UvA political scientists on Dijkgraaf’s internationalization plans: “All hell has broken loose”
The political science program director foresees major problems if education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf’s proposal goes through. Dijkgraaf is considering restricting certain bachelor’s programs to a maximum of one-third of subjects in English. “Among international colleagues, all hell has broken loose.”
At the political science department, initial news of Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf's intention hit like a bomb. “Dijkgraaf launched this unfortunate trial balloon and he has been quiet ever since, but among international colleagues here all hell has broken loose,” said Armèn Hakhverdian, program director of the political science bachelor's program at the UvA.
The UvA itself is also concerned about the minister's announcement. The university fears “an accumulation of measures, emergency buttons, implementation burdens, and readjustments.” But much is also still unclear, the UvA notes in a press release.
What exactly is going on? During a debate with the House of Representatives last week, Minister Dijkgraaf seemed to anticipate a bill that would require undergraduate programs to offer two-thirds of their courses in Dutch. Only one-third - 20 of the 60 credits, assuming one academic year - could then be taught in English.
Teaching in other languages would still be possible, provided there are good reasons for doing so. But exactly what those reasons are is still unknown. Dijkgraaf, who is not a fervent opponent of internationalization, believes that the educational institutions themselves would have the best insight into this. With the proposal - which is still far from being finalized - the minister mainly wants to combat the harmful side effects of internationalization. These include the enormous workload on teachers and the pressure on the housing market.
Political Science
But what consequences would his proposed bill have, if any, not just for an internationally oriented UvA program like political science but others as well?
Hakhverdian foresees huge, detrimental consequences for his program if what he calls the minister's “disastrous and catastrophic” plan goes through.
While six years ago there were only 645 students pursuing a bachelor's degree in political science, this year there were 1,549. An increasing proportion of the student population in political science is from abroad: 59 percent in 2023, compared to a mere 20 percent in 2017.
According to Hakhverdian, Dijkgraaf's measure would cause the international student population to not only decline but virtually disappear. “Enrollment would completely collapse. If we teach one-third of the program in English and two-thirds of the program in Dutch, not a single international student will go along with it. We would drop from about 500 freshmen to pre-internationalization level, which was around 150.”
This would entail many consequences for government funding, which depends on student numbers, after all. The result? “Cuts on a scale we haven't seen for generations,” says Hakhverdian in an alarming tone. “This has nothing to do with regulation anymore. This is turning off the tap completely.”
Selecting at the gate
His suggestion: give universities decentralized policy instruments, with which they can manage internationalization themselves. “For years we have wanted to apply a numerus fixus to our English-language track - established because of internationalization. Then we can select at the gate while keeping the bilingual track completely open and accessible.”
But The Hague does not listen to that, Hakhverdian argues. “In The Hague there is a clear majority against internationalization. Programs and universities must continue to have a substantive rebuttal to that.”
Other member states should offer more English-language education to attract international students, Dijkgraaf writes to the European Commission (EC). He hopes for more “balance.” The unbridled growth of international students in the Netherlands leads to concerns about education funding, declining accessibility for Dutch students, and a shortage of student housing, Dijkgraaf observes in a position paper.
Part of the solution, he says, lies in Europe. Some countries might well need international students but offer little English-language education. He hopes they will adjust that and thus relieve popular countries like the Netherlands. (HOP)
It comes as an unpleasant surprise to Hakhverdian that even the minister is not shying away from taking rigorous measures in an attempt to halt the increasing internationalization in higher education. “Minister Dijkgraaf in particular, an internationally renowned top scientist, should actually be standing firm for the universities. I had expected more from him.”
Better quality
“What is also so duplicitous about his measure,” he continues, 'is that in recent years the ministry has tried to stimulate internationalization in all sorts of ways. I fully support that: it has enriched our program enormously and Dutch students benefit, too.”
But this internationalization, according to Hakhverdian, has also entailed hiring many people at various programs to cope with the growing student population. “If that has to be reversed now, programs will end up in dire straits.” Indeed, “it will be an unmitigated disaster for a large number of programs. I can't put it any other way.”
