as psychological; and related to (3) doubt about one’s place within academia and feelings of disconnection with the university environment, as well as (4) perceptions of the ‘good university’ as a white and elitist place where there are ‘few people like me’ (ibid.). The authors argue that among. 20.

(21) working class and minority ethnic prospective students, the choice for a certain institution is guided strongly by a desire to ‘fit in’. In a more recent paper by the same authors (Ball et al., 2002), it is argued that the perceived lack of an ethnic mix within a university is among a variety of choice criteria of students, and in some cases even the decisive factor in not choosing certain educational institutions (348). More specifically, the authors describe that for many ethnic minority students, choice was about ‘sustaining aspects of their ethnic identity or having this identity valued and defended, or at least not having to defend or assert the value of their identity’ (ibid., italics by the author). This finding stresses the relevance of considering ethnic minority students’ choices as not only guided by class, but specifically also by ethnicity. On top of that, the finding makes an important statement about choice in itself that confirms the validity of the conceptual framework of this thesis; it shows that prospective students choose on the basis of their expectations about the diversity of the institution, an idea that is also supported by the work done by Reay et al. (2001a). No comparable studies, investigating the choices between different higher educational institutions made by minority students, have been done within the Dutch context. It must be noted here, that the open access to education, the comparable quality of universities and the simple fact that most Dutch cities only house one university, makes it easy to assume that choice is to a much greater extent defined by the city in which one wants to (continue to) live.. !. 21.

(22) 3.2 ‘Belonging’ within research on students’ educational careers and experiences. Research into the university experiences of ethnic minority students has to a large extent focused on study success. To some extent, students’ feelings of ‘belonging’ come to the fore in explanations of differences in study success. On the basis of a national analysis of the study success of ethnic minority students, for instance, Wolff finds that their study success lags behind that of their ethnic majority peers (2013: 5). They more often take a longer route towards higher education, and they more often drop out, especially in the later years of their studies. Also among study switchers ethnic minority students are overrepresented.. In the previous chapter it was already described that few studies take into account the role the students’ socioeconomic background plays within their experiences and success within higher education. Wolff did not integrate the factor of the students’ socioeconomic background within his analysis, while acknowledging that the overrepresentation of ethnic minorities within lower socio-economic milieus should be more closely considered in relation to student retention. He nonetheless points towards foreign studies that indicate that there is in fact a relation between ethnic background and student retention, even when controlled for the socio-economic background of the parents, and that these studies studies to some degree indicate that differences exist between ethnic groups (eg. Bowen & Bok, 1998; Carter, 2006; Naylor & Smith, 2004). The author also refers to Dutch studies, which indicated that the relationship between ethnicity and study success holds when controlled for socioeconomic status (o.a. Ooijevaar, 2010). Ooijevaar indeed took the factor of parental background into account as an indicator of students’ socioeconomic background, and found that the effect of high levels of income and the educational level of the parents did were not significantly. 22.

(23) correlated with the study success of ethnic minority students, whereas it does play a role among students of native Dutch descent (2010: 39). . Within the literature focusing on students’ experiences and success within higher education, two types of describing factors can be observed. On the one hand, there are predictors that have to do with students’ personal characteristics, such as the time spent in the Netherlands (Tubergen & Van de Werfhorst, 2007), gender and the pre-univerisity educational trajectory (eg. Ooijevaar & Zorlu, 2008; Wolff, 2013), as well as socioeconomic backgrounds and the associated economic, social and cultural capital (eg. Crul, Scheider & Lelie, 2013; Nanhoe, 2012), knowledge of the educational system and didactical style, having to work besides studies and the time remaining for studying. For some students, the transition to university leads to what has been called a ‘double milieu migration’; both in socio-economic as in ethnic cultural terms, these students were confronted with a new environment (eg. Groenendijk & Hahn, 2006, Wolff, 2013).. On the other hand, there is a series of factors determining study success during students’ enrolment within the university. These studies, both within the Netherlands and abroad, focus on students’ binding within the university, and usually base themselves on a model developed by Tinto that distinguishes between academic and social integration as predictors of student retention (eg. Wolff, 2013; Severiens, Wolff & Rezai, 2006; Read, Archer & Leathwood, 2003; Thomas, 2002; Loo & Rolison, 1986, and many more). In particular among ethnic minority students, the lack of binding with the academic and social environment in the university has been identified as a element playing a role among students who drop-out (Crul & Wolff, 2002; Waterval & Meziani, 2009).. 23.

