First two Aletta Jacobs chairs at UG

The Executive Board has appointed Prof. Ddr. Marijtje van Duijn and Prof. Dr. Hilda Amsing professors at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. These appointments are the first two within the context of the Aletta Jacobs incentive fund. The purpose of this fund is to increase gender equality within the professor positions at the UG.

Looking at the past to better understand current educational issues

Hilda Amsing currently is associate professor and teaching director at the Pedagogical and Educational Sciences department. In addition, she is the director of the Foundation for Pedagogical Education (Stichting Pedagogisch Onderwijs, SPO). The chair of Amsing is named ‘History of Dutch education’. Amsing: “After studying educational sciences I more or less coincidentally ended up in the field of historical pedagogical sciences, of which history of education is a part. I realized rather quickly that knowledge of the Dutch educational history is extremely valuable for a proper understanding of the current educational system.”

According to Hilda Amsing knowledge of the Ducth educational history provides an important framework that helps to better understand contemporary educational issues. “When you use a historical perspective, you get a clearer image of how policy, practice, and discussions about those two are rooted in a societal context. Moreover, current issues are always rooted in history. Without knowledge of the historical context it is often impossible to properly interpret things.”

In the coming years Amsing wants to keep on contributing to knowledge about educational history. She is particularly interested in policy decision-making, both at the school and national level. She plans to share her insights with a broader audience. For instance, she would like to develop educational materials for teacher training programs.

Social network analysis: “Not your average analysis”

Marijtje van Duijn works as an associate professor in the Sociology department. In addition, she is the chair of the ethical committee of Sociology. Within her chair ‘Statistics in particular models for social network analysis’ she will focus on the development and application of statistical models for social networks. Marijtje van Duijn: “Many people in the sociology department investigate social networks. The structure of these networks requires a specific approach. A normal regression analysis is not possible. Over the past twenty years our group worked very hard to develop methods that do justice to the complexity of these networks”. Van Duijn sees the new chair as a confirmation of the work of her group. She hopes that she and her colleagues can continue and extend this work. Van Duijn will also continue to stay involved in teaching, statistical consultation, and ethical review of research.