Dieuwke is a PhD candidate in the programme group Institutions, Inequalities and Life courses (IIL) of the Department of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. She is affiliated with the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) and the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS). Her PhD research focuses on how peer relations affect educational decisions, aspirations, and performance in the transition from primary to secondary education (Supervision: dr. Sara Geven, dr. Thijs Bol, prof. dr. Herman van de Werfhorst).

Dieuwke holds a Bachelor in Sociology (University of Amsterdam) and a Research Master’s degree in Social Sciences (University of Amsterdam).

The project “Social networks and educational inequality in the transition from primary to secondary education” aims to improve our understanding about how the socio-economic or ethnic composition of the peer group affects (inequalities in) educational outcomes in the transition from primary to secondary education. Socio-economic and ethnic inequalities in children’s academic achievement and orientation are well-documented. However, empirical research on specific mechanisms explaining these inequalities remains limited. With a strong focus on parent-child and teacher-student relationships, research has paid limited attention to the importance of social networks. Using new longitudinal prospective network data and comprehensive register data, this project will incorporate important properties of students’ network structure and different types of relationships as predictors of educational decisions (e.g. school choice), aspirations, and performance.

The project is part of the National Cohort Study Educational Careers (NCO) PRIMS-module “Peer Relations in the Transition from Primary to Secondary school: Social, Behavioral and Academic Aspects of Social Integration”, a collaboration between a team of researchers in the University of Amsterdam and the University of Groningen. Supervision: dr. Sara Geven, dr. Thijs Bol, prof. dr. Herman van de Werfhorst.

Dieuwke has been involved in the courses Introduction to Statistics (BSc Sociology), Bachelor Research Project (BSc Sociology), and Advanced Multivariate Modeling (Research Master Social Sciences).