(24) Tinto’s model on student retention incorporates the two levels of predictors, those that have to do with students’ personal backgrounds and those that influence the students’ experiences within the university (Tinto, 1975). He argues that the first affects students ability for the latter; namely that students integrate within the social and academic social systems of their learning environment when these make a better match with their personal backgrounds. Academic integration here refers to the degree to which students feel at home within the academic climate, both in terms of the field of study and their interaction with professors and students within the field (Severiens, Wolff & Rezai, 2006: 20). Social integration refers to the degree to which students make good social contacts with their peers within the programme. In particular the making of friends with whom one can spend time outside the formal setting of the university contributes to this social integration (ibid.; Wolff, 2013: 80).. In a study done by Severiens, Wolff and Rezai (2006), no connection between the academic integration of ethnic minority students and their study success could be found. The authors argued that the analysis, which was done on ethnic minority students of a variety of ethnonational backgrounds, might have masked differences between various ethnic groups and differences between first- and second generation immigrant students. The authors did, however, find differences in the way ethnic minority students reflected on their learning environments; they were more likely to describe feeling less at home within the environment than native Dutch students. The authors also found that these students were more dependent on the support of the learning environment in their study success; in learning environments that demanded a greater degree of autonomy of their students, native students did better than those with an ethnic minority background. These findings were not controlled for socio-economic background. Finally, the finding. 24.

(25) of the study indicated that where friend groups are more segregated in terms of ethnicity, minority students more often feel like they are less valued or treated ‘differently’. . Wolff (2013) further investigated the role of social help-sources from within and outside the university in the study success of non-western allochtonous students, and stresses the importance of social capital among this group in particular, arguing that when comparing dropouts and graduating students, the latter 1) have more often sought advice of social resources while choosing their studies, 2) are better able to build up social relationships with peers and university staff, and 3) that they feel more often ‘at home’ in the institution. The study, which is based on two earlier research projects (Crul & Wolff, 2002; Severiens, Wolff & Rezai, 2006) brings together quantitative data and qualitative data from interviews with students and staff in the educational environment, also brings to the fore the programme-specific elements that nourish success. Programmes in which students performed equally well, regardless of their ethnic background, provided extensive ‘steering’ (for instance by making attendance compulsory), had a personal approach to the contact between students and teachers, and provided teaching in short blocks and small groups (Wolff, 2013). . Finally, there are a few studies that look into students’ perceptions of belonging and identification within the university environment, sometimes in relation to their study success. An example is the work done by Beekhoven, who found that students who identify as ‘allochtoon’5 seem less well integrated in the educational context, and have less study progress than students who identify as Dutch. Slootman (2014) explored the ethnic identity formation of Turkish and Moroccan students, and found that when 5. See section 2.1 for a discussion of the term ‘allochtoon’. 25.

(26) entering university, these students sometimes for the first time met co-ethnics with similar experiences, leading them to re-explore or reinvent their ethnic identity in relation to their their educational level. Also the dissertation by De Jong is worth mentioning, which showed that as a result of experiences with teachers and peers, Moroccan students felt like others bluntly identified them as ‘Moroccans’ or ‘muslim’, and that they experienced difficulties escaping from the negative connotations this brought upon them within the educational context.. ! 3.3 Conceptual Approach. Previous research indicates that both ethnic identification and social capital associated with study choosers’ socioeconomic backgrounds play a role in the study choice of ethnic minority students. Research from abroad suggests that in the institutional choice, the perceived ethnic mix is a factor that is an element taken into account by students with an ethnic minority background. ‘Belonging’ comes to the fore in studies that look into the factors shaping study success and dropout behaviour, and is related to students academic and social integration into the educational context, as well as to the way in which an ethnic identity can both flourish in the educational context, and work as a barrier when students face difficulties escaping from the prejudice associated with ethnicity. . In understanding the relation between access and belonging within ethnic minority students’ pathways to higher education, the theoretical work of Pierre Bourdieu is very useful. As Tzanakis remarked, Bourdieu’s analysis of the role of educational institutions in society has been defining for the way in which educational institutions and educational preferences are studied sociologically (2011). Bourdieu saw the educational. 26.

