PhD Defence Marloes Ambagts - van Rooijen 'Making diversity our strength'

We are pleased to announce that Marloes Ambagts - van Rooijen will defend her PhD thesis 'Making diversity our strength: from international classrooms to pluri-perspective learning' on 2 April 2026 in the Auditorium of Campus Fryslân, Wirdumerdijk 34, 8911 CE Leeuwarden.

It is possible to follow the defence online via the livestream.

Programme:

• 10:00 - Walk-in

• 10:30 - Layperson’s talk

• 11:00 - PhD defence

• 12:15 - On-site reception

On the thesis

As learning environments become increasingly diverse through global mobility and demographic shifts, higher education institutions worldwide underline the potential ‘strength’ of diversity. How can lecturers truly harness this diversity as a catalyst for learning, innovation and curriculum transformation?

This research, carried out in Dutch UAS contexts, shows that diversity is not only a matter of nationality, or culture. Higher education brings together students and lecturers with different languages, life experiences, professional backgrounds, personalities and worldviews. According to the dissertation, lecturers play a crucial role in turning these differences into opportunities for deeper learning and innovation — if they are supported with the right conditions and design culture.

Across four interconnected studies, the dissertation explores a central question:
How can lecturers harness diversity in international and superdiverse learning environments within practice-oriented higher education?

To answer this question, the research followed lecturers over several years as they designed and taught practice-oriented courses, worked with diverse student groups and colleagues — within their own programs and international collaboration.

Drawing on these lecturers’ perspectives, experiences and choices, the dissertation provides new insides on the roles of lecturers in shaping learning environments that foster multi-perspective engagement, interaction across differences and reflexivity.  

Positioning diverse lecturers, students and societal actors as partners in learning and (curriculum) transformation, it introduces pluri-perspective learning: an approach that actively creates space for multiple ways of knowing, thinking and acting within (super)diverse learning environments. This approach, the research argues, can strengthen and modernise curriculum internationalisation strategies, as well as practice-oriented education practices.

The dissertation offers new theoretical insights and practical tools for educators, leaders and policy makers, aiming to harness the strength of diversity in higher education. It contributes to ongoing efforts to equip students for living and working in diverse, interconnected and rapidly changing societies.