MBO students with a non-European Background are more Often unemployed after obtining their diploma than Their Fellow Students. They also have to work harder for an internship or apprenticehip.
Statistics from CBS (Statistics Netherlands) Show That of the Vocational Education Students who graduated in 2022, 18 percent of the students with a non-European background did not have a job a year later. The CBS Includes Not Only People Born Outside Europe in This Group, But also Those for whom applies to one or Both Parents.
Vocational Education Students with Parents Who Were Born In The Netherlands Have a Brighter Outlook: 6 percent of them did not have a job a year after obtaining a diploma.
The Proportion of Working Vocational Education Students with A Non-European Background Has Been Lower than Average Since 2007. “For Young People with a Non-European Background Who Pursue Higher Professional Education (HBO) or University Education, SPLIGLLLLL), FOLDING A JOCY), FOLTING A JOCY,” Economist Peter Hein van Mulligen of the CBS. “The Difference is narrower there, but it is present. We cannot say exactly what is due to.”
Accordance to the CBS, there is no single clear cause for the gap. “Educational Direction Can Play A Role: With Some Courses You Find Work Faster Than With Others. But That Only Explains a Small Part of the Story,” Says Van Mulligen. “It Still Takes More Effort For People who Were Not Born In The Netherlands.” That is all the statistics office can give in Terms of Possible Explanations. “We have not conducted research into discrimination or the language skills of the students.”
‘Opportunities Are Still Being Missed’
The Picture is related to the economy. “If the economy is doing worse, it is more diffcomed for everyone to find a job, but that effect is Greater for People with Foreign Parents,” Van Mulligen Explains. “The Labor Market Has Been Tight for a Long Time Now. In principle, that should be an advantage for everyone with a diploma. The fact that group still finds a job less of the means that opportunities are still be missed.”
The Inequality Already Starts Duration the Education. An Internship is Compulsory for Vocational Education Students, But Students with a non-European Background Have to Work Harder For It. In 2024, 83 percent of them, to Apply for An Internship had. Or All Vocational Education Students, 75 percent Said They had applied for an internship or apprenticehip. The Remaining 25 percent did not have to Apply at All, because they were already a job or found an internship or apprenticehip through Acquaintances, for example.
And Those who applied for an internship Did not always get it right away. Among Students with a non-European Background, 14 percent Said They had Applied Seven Times or More. For Vocational Education Students with Dutch Parents, This was 7 percent.