(27) system as the major institution through which the language, meanings, and the symbolic system of the dominant class is imposed on the rest of the population (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1970/1990: 54). He argues that, in this way, the culture reproduced in academic institutions expresses a taste, or a collection of deep-rooted dispositions ‘that forge the unconscious unity of a class’ (Bourdieu, 1984: 77). According to Bourdieu, these tastes are expressed in the habitus, or the mental structures through which people perceive and act within the social world (Ritzer, 2008: 531). The habitus is a set of dispositions that is strongly class related, because it is acquired within the earliest stages of socialisation. Yet, also other intersecting elements of identity such as as gender ethnicity or religion shape the habitus, by influencing one’s position in the social world, and hence their experience of it. A person’s choices and practical actions mediate between the habitus and the social world; one the one hand they arise from the habitus, while they are at the same time constantly reshaping the habitus. Within education, the habitus both plays a role in the educational choices one makes, and in the way in which one reflects upon, and relates to one’s educational environment. For students from the dominant class, habitus seems to play little of a role within both their choice and perception of belonging. Since the educational system builds upon the same social and cultural practice which they have been socialised in, entering the university environment for them is like being a ‘fish in water’ for these students; ‘it does not feel the weight of the water and it takes the world about itself for granted’ (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992: 127). Students whose habitus does not match that of the institution however, may feel as if they ‘do not fit in, that their social and. 27.

(28) cultural practices are inappropriate and that their tacit knowledge is undervalued’ (Thomas, 2002: 431).. ! The conceptual structure of this thesis is derived from a theoretical model that is based on the work of Bourdieu, and his conception. The concept of the habitus here is crucial, because from a Bouridieusian perspective it both produces the pathway towards and choice for an educational institution (‘access’), and shapes how students will feel like they belong within the institution. As Harker and May described; the ‘Habitus sets the boundaries within which agents are “free” to adopt strategic practices. These practices, based on intuitions of the practical sense, orient rather than strictly determine action.’ (1993: 174, cited in Smith, 2007: 419). First of all, this study will build upon the Bourdieusian distinction between ‘embedded’ and ‘contingent’ choosers that was developed by Ball, Reay and David in their study of the role of a what they called ‘ethnic mix’ on the choosing behaviour of ethnic minority students (2002). The authors observed a class difference within the choice patterns of their participants, describing that students for whom studying meant to break with the cultural script of their environment (‘contingent choosers’), were more likely to choose an environment that they perceived as ethnically mixed.. As for ‘belonging’, Thomas (2002) has applied the work of Bourdieu to explain student retention, developing the notion that an ‘institutional habitus’ can determine the degree to which students feel in place within an institution. The concept of the institutional habitus was developed by Reay et al. (2001b), and refers to the ‘impact of a cultural group or social class as it is mediated through an organization’ (para .1.3). Thomas argued that when an institutional habitus is inclusive and accepting of. 28.

(29) difference, non-traditional students will feel more valued within the institution. Feeling like one belongs in an institution is to some extent shaped by students’ academic and social integration in the institution (Tinto, 1975). This in turn will promote higher of student retention.. In the present study, these two elements of the habitus, that of the choosing student expressing his or her habitus and that of the institutional habitus, are seen as interconnected; when students make their study choice, they might choose for an institution that they expect to be accepting of difference in order to minimise the risk of feeling out of place. . 29.

