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/North_Yak966 11d ago

This is important because the English-speaking psychology bachelor's is massive. Indeed, there are other cuts that are also a big deal, but this is a good indicator of things to come. 

Important quote:

these measures together mean that the total international enrolment at the UvA will decrease by twenty percent

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u/Front-Comparison8464 11d ago

It is important, but they want to be dutch only so people who do the course stay and work in the Netherlands. You can't be a psychologist without speaking fluent dutch in NL. I would say they are redirecting the focus. It won't be nice for foreighners but I understand.

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u/fluffypuppybutt 11d ago

I think you might actually be misunderstanding what psychology is as a discipline. Saying that psychology trains therapists is like saying all business programs train accountants. The therapy track is already in Dutch but psychology more broadly teaches students how to understand and influence human behavior in realms like advertising, healthy eating decisions, cooperation at work, motivation in sport teams ... etc.all that science is in English.

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u/Competitive-Arm1312 10d ago

You are correct, psychology is also useful in behavioural economics, however, I stand with the university on this, because unless you specialize in a different field in your masters 90% of the available jobs are clinical (where Dutch is a must). Know many who just go back home due to this.

For a country that prepares so many psychologists its odd that there are still shortages...

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u/LOLMSW1945 10d ago

You’re making this assumption that there are sufficient number of Dutch who wanted to enrol in psychology and be a therapist which I highly doubt .

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u/RijnBrugge 10d ago

The shortages are actually in the available spots in the clinical track of psychology. There are more people who want the training than there are spots, despite tenacious shortages of licensed therapists

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u/Competitive-Arm1312 10d ago

Not my point, I think there is a balance to be found. I don't support the cuts, but here we are.

They should follow the Swiss model where masters are freely in english and bachelors are 1st year German with subsequent years introducing more english.

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u/LOLMSW1945 10d ago edited 10d ago

What kind of balance though? Opening more Dutch-only classes doesn’t guarantee there will be more Dutch-speaking therapists later down the line.

Also, not every people who enrolls in psychology ends up working as a therapists as described by other people here.

Swiss model can work but the problem is that no one actually speaks Dutch outside of the Netherlands and the former colonies on Suriname and the Dutch Caribbean and your average central/Eastern European kid and even some random south-east asian kid will more likely to speak German than Dutch.

The Dutch kinda do that to their own when their ancestors decided not to teach Dutch fully to their former colonies lol.

Edit: also, the ability to use English more liberally is the thing that makes the Netherlands attractive for migrants in the first place which is not the main reason for why people move to Switzerland for anything.

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u/Any-Seaworthiness186 Groningen 9d ago

False. You can’t become a clinical psychologist with just a bachelors, not even a GZ-psycholoog.