According to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), almost 95 percent of higher education graduates find work within a year. On average, graduates from universities of applied sciences are slightly more successful than those from research universities: 95 percent versus 94 percent. These figures refer to students who completed their degrees in 2022.
Graduates with one or two foreign-born parents are slightly less likely to find work: 92 percent are employed one year after their graduation. These are people who were born in the Netherlands, not international students.
Persistent
Although the difference between these two groups is relatively small in higher education, it appears to be persistent, as little has changed in the last 15 years. Whether graduates’ parents were born in Europe or elsewhere does not make a significant difference.
In vocational education, the gap between graduates with and without a migration background appears to be much wider. Ninety-four percent of graduates with Dutch parents found employment within a year, compared to 89 percent of those with a parent from a European country other than the Netherlands. For graduates with a non-European parent, this figure was even lower at 85 percent.
Internship
Discrimination in the labour market often starts when students try to find internships, a process that is generally more challenging for those with a migration background. In 2023, employers, higher education institutions, student organisations and then education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf signed a manifesto aimed at tackling internship discrimination.