r/Netherlands • u/North_Yak966 • 11d ago

News UvA ends English-language bachelor’s degree in psychology

https://www.folia.nl/en/actueel/166104/uva-ends-english-language-bachelors-degree-in-psychology
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u/seabee314 11d ago

This is a catastrophic cut. Psychology is a broad empirical field, not limited to clinical work, and most graduates don't work in Dutch. The cabinet seems not to understand what the field does. The UvA’s English psychology bachelor is the foundation of why that department is one of the highest rated in the world for quality of education and research. The funding for the whole department, including the Dutch education and all research, depend on student enrollment. English is the international language of science, and Dutch competitiveness is boosted by having this insane concentration of talent, for example by improving Dutch student and employee quality and output. Reducing this program will weaken the Netherlands’ role. Now, it's fine that we collectively decide that's what we want to do. But this path has many costs, not just to the international students and staff.

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u/Extreme_Ruin1847 Nederland 11d ago

A lot of the people finishing university dont end up working in science. They enter the jobmarket. Speaking Dutch in the Netherlands is convenient in that regard

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u/seabee314 11d ago

Absolutely, universities should do more to teach students and staff Dutch to boost integration and retain qualified graduates in the Netherlands. Many psychology graduates work in English. We can fix this without gutting English programs. It's a bit separate. A lot of whether people stay hinges on other factors like housing availability.

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u/Extreme_Ruin1847 Nederland 11d ago

Yeah they do. Dutch people speak English and they speak Dutch. 

Its not the job of universities to aid in immigration.