(30) 4. EMPIRICAL APPROACH. ! The research questions were empirically addressed through a qualitative study comprised of a series of in-depth interviews with first year students in the economic faculties of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Free University of Amsterdam (VU). In-depth interviews result in data that consists of individual narratives, which are particularly useful to gain an understanding of individual perceptions, beliefs, feelings and experiences (Hennink & Hutter, 2011). . ! 4.1 Sampling. In order to gather a comparable sample of participants, it was decided to limit the study to first year students within the economics and business faculties of each university. Within these faculties, more students of ‘non-western allochtonous’ descent are enrolled (see also chapter 2). The programmes in economics and business and econometrics that are offered at the universities are rather similar in terms of the programme and ranking6. A few programmes that were not offered at both universities were excluded from the study7. . Initial participant recruitment was done through announcements on Facebook. Messages were posted in the general groups for the two universities’ faculties, and in the groups of all the different programmes within the faculty, and in as many first year 6. University ranking systems differ strongly. In the nation-wide Elsevier Ranking, The VU and UvA bachelors in economics and business come out as 9th and 10th in the country respectively. (See Elsevier website, http://onderzoek.elsevier.nl/onderzoek/de-beste-studies/7/vergelijk/023,30,31,32. Accessed on 20 February 2015) 7 At. the VU, business management (bedrijfskunde) was excluded, at the UvA the programmes in actuarial science, fiscal economics, and PPLE were excluded.. 30.

(31) groups as could be retrieved. When few reactions followed, it was decided to also include the English-taught study programmes in International Business Administration at the VU, and English-taught Economics & Business track at the UvA. . The messages stated that participants should be first year students whose parents had not studied, and whose parents were not born in the Netherlands. It was decided to ask for ‘students whose parents were not born in the Netherlands’ in order to recruit a varied group of immigrant children, without stigmatising potential participants in advance through the use of terms such as ‘allochtoon’. The educational level of the parents was used to control for class, since previous studies found a strong correlation between class background and parental educational level (eg. Wolff, 2013; Ball et al., 2002). Nevertheless, special attention will be paid to the class backgrounds of the participants in the first chapter of the analysis. Nine participants responded to the Facebook messages. Six more were recruited through the snowball method and one participant was recruited via the network of the researcher. One participant’s data were dismissed later on in the analysis, because his class background did not match that of the others (UvA.MM.03). Two additional participants without migration background were also recruited through Facebook, in order to prevent the ethnicization of the results (one male, one female).. Of the fifteen participants with migration background, eight were students at the VU, and seven at the UvA. Seven girls were interviewed, and five boys (see Table 2). The migration backgrounds of the students varied widely; five had Moroccan heritage, two were Dutch-Surinamese, the others had parents born in Ghana, Rwanda, Lebanon, Tunisia, Colombia, India and China. Only one participant was ‘western-allochtonous’, his parents migrated to the Netherlands from Poland. Eleven participants belonged to. 31.

(32) the second generation and four had migrated to the Netherlands themselves as refugees or the children of labour migrants. All first generation students were enrolled at the VU. Three of the students had partially grown up in the Netherlands, but completed high school elsewhere.. ! Table 2. Overview of participants’ migrant generation and gender per University VU. Total. Female. Male. Female. Male. First generation. 2. 2. -. -. 4. Second generation. 1. 3. 4. 3. 11. Total. UvA. 8. 7. 15. 4.2 Data collection & analysis. The interviews were conducted in person between mid February and mid March. 2015. The interviews with students at the UvA mostly took place in a small canteen (‘De Brug’) at Roeterseiland, one interview was conducted on a quiet spot outside. Those at the VU took place in a cafe at Campus (‘The Basket’), or in the general canteen. . The interviews were semi-structured and rather in-depth, and conducted with the use of an interview guide, focusing on the following themes: (1) The students’ personal backgrounds and decision to study, (2) the study choice process, considerations and help sources, (3) experiences of the transition to the university environment, (4) perceptions on diversity within the university, and (5) some additional issues, such as students’ auxiliary activities and future perspectives. The interview guide was loosely followed, moving along with students’ narratives and coming back to issues that may have been. 32.

