PhD project level the playing field by exposing the hidden curriculum

Within this PhD project, the successful candidate will conduct comprehensive research into the hidden curriculum and its relationship to the intended curriculum at Utrecht University.

Dit ga je doen

The hidden curriculum has been at the centre of academic discourse for over half a century. It is defined as the unwritten social and cultural rules in education, in terms of behavioural expectations and practices, cultural values, power dynamics, and (civic) responsibility. In higher education, the hidden curriculum plays a role in socialising students (i.e., internalising behavioural norms deemed appropriate at the university and/or reflective of those prevalent in our society) but it is also known to negatively impact opportunities for study success of those students who lack prior familiarity with implicit norms, including (but not excluded to) first generation students, working-class students, and ethnic minorities. Studying the hidden curriculum therefore raises questions around the socio-cultural role of the university and exposing it can help to formalize socialization in the curriculum and tackle social inequality (when it is found to perpetuate this).

Within this project, the successful candidate will conduct comprehensive research into the hidden curriculum and its relationship to the intended curriculum at Utrecht University. Using games and play as a heuristic the candidate will explore the hidden curriculum’s goals and rules (i.e., prevalent norms, social and institutional conditions), “players” (i.e., teachers and students), and (successful) strategies involved in traversing it. The candidate will investigate how different manifestations of the hidden curriculum relate to different academic and societal (e.g., workplace) norms and will additionally study the effectiveness of several interventions in exposing the hidden curriculum (e.g., games and playful interventions).  

Hier ga je werken

The PhD student will be appointed at the Department of the bachelor’s programme Biomedical Sciences of the Education Center UMC Utrecht, a team of about 25 employees focused on policy, innovation, and educational research. This project is a close collaboration between the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes of Biomedical Sciences of Utrecht University, located at the University Medical Center Utrecht, as well as the department of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University’s Faculty of Humanities.

You will be supervised on a daily basis by dr. Gisela van der Velden, assistant professor Educational Innovation at UMC Utrecht and by dr. Jasper van Vught, assistant professor New Media and Game Studies at Utrecht University. Your other supervisors will be Prof. Dr. Gönül Dilaver, professor Inclusive Education at UMC Utrecht, and Prof. Dr. Jeroen Janssen, professor Complex Learning Environments at Utrecht University.

Dit neem je mee

• We are looking for a candidate with a master’s degree in educational sciences, social sciences, health sciences or a related domain, with an interest in educational research.
• A team-player who has demonstrated strong communication skills in the past.
• Being creative, flexible, and independent and experience with (educational) research as well as the ability to speak and write Dutch is an advantage.
• You are excited to work across different disciplines and are interested to unravel the hidden curriculum and its effects, resulting in a more even playing field and in increased equal opportunities.
• Additionally, you have an interest in (serious) games and play, their application in education and in researching their effects.
• You communicate effectively and enjoy sharing knowledge with diverse audiences using different formats.
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative empirical research methods is highly valued.
• You are proficient in English (written and spoken). You thrive in an international, multidisciplinary environment.

Dit bieden we jou

• A salary between € 3.017,- and € 3.824,- gross per month (salary scale OIO), based on full-time employment (36 hours). 
• Salary increase of 3% from July 2025, according to the collective labor agreement (cao). 
• Year-end bonus of 8.3% and holiday allowance of 8%. 
• Pension insurance with ABP. We take care of approximately 70% of the monthly contribution. 
• 100% public transport reimbursement. Are you coming on foot, by bike or by car? You will then receive a reimbursement of € 0.18 per km (by car up to a max. of 40 km one way). 
• Possibilities to develop yourself personally and professionally. 
• The option to select additional employment benefits in exchange for gross salary, such as purchasing a bicycle and memberships.