• Universiteit van Amsterdam

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Bsc Thesis - I don't know if I still belong here: exploring relative deprivation and its effects on international students’ undergraduate academic trajectories in Amsterdam research universities

By George Sebastian Hîrjoabâ

What factors influence bachelor’s students’ academic trajectories? Within my thesis I explore the ways non-EU international bachelor's students make decisions about their academic pathways through the lens of relative deprivation. This is a sociological theory which is used to explore how individuals forming comparisons to their environment, peer group, or to themselves at different periods in time can affect their image of themselves and hence influence their future actions.

Specifically I analyse how students' perceptions of the city of Amsterdam, the social groups they find themselves in, as well as their perceptions of academia in Amsterdam compare to their past experiences, or to ideal experiences they would like to have, and how this act of comparison-making then affects their decisions to continue with academia or not in their current institution, as well as their choice to remain in Amsterdam, making my study relevant for city living itself as well as perceptions of academia in Amsterdam.

I believe my thesis is especially relevant considering the Dutch government's proposal to require bachelor courses to be taught in minimum two thirds Dutch, in providing a more in depth look at the world of international students, their struggles and joy, and also their sense of identity and belonging within the city, and hopefully to plead for the relevance of a strong international community in Dutch universities as a benefit for both international and local students for understandings of different cultures, diversity and for having a broader perspective on the interconnected world of today.

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