(33) skipped at a later stage. All interviewees agreed to be recorded with a mobile phone’s recording function. After each interview, the most important findings and personal observations were noted in a fieldwork diary. In the analytical stage of the research project, six participants were asked to answer some additional questions. These conversations took place on the phone at an agreed-upon time, and were also recorded with a mobile phone. . For each of the initial interviews, a verbatim transcript was written shortly after the interview. When the fieldwork stage progressed, and initial recurring themes became visible, the transcriptions were transferred into an excel file in which the remaining interviews were partially transcribed, partially summarised. The analysis was done in accordance with the six-step methodology proposed by Beuving and de Vries (2015), and started with (1) the organising of the data in the excel sheet (‘unitizing'). Consequently, more in-depth categorisation or coding of the data within the sheet was done (2), and the various cases were compared with each other within the categories that came up (3). From here, general patterns were deduced (4) and finally, the general theory crystallised (5) before the writing started (6).. ! 4.3 Limitations & Reflexivity. Many studies have shown that the ethnicity of the researcher has an effect on the response, in particular when questions are asked that have to do with ethnicity and related subjects (for an overview, see Lawrence & Huffmon, 2010). Researchers with a different ethnic background than their participants have been found to generate responses that are further away from the ‘truth’. On the one hand, this may be the result of giving answers that are socially desirable, but respondents may also be inclined to. 33.

(34) give an answer that the interviewer subconsciously elicits through his own subjectivity (ibid.). . Throughout the research project, and especially during the interviews and analysis, I have continuously been aware of the effect my own presence might have had on the participants. I attempted to diminish the effect of my own ethnicity by establishing rapport with the participants before the interview, by attempting to make them feel comfortable before and during the interview, and by keeping an open mind and formulating my words carefully. During the interviews, some of the participants seemed to become cautious when the topic ‘diversity’ was brought up, and some students would tell stories about issues such as discrimination while omitting ethnicspecific descriptions. In these cases, I have carefully asked to ‘describe’ the people they discussed, or taken a step back in order to come back to the topic later. . Another limitation comes forth from the inclusion of the IBA and English-taught economics and business programme. Whereas the programmes are somewhat comparable, the IBA programme actually selects its participants and therefore hosts to group of somewhat more qualified students. On top of that, both programmes attract more international students, an element that naturally affected the students’ perceptions of diversity. This issue will be reviewed in light of the findings in the discussion chapter of this thesis. . ! ! ! ! ! 34.

(35) 5. CHOICES CONTEXTUALISED: EMBEDDED & CONTINGENT CHOOSERS!. ! In this chapter, the participants’ narratives of their personal backgrounds will be discussed. In doing so, the chapter will answer the first sub-question of this thesis, which pertains to the role of students’ backgrounds in relation to their study choice. Ball et al. (2002) identified two ideal types of choosers that are to a large extent related to the class background of their participants. On the one hand, they observed a group of embedded choosers, that came from a middle or higher class background. These participants considered it as the norm to go to university, were well supported in their decision to go to university by their network, and economic constraints played only a small role in their higher educational choice. The second group, the contingent choosers, generally came from a lower class background and were to a greater degree left on their own both in terms of their study choice and had little to no financial support during their studies. Also being a first generation student was a characteristic of many of their participants. The characteristics ascribed to embedded and contingent choosers are outlined in Table 3 (as depicted by Ball et al, 2002).. The authors warrant that the ideal types should not be mistaken for being complete case descriptions; ‘they are in Weber’s terms hypothetical selections, a step away from reality’ (ibid: 336), but that rather they should be regarded as the basis for a more nuanced analysis. By taking a closer look at students who in Ball’s terms would be considered ‘contingent’, this chapter will show that a more complex picture arises, in which even though the participants generally shared coming from a lower socioeconomic background, significantly different expressions came to the fore of what their. 35.

