A review of the Student Wellbeing meeting | Attendees

| 24 March 2026 | Meeting of the National Student Wellbeing Network

‘Why taking part, being seen and feeling part of the group matters’

What a turnout! On 24 March, the National Student Wellbeing Network gathered at the Domstad conference and meeting centre for the ‘Aanwezig’ event. It was a day on which education professionals from further education, higher professional education and university education came together to explore one of the most pressing and relatable issues in education: how do we ensure that students are truly engaged – in the classroom, online and in their interactions with one another?

Although vocational education was somewhat less represented this time, there was a tremendous level of engagement and interest in the topic. The discussions and exchanges throughout the morning made it clear just how widespread and pressing the issue is. The central theme of the day? Attendance as the key to motivation, engagement and well-being, and everything that goes with it.

Start van de ochtend

The session was opened by the chairpersons, Evie de Vos (Social Work student, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences) and Daantje Gutker de Geus (Master’s student in Health and Medical Psychology / Cognitive Neuroscience, Leiden University). They emphasised that attendance is about more than just being physically present in a room. It is about being able to engage in a way that works for students.

“I sometimes miss having other students around too.”

– Evie –

Keynote | The student crisis in further education

Izaak Dekker, Associate Professor at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), outlined how declining lecture attendance, reduced self-study time and AI are collectively contributing to a ‘study crisis’. He explained what this means for learning, student engagement and well-being, and what steps educational institutions can take.

Izaak Dekker took the audience through what he calls the ‘study crisis’: a combination of trends that have become increasingly apparent in recent years. He outlined how declining lecture attendance, reduced self-study time, the rise of AI and a growing reliance on part-time jobs reinforce one another, thereby putting pressure on both the learning process and students’ well-being.

Presence as a predictor of success
Izaak began with a simple yet powerful observation:

“Attendance is a predictor of success and a prerequisite for things such as formative assessment and blended learning.”

Using figures, he demonstrated just how sharply attendance has fallen. In the healthcare and engineering sectors of higher professional education, lecture attendance dropped from 43% before the pandemic to 37.3% during the pandemic, before falling further to 30.6% after the lockdown. The time students spend on self-study has also fallen significantly over the past ten years: from 39 hours per week in 2016 to 29 hours in 2024. Increasingly, students say that preparation feels “unnecessary”.

The role of AI: convenience, opportunities and new challenges
A notable part of the keynote address focused on the rapidly growing use of Generative AI. Students are now using AI tools for all sorts of assignments, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between their own work and generated work. Teachers report struggling to spot the difference, and the number of cases of academic dishonesty is on the rise.
At the same time, AI is reducing the need for effort. And it is precisely that effort, Izaak emphasised, that is important. Not only for learning, but also for well-being.

Engagement doesn’t start with motivation
Izaak outlined a strikingly different perspective on motivation. According to him, motivation doesn’t arise before students do something, but because they experience that their efforts yield results. He summed it up in a relatable metaphor:

“Food only tastes better once you take a bite.”

Betrokkenheid begint niet met motivatie
Izaak schetste een opvallend ander perspectief op motivatie. Volgens hem ontstaat motivatie niet voordat studenten iets doen, maar juist omdat ze merken dat hun inspanningen resultaat opleveren. Hij vatte het samen in een herkenbare metafoor:

learning engagement (focused on learning)
school engagement (focused on building a connection with the programme)

According to Izaak, mere presence is not commitment; it is active presence that marks the beginning.

Well-being: not just fun, but also effort
Izaak also discussed the relationship between well-being, commitment and individualisation. In his view, an excessive focus on fun can actually be counterproductive:

The more you seek happiness in external stimuli, the less you experience it from within.
Dedication and a bit of ‘grit’ are precisely what contribute to lasting satisfaction.
The most effective forms of learning are often also the most demanding.

If AI takes over all the hard work, an essential part of learning and well-being will be lost: the experience that effort leads to something.

