The doctoral defence is the oral examination of the doctoral thesis. While it is a major milestone for doctoral candidates, this event is often shrouded in mystery. In this article, I explore the doctoral defence from an international perspective. I have studied the format of the defence based on written testimonies as well as the literature on…

The diversity of modern society is often not represented in the medical workforce. This might be partly due to selection practices. We need to better understand decision-making processes by selection committees in order to improve selection procedures with regard to diversity. This paper reports on a qualitative study with a socio-constructivist…

The doctoral defense is an important step in the doctoral journey and an essential requirement for obtaining a doctoral degree. Past research on the doctoral defense has focused solely on national practices. In this work, I investigate the potential link between the doctoral defense format based on its major and minor elements and the perception…

Local administrations in the Republic of the United Netherlands determined in the seventeenth and eighteenth century the conditions of the local educational provisions. Several towns published separate regulations for educating poor children in separate schools. Others left the responsibility to local charity committees. The regulations are…

Registration or recognition systems for best-practice health promotion interventions may contribute to better quality assurance and control in health promotion practice. In the Netherlands, such a system has been developed and is being implemented aiming to provide policy makers and professionals with more information on the quality and…

Continued education of professionals is a major factor for service improvement and evidence-based good practice. This project explores the strategies used for this purpose across countries (CET = continued education and training in the substance abuse field). A structured questionnaire was circulated internationally by an expert committee of the…

This protocol explains the new system for assessing research quality at research universities located in the Netherlands. It discusses the legal and historical background for establishing a new system of quality determination in research, describes the essential aspects of the research assessment process and the particular tasks of…

The "Standards for Evaluations of Educational Programs Projects Materials," formulated by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation raise certain questions which should be regarded as indicating a further complementary perspective rather than as a criticism of their formulation. The possibility of conflict between the…

The Netherlands' use of an ad hoc interinstitutional committee of university board members during a period of retrenchment is described which resulted in a plan to close a number of university departments and to terminate many small and not very successful research programs. (MSE)

The history of education in the Netherlands, including the political and administrative framework of educational policy, the relation between education and the labor market, and current trends, is discussed. Teacher education, educational planning, and participation by educators and noneducators in the schools through committees are also examined.…