The impact of international classroom diversity on student performance: evidence from a Dutch University

Abstract

These days, higher education is increasingly organized in an international classroom setting. Especially interactive instruction in small groups is influenced by such a setting, but unbiased effects of the international classroom are not unambiguous. Based on rich data of more than 19 000 unique students over 6 years from an international university in the Netherlands, we study whether a higher level of internationalisation in the classroom positively affects Bachelor students’ performance in a setting where students are randomly assigned to small education groups. We find this to largely be the case. There are however differences in effect between academic fields and between different types of students, e.g. different nationalities of students and different years of study. Analyses of course evaluations show that the international classroom is particularly effective for groups in which the teacher encourages the constant use of English as main language during classes and breaks.

Read the full article: Haelermans, C., Hendrikse, A., Smeets, C., & Bijsmans, P. (2026). The impact of international classroom diversity on student performance: evidence from a Dutch University., 1-26. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-026-01644-y