Student-led Consultancy Project

Working as a Student Assistant at the University of Amsterdam, FEB.

Wat ga je allemaal doen?

Are you a UvA Economics and Business student with big ideas and a passion for making a difference? Join the Diversity & Inclusion Project and take the lead in creating real change at our faculty. With flexible hours, mentorship from faculty staff, and the freedom to design your own project, this is your chance to build skills, expand your network, and make a lasting impact on the Faculty

Wat we jou bieden

 Application procedure 

The priority of the faculty is to give every student an equal opportunity to be considered for this role, and we understand that everyone is different. Your intrinsic motivation and your basic idea of what you wish to do, are what we are looking for! The faculty will conduct interviews online or at FEB in December/January (with flexibility to exams period and travel of international students).

Thus, we ask you to write us a short letter with:

• A basic introduction of yourself (name, study program, email, any additional details you deem relevant for the role). You may submit a CV, but this is optional.
• Any initial ideas for a project – for example what kind of issue you would like to address, specific (research) activities you would like to conduct and why. You may focus on your own idea or further detail and develop one of the exemplary project ideas mentioned above. If you do not yet have concrete project ideas but rather a general interest in the diversity topic, please focus instead on explaining your general motivation to take on the role in question. There is no specific length requirement – please make use of any format that you see best fit to convey your ideas and approach regarding this point.
• 3-5 sentences on the anticipated support, access, or clarifications needed to start with the project.
• While it is not directly related to the project, you will have the opportunity to join the Diversity committee upon project completion. For that, please also write 3-5 sentences on how you see yourself contributing to the EB Diversity committee (e.g. what kind of perspective can you bring to our meetings, what kinds of issues you are particularly interested in discussing, what does diversity mean to you).

If you are an international student, you may need a working permit. If your application results in an offer contingent on a working permit, you will receive the support necessary to request one. 

 What the University of Amsterdam offers

In this position you will be working 2–5 hours per week for a period of 4–5 months. The position is classified under the student assistant scale of the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) for Dutch Universities, meaning you’ll earn a minimum hourly wage of €17.86. This could increase to €19.41 depending on your educational level and experience. The 8.3% end-of-year bonus is already included in this hourly wage.

Why StudiJob

As a temp worker at StudiJob, you’ll receive an additional 22% in reserves on top of your gross hourly wage, as you’ll be working on a temp basis through StudiJob. Additionally, you can always participate in our training sessions and workshops for free!

Wat we verwachten

Working at the University of Amsterdam

The faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) values diversity among students and an environment where everyone feels part of the community. The Diversity Committee of UvA’s Economics and Business is a platform and sounding board where each member contributes to creating a more diverse and inclusive faculty for students and employees. The Diversity committee is chaired by the faculty's diversity officer and made up of both students and staff. They are currently looking for students who not only have ideas on how to (better) achieve these diversity & inclusion values at this faculty, but also would like to commit to design and execute a diversity-related consultancy project. Together with a mentor from the faculty (i.e., a professor or someone from the administrative staff), you will be asked to carry out your own idea/project and deliver outcomes/recommendations to the Diversity Committee. You will also get to present your idea in a celebratory final event. While the mentor is there to guide you and provide you with the necessary “inside” knowledge of the faculty, we hope for ideas that are coming from you and want to emphasize that you are in the driver's seat for this project. 

The project has very high flexibility with regard to how you spread your time. You will receive a budget of 50 hours; these must be spent (and the project must thus be concluded) between January and April/May 2025. You are expected to plan your activities by yourself fully, including asking for feedback and support when needed.

Your commitment aside of the ongoing project work includes:

• Ongoing project work (most hours, flexible)
• In addition: 
  • Participation in the kick-off meeting with all students and mentors (end of January 2025);
  • 2-3 meetings with your mentor to discuss idea and sketch out project steps/define outcome; 
  • Alignment lunch with all students and mentors to share ideas and provide feedback;
  • 2-3 meetings with your mentor during project progress;
  • 1 meeting with your mentor to prepare final event presentation;
  • Participation in Final Event (end of April/beginning May 2025).

What you will be doing as a student-assistant?

You will come up with the idea, write a project proposal, do the necessary research (literature research, interviews of students/staff, maybe with experts), assess the current state of the situation at the faculty (i.e., something that is in place, but might not be ideal, or an absence of a guideline/policy/handbook/website), provide final recommendations/guidelines of implementation to the Diversity Committee (much like a mini