(36) background means to them, and how this affected their study choice. It will be argued, that differences in the social environment of the participants played a strong role in how they made their study choice. . ! Contingent choosers. Embedded choosers. Finance is a key concern and constraint Choice uses minimal information. Finance is not an issue Choice is based on extensive and diverse sources of information Choice is part of a cultural script, ‘normal biography’ A diverse array of resources are deployed in choice Choice is detailed Extensive support (social capital) is mobilised Ethnic mix is marginal or irrelevant in choice Choosing is long-term and often relates to vivid ‘imagined futures’—part of a coherent and planned narrative Followers embedded in deep grammar of aspiration which makes higher education normal and necessary Broad socioscapes and social hoizons— choices are ‘national’/distance is not an issue Parents as ‘strong framers’ and active participants in choice. Choice is distant or ‘unreal’ Few variables are called up Choice is general/abstract Minimal support (social capital) is used Ethnic mix is an active variable in choosing Choosing is short-term and weakly linked to ‘imagined futures’—part of an incomplete or incoherent narrative First time choosers with no family tradition in higher education Narrowly defined socioscapes and spatial horizons— choices are ‘local’/distance is a friction Parents as ‘onlookers’ or ‘weak framers’/mothers may give practical support on families making the choice. Table 3. Characteristics of embedded and contingent choosers. . !. 5.1 Very contingent choosers. Eight of the ethnic minority students within the sample could clearly be associated with the ideal type ‘contingent’. Five of the students who were very contingent choosers came from single-mother households. Two came from families in which the father was not employed. Those parents who were employed worked mostly in low-skilled service jobs; for instance as an informal domestic worker, as a kitchen employee in a restaurant, or in a children’s day care. Four of these students had taken a longer route into university; one of them had not been able to enrol immediately due to an invalid residence permit, one had broken off his studies twice before enrolling at the UvA, one. 36.

(37) had never finished high school and re-entered education through a special entrance exam. Only one had entered the university with a hbo diploma8. . These more contingent students more often reported that it had not always been clear to them that they would enrol in university studies, and often the decision to go to university was made at later a age and rather independently. These students related the decision to go to university very strongly with a desire for social mobility, but expressed this much less as in terms of clear goals than the more embedded choosers. For the very contingent choosers, enrolling in university was much rather related to ‘just wanting something for in the future’ (UvA.VM.02), or not wanting to let their VWO diploma go to waste.. The amount of support that these choosers had received from their families, was significantly smaller than among the more embedded choosers. In particular, the role played by parents differed greatly between the two groups. Some expressed that their parents’ lack of education also formed a hindrance in high school, where, in contrast to their peers, they couldn’t be supported with homework by their parents. Even more important was the role played by the parents in giving their children an incentive two study; only two of the students felt pressure to study from the home front, and two some even expressed that their parents were somewhat indifferent with regards to their decision to study. Most contingent choosers described that their parents were proud of them for going to university, but that they had parents largely left the decision to the choosers themselves. The following citations illustrate this; . 8. ‘Hbo' stands for ‘hoger beroeps onderwijs’, and is a type of higher education that is similar to that offered in vocational universities.. 37.

(38) “Well my father - my parents both - said, because they didn’t know much about how the system itself works, they said you should make a choice, when you want to study you should do it yourself. They really said, […] It’s you who will have to study, you will have to choose what you want to do.” (UvA.VM.02).. “I am honest when I say that my parents had already kind of given up, they just told me like, ‘do a quick programme somewhere and eeh… just start working’.” (UvA.MM.17). None of the contingent participants had received guidance from their parents with regards to their study choice, which participants usually related to their parents’ lack of understanding of the educational system, as well as that the Dutch (academic) language of the information provided formed a barrier for their parents to provide them with help. One participant, who later suggested that during the university’s open days information could be provided in multiple languages, stated for instance;. “My parents, yes… because they didn’t study they […] they don’t really know much about education. The system and also education in the Netherlands for instance. Yes I did tell them what I wanted to do and they thought it was fine, so… But they didn’t really help.” (UvA.VM.16). In a single case, the sister of a participant had stepped in where her parents couldn’t provide her with support; since her parents did not speak Dutch very well, her sister had accompanied her on a visit to Amsterdam on the open day of the UvA:. “My parents also didn’t join to those open days, […] then you also don’t have a good image. I tried explaining it, but… […] My sister can pay attention to different things. And my mum for instance, well she speaks Dutch but she can’t, when someone is speaking Dutch in a fancy way, then she doesn’t understand. […] And she also doesn’t understand the system… Then you get less out of it because they are there, thinking, ‘well, nice school’, but no more.” (UvA.VM.02). 38.

