Subsidy for appointing ethnic minority student assistants

Leiden University is to receive a subsidy from the Social Fund for the Knowledge Sector to appoint ten ethnic minority student assistants.

Unused talent

Leiden University is to receive a subsidy from the Social Fund for the Knowledge Sector (SoFoKles) to appoint ten ethnic minority student assistants. The aim of the subsidy is to interest ethnic minority students in a career in academia. A great deal of ethnic minority talent is unutilised. The application, entitled Programma Studentassistenten (Student Assistant Programme) was submitted together with three other universities: Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Utrecht University.  Each participating univesity can appoint ten ethnic minority student assistants. Utrecht University is co-ordinator of the programme. The SoFoKles subsidy amounts to a total of 200,000 euro.

No increase in ethnic minority academics

Ethnic minorities are under-represented in academia: although the number of students of ethnic minority backgrounds in academia has doubled in the past twelve years, there has been no corresponding increase in academic staff. One of the reasons is that ethnic minority students are often the first in their family to go to university and so are unfamiliar with the university environment. Another reason is that they are less aware of junctures when critical choices have to be made, and of success factors.

Appeal to talent early

The participarting universities' aim with the Student Assistant Programme is to recognise and encourage talented students as early as possible, even in the bachelor's stage. This is expected to result in an academic community that better reflects society. The new ethnic mnority bachelor's students who are to be appointed will gain five months research experience in their own discipline and will in addition follow a number of specific courses.  

(26 October 2009)