Retention and engagement
Izaak distinguished between:

Retention: individual reasons why students stay on or drop out, often students who are ‘just scraping by’.
Engagement: the combination of student commitment and the opportunities offered by a degree programme; a dynamic relationship that is constantly evolving.

According to him, it is precisely this interaction that determines whether students experience a positive cycle of engagement.

Possible approaches
Finally, Izaak put forward several suggestions for boosting attendance and engagement, and thereby also improving student wellbeing:

Make timetables available well in advance (a whole year in advance).
Stop offering recordings of lessons, in order to encourage live interaction.
More practical sessions, face-to-face contact and compulsory elements, which provide structure and regularity.

Student panel featuring students

Led by Evie and Daantje, the students spoke candidly about what ‘being present’ means to them. The discussion immediately revealed just how personal and multi-layered the subject is. For them, being present is not just about sitting in a classroom, but above all about connection, being seen and feeling at home somewhere.

One student summed up the feeling aptly:

“I often feel that I spend more time justifying my absence than simply tuning in.”

That comment touched on a recurring theme throughout the discussion: students don’t want to be monitored, but to be seen. It makes a big difference if a tutor gives them a quick call when they’re not there. Not as a punishment, but as a sign of care and trust. As one student put it: “Then it feels as though the school isn’t against me, but on my side.”

The crucial role of lecturers
Students emphasised that lecturers play a huge role in both attendance and engagement. Lessons must add value; simply reading out a PowerPoint presentation is not enough for them, as that information can just as easily be found online. What does motivate them, however, are lecturers who genuinely tell their story, who seek interaction and who show that students are not just a number.
The relationship between lecturer and student proved to be more important than compulsory attendance. Students indicated that obligations often do not lead to greater engagement. What they believe does work is noticing that a lecturer makes an effort to see, get to know and understand them.

A sense of belonging as the foundation for attendance
Many students described how important a sense of community is. It feels easier to attend classes when you feel you belong somewhere, whether that’s in a project group, a study room or the wider school community. One student put it this way: “If I feel at home on my course, I naturally attend more often.”
That sense of belonging also ties in with well-being. Students indicated that it helps when well-being isn’t just an ‘add-on’, but is integrated into the curriculum. When lessons are meaningful, practical and connected to their real lives, both their motivation and their attendance increase.

Practical, people-focused and collaborative
The panel made it clear that students’ main needs are:

a safe environment
teachers involved
lessons with added value
practical, meaningful tasks
space to be seen as an individual
a course that feels like a place where you can feel at home

Attendance is therefore much more than just a tick on a list. It is a form of engagement, connection and humanity, and begins with the feeling that you matter – within the group, in the classroom and throughout the course.

A glimpse of the atmosphere

Photos:
Isabel Wolfs (ECIO intern)

Workshops

During the workshop session, participants were able to explore different perspectives.

Workshop | The conditions and prerequisites of presence

Rick Ikkersheim, Senior Researcher in Student Engagement at Inholland’s Academic Success Research Group, on the educational, pedagogical, legal and organisational conditions required to enable attendance.

In the workshop ‘The Conditions and Prerequisites of Attendance’, Rick Ikkersheim demonstrated how attendance, engagement and motivation constantly influence one another. Behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement together form a reciprocal cycle: those who attend become more engaged and motivated, and are therefore more likely to return.
Those who stay away, on the other hand, lose their engagement and motivation, making the barrier to attendance ever higher. In this downward spiral, dropout looms large.

Compulsory attendance: a source of stress or a necessity?
Rick also highlighted the tension surrounding compulsory attendance. Such a requirement can sometimes clash with flexibility and inclusivity, but at the same time, one might ask whether education does not function better when attendance is viewed more explicitly as a prerequisite. It is therefore a genuine wicked problem:

the facts are uncertain,
opinions vary,
and the interests of teachers, teams, managers and policymakers differ.

As a result, the discussion easily veers off into moralising (“they simply have to be there”) or technocracy (“we’ll just put it in the course catalogue”), whereas what is actually needed is a more nuanced, change-oriented dialogue.