(39) This participant was the only contingent chooser who had received active help from a sibling in her higher education choice. Among the other participants, five of whom had elder siblings, only three had siblings who had enrolled into higher education. One of the participants had a brother who was working after having dropped out of a hbo programme, and expressed that his brother provided him with little guidance with regards to his study and study choice. The third, who was enrolled at the UvA after having dropped out of economics and business programmes at the VU and Erasmus university, expressed that his sisters were actually too busy to help him, as well as that it had never occurred to him to ask them for help;. “My sisters were really busy. Really busy with their studies and… I also just didn’t ask about it. Maybe I should have asked, but I just left that. […] Maybe I would have needed that, a guide or something, a kind of guide.” (UvA.MM.17). For some of these very contingent choosers, peers were points of reference or providers of help in times of need rather than their family members. There was one participant who received coaching via a friend when she was not doing very well in high school, and who consulted her old high school friends about career options when she decided to study. The participant who had dropped out of several programmes before enrolling at the UvA described that his peers were the ones who stimulated him to pick up his studies again. Since they had not obtained as high levels of education as their friend, they repeatedly told him that he should make use of his opportunity to go to university by telling him that ‘if they had my brains, they would have gone immediately’ (UvA.MM.17). In some cases, peers from outside high school also induced students’ desire for social mobility, because they formed a reference point of where they did not want to end up:. 39.

(40) “I actually don’t have so many friends who are still going to school, and that also motivated me to go to school, because I saw that they were doing very badly.” (VU.MM.06). ! 5.2 Somewhat embedded contingent choosers. Another group of participants was clearly more embedded than the others. The students generally came from rather stable family backgrounds. All came from twoparent families, and only two came from families in which the father was the only bread-winner. For all, their parents' income was usually stable; some were teachers at the elementary level, others were small business owners or worked in a low-skilled job in healthcare. There were two ‘somewhat embedded choosers’ whose socio-economic background was considerably higher; both were daughters of relatively successful business owners who had moved to Surinam for high school and returned to the Netherlands for their studies. Their class backgrounds, and therefore their narratives, differ somewhat from that of the others. I will point out these differences where necessary. . All students had enrolled into university immediately after completing the VWO, the high school track that prepared them for scientific higher education, and regarded this as the logical next step. When explaining this, students usually referred to their achievement in high school, that gave them confidence that they would succeed in the university;. “I was just getting good grades, I wanted to do VWO. Then I think it is established that you go to university.” VU.MM.08. However, enrolling into university was certainly not part of a ‘cultural script’ or ‘normal biography’, as Ball et al. (2002) described in their ideal type of the embedded. 40.

(41) chooser. Much rather, students regarded it as the norm to make use of the opportunity for social mobility that presented itself to them after graduating from the VWO. This mostly came to the for in students’ plans for the future: whereas the precise jobs the students pursued remained somewhat unclear, almost all of them had some sort of image in mind that they wanted to work for a company one day, as an accountant for instance or somewhere abroad.. Family and peers were frequently cited as important in reinforcing a university education as the norm after VWO graduation. Participants sometimes stated that despite the fact that their parents had not studied themselves, it had been very clear to them that they were expected to do so. The following citation is particularly illustrative of how one participants’ parents made him realise that he was expected to go to university after graduating. He described that his parents reacted with strong disappointment when he briefly considered becoming a professional cook:. “It wouldn’t have been an option not to study, because I still remember that at some point […] I told my parents, ‘Hey, it seems pretty cool to be a cook later, professionally.’ And then they were like [raises voice]: ‘What are you saying?! How dare you, a cook?! Why are you doing VWO then? And you are studying, why would you do all that effort? Only people who can’t really study become a cook!’ So you have to, you’re making effort, you’re doing VWO, then you should also do something… better. […]” (VU.MM.05). The parents of many students had been quite strong in steering and stimulating the participants’ choice for a university education. Besides making clear that they expected their children to obtain a university degree after graduating from the VWO, this help took several, more active, forms. First of all, participants frequently stated that their parents made it known to their children that they could rely on them for help. This form. 41.

