Excellence in Higher EducationClosed

This project focuses on excellence programs in higher education in the Netherlands, such as honors education at universities. Compared to other European countries, excellence programs in the Netherlands have developed strongly. Not only in vision, but also in naming, organization, design, position in relation to regular training and disciplinary orientation, there is a great variety of excellence programs.

The project aims to answer the following main research questions:

How can the selection of candidates for excellence programs be improved and which instruments provide the best match between person and program?
What is the added value of excellence programs?
In which niches of the labor market do employers look for outstanding graduates of excellence programs? Why is this the case and what does this mean for the information and selection of students in excellence programs?
What are the spillover effects of excellence programs on regular education?
Which steering mechanisms can an institution use to apply experiences and innovations from excellence programs in regular programs?

These questions are addressed in three subprojects. The first subproject (led by KBA Nijmegen) focuses on the question of whether a good match between the supply and the type of student takes place in the selection of students. This involves both the mapping of the selection process and the instruments that are used for this, and the development of (additional) instruments that can improve this match. The second project (led by ROA) focuses on the individual effects of excellence programs. These include the question of whether the introduction of excellence programs leads to higher performance (both cognitive and non-cognitive) and whether this can actually be attributed to the program or to the fact that 'better' students always perform better. The third project (led by CHEPS) focuses on the effects of excellence programs on regular education and how excellence programs can best be embedded in the institution.

The final results of this project are now available in three reports (one on selectivity and effectiveness; one on employability; and one on steering mechanisms), plus one overarching summary report in which the main findings from the three reports are connected. Also, based on the results, we prepared two factsheets (one aimed at students, and one aimed at higher education institutions) to provide key stakeholders with concise information about the implications of the project’s main findings.

Funded by: Nationaal Regieorgaan Onderwijsonderzoek (NRO; projectnumber 405-15-601)

Duration: December 2015 – November 2019

External project member: Kim van Broekhoven. This project is conducted jointly with KBA Nijmegen and CHEPS (University of Twente).

Factsheets

Reports

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