The crucial role of course design and lecturer presence
What did become clear, however, is that physical presence and active engagement are essential for academic success, provided that the course is structured in such a way that it is worthwhile attending. This requires lecturers who are visibly present themselves, and a course that encourages participation and interaction.

Learning together requires institutional embedding
As learning is a collaborative process, Ikkersheim emphasised the importance of embedding attendance in policy. This requires strong leadership to link insights to day-to-day practice and to the organisation’s culture.

Workshop | Being yourself: making inclusivity truly inclusive

Oumaima Al Abdellaoui and Yazan Orabi – Muslim Students Association Netherlands on the experiences of Muslim students and the impact of social safety, recognition and campus facilities.

In this breakout session, Oumaima Al Abdellaoui and Yazan Orabi shared the experiences of Muslim students in vocational education, higher professional education and university education. Speaking on behalf of MSA Netherlands, an organisation dedicated to representing, uniting and empowering its membership of approximately 130,000 students, they explained how social safety, recognition and appropriate facilities influence the ability to participate fully and comfortably within an educational institution.
The session began with a number of thought-provoking statements, including some on discrimination in work placements. The statements sparked a lively discussion within the group and opened the way for the question: how welcome do Muslim students feel within the Dutch education system?

A large group of students, but not always taken into account in design and policy
Within the 15–28 age group, a significant number of students come from a Muslim background. Yet their needs and everyday realities do not always appear to be automatically taken into account in education policy or campus design.

The Importance of a Place to Retreat
A recurring theme was the lack of accessible quiet spaces at many institutions. For students who need a place for prayer or reflection, such a space makes a big difference in how welcome and at home they feel. These facilities are not mandatory, which is why they are often missing.
Additionally, Oumaima and Yazan mentioned that ideally, these spaces should also contain appropriate facilities, such as the possibility for ritual washing. When these are lacking, students sometimes resort to restrooms, which does not feel pleasant or appropriate. Oumaima and Yazan also indicated that halal food is far from readily available everywhere on campus, which affects students’ time during the day.

Religious identity as part of who you are
Oumaima and Yazan emphasized that religion is an important part of your identity, not as a political statement, but as something personal. Inclusion therefore means not only making policy, but also creating a culture in which all identities are naturally included.
An example mentioned concerned student associations. Activities where alcohol is central exclude some students because participation is not always possible or desirable for them. As a result, separate associations emerge, not out of isolation, but out of the need for a place where everyone can move freely.

Financial reality and study feasibility
Financial pressure was also addressed. In the stories MSA hears, some students indicate that they struggle to pay interest on student loans due to their religious beliefs, or that they have to contribute financially from home. For some students, including first- or second-generation students, it is the case that they cannot always fall back on a financial safety net. As a result, they often work alongside their studies, sometimes more than is good for them. The impact of this is significant:

1 in 5 students drops out of their studies prematurely.
58% experience a negative impact on their studies due to financial pressure.

Being present as you are
The core message of the session was clear: true inclusion means that students can be present as they are, without having to adapt or withdraw.
Teachers can make a significant contribution to this. Small gestures, such as showing understanding for students fasting during Ramadan, showing interest in someone’s background, or simply letting someone know you see them, make a big difference. It gives students the feeling that they belong and that the institution is there for them.
The session ended with a wish from Oumaima and Yazan: that every educational institution works towards a campus where everyone can feel seen, acknowledged, and at home, because that is the foundation for motivation, well-being, and presence.

Workshop | The Power of Weak Ties

Ghislaine van Bommel, Lecturer & PhD Candidate at Tilburg University, on sense of belonging, the role of introductory weeks, and how loose contacts (‘weak ties’) can contribute to student well-being.

In this breakout session, Ghislaine van Bommel took the participants through her work on sense of belonging and student well-being. Based on her recent research, she presented a theoretical framework in which she outlined what she understands by student well-being and which factors influence the sense of connectedness that students experience within their study program.