(42) of support can best be described as mental support or guidance in the process of making an important decision; . ‘My parents did help, but it is a bit more like, […] ‘just look at what feels good, and what you think suits you, and then we’ll talk about it’ […] ‘just think properly, talk to people, talk to us’. Not directed on the study programme but more about how you feel about it, and then we’d figure it out [together].’ (VU.MM.07). Besides, there were several students who described their parents role as a more active one, in which they stressed that their parents didn’t know the educational system very well, but that they would help their children making sense of this unknown world — although sometimes unnecessarily;. ‘And at some point my dad was like, ‘yes, which study programmes are you considering’, and eeh… ‘what do you think of doing next year?’ So then I mentioned a few programmes and he started researching what they entailed, what it was, and so on. And then he later returned, like ‘this study has this, this study is like that’. And then I was like, ‘yeah, I know all of that already!’ (VU.MM.05). Several other students also reported that their parents had looked into the various programmes they were considering, and helped them consider whether this would fit their personalities and interests. Several students cited that their parents wanted them to do something medical, such as becoming a dentist or doctor, but that when they had stated that that was not something they wanted, their parents had been fine with that too. In Rezai’s analysis of the pathways data (Crul et al., 2013), she showed that this type of parenting mostly came to the fore in the narratives of students who do not switch study programmes later on in their educational pathways. Yet, all students who had help from their parents explicitly stated that their parents had played a supportive rather than a. 42.

(43) directional role in their choice, letting the students eventually make a choice on their own. . Siblings played a somewhat marginal role among these somewhat embedded choosers. Whereas five of the seven students had elder siblings, all of whom were enrolled into higher education, only one of them reported that whereas his sister had initially not been very involved in his educational career, she did forward him a number of study programmes, including the one he eventually enrolled in, after he had dropped out of the programme of his initial choice. Among the others, two actually reflected somewhat disappointedly on their siblings uninvolved stance towards their study choice. However, for many of these choosers, their siblings did play an inactive a role in shaping their choice for an educational institution. This will be discussed in greater depth in the next chapter. Besides, it could be argued that the fact that their siblings had enrolled into university may have played a somewhat more unconscious role in shaping their image of studying in university as being the norm.. Peers were rarely referred to as having played a role in the students’ study choice. Only one of the participants described that he came along to a lecture of a programme that he was considering and in which one of his friends was enrolled. Also another more embedded student showed that he knew, to some degree, how to make use of his social contacts; via-via he became on speaking terms with someone who had been enrolled in his programme via his mother, and met up with her to discuss her experiences within the programme.. ! ! ! 43.

(44) 5.3 Types of choosers: A difference of class?. The above description of the two groups of choosers shows that different degrees of contingency exist; within a social class that is fairly comparable in terms of the educational level of the parents and mostly comparable in terms of their financial situation, the social resources available to participants and the role of parenting differ rather strongly. This affected the students’ perceptions of their enrolment into university, most notably in terms of their perception of a university education as being the ‘norm’. The table below (Table 4) shows how the ideal types that have been established by Ball et al. (2002) could be redefined, to include a third category; that of the ‘somewhat embedded’ choosers. None of the participants in this study belonged to the category ‘embedded chooser’. . The findings show some similarity with the work done by the researchers of the Pathways project, who identified supportive parents and older siblings as key figures in helping Moroccan and Turkish members of the second generation at decisive moments in their educational careers, such as their enrolment in to high school and their study choice. Among the five Moroccan participants in this study, two indicated that they had received some help in their study choice from a sibling, and three indicated that their parents had been very stimulating in their decision to study.. No significant differences were visible in the ways in which contingent and ‘somewhat embedded’ students identified. Much rather, this became evident from the students’ narratives of their previous educational backgrounds; two males who had previously gone to school in a predominantly white environment described themselves as ‘black’, the girls who had attended high school in Surinam referred to themselves as . 44.

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