Sense of belonging: what determines it?
Ghislaine showed that sense of belonging is influenced by various predictors, of which presence is an important one. The more often students participate in educational activities and social gatherings, the more connected they feel to their study program and their study community.
During her research, she followed students during the introduction week to see how participation in this week impacts their sense of belonging. The results were clear: students who were present at the introduction week experienced significantly more connectedness than students who were (partially) absent.
Interestingly, this pattern was not the same for all groups. Her research showed that:

international students experience a remarkably strong sense of belonging, regardless of their presence during the introduction week;
First-generation students, on the other hand, actually reported a lower sense of belonging, even when they were present.

These differences show that belonging is not a given and that students with different backgrounds may have different experiences and support needs.

The game is designed to let students experience how valuable ‘weak ties’ are: the loose, informal contacts outside their immediate circle, classmates they don’t speak to daily, someone they know briefly from a project group or the introductory activity. It is precisely these light forms of connection that can play an important role in well-being, networking, and engagement within the study program.

From Theory to Practice: The Power of Weak Ties – The Game
After the theoretical framework, it was time to take action. Ghislaine introduced the game The Power of Weak Ties – The Game, which is still very much under development but already appears promising. The participants were able to try out a part of the game themselves. This made it clear how simple and playful it can be to get students thinking about their network, their own role within it, and the ways in which accessible contact can contribute to their sense of belonging within the study program.

Workshop | Dialogue under Pressure

Sanne Rooding, facilitator, advisor, coach & trainer at WIJschool, on dealing with tension in conversations about sensitive topics and how professionals can offer calm and safety.

In the breakout session *Dialogue Under Pressure*, Sanne Rooding guided participants through a theme that many education professionals recognize: conversations that become strained. Conversations in which beliefs clash, emotions run high, or groups appear to be pitted against one another. It is precisely for these kinds of situations that the *Dialogue Under Pressure* approach was developed—now recognized and proven effective—and supported within secondary vocational education with the *Schurende Gesprekken* grant (1.5 million euros).

Setting Boundaries and Inviting
The ‘setting boundaries and inviting’ model was central. Sanne described how, as a professional, you can offer space where it is safe to do so, and set boundaries where necessary. Not by soothing or avoiding, but by understanding behavior, being clear about what is desirable, and simultaneously keeping the dialogue open. The beauty of this model is that it applies not only to students, but also to groups, teachers, staff, and even team dynamics. After all, tension exists not only in classrooms, but wherever people work together.

Polarization in the classroom: bad or inevitable?
Participants explored an exercise together centered on the question: “Polarization, is it actually that bad?”

Sanne made it clear that conflicting beliefs are not always an isolated incident, but sometimes simply part of a learning environment where different perspectives converge. The role of the teacher is therefore not to eliminate all tension, but to make that tension manageable.

Discussing relatable situations
In small groups, participants worked on situations from their own practice. Everyone seemed to have an example: a student making a harsh statement, two groups diametrically opposed to each other, a discussion that suddenly becomes personal. By exchanging experiences, it became clear how universal these situations are and how valuable it is to have language, structure, and room for maneuver for them.

A tool to analyze tension
Finally, Sanne introduced a practical model that helps to better understand tension in conversations. It invites you to look at four layers:

Opinions – what someone says
Behavior – what someone does
Worries – what lies beneath
Needs – what someone is actually trying to make clear

By distinguishing these layers, space is created not only to respond to what is said, but especially to what is at play. This makes it possible to bring calm, maintain space, and keep the relationship intact.

Closing lunch

After the workshops, there was plenty of opportunity during lunch to continue the conversation. In small groups, experiences were exchanged, ideas shared, and plans made for one’s own teaching practice. It was a relaxed moment that clearly provided a great deal of new energy.

We are already looking forward to the next meeting on June 16!

About the National Network for Student Well-being

The network brings together professionals from secondary vocational education, higher professional education, and university education who work on the mental well-being of students. By sharing knowledge and exploring solutions together, we are building an environment in which every student feels seen and supported.

More about the National Network for Student Well-being

A review of the Student Wellbeing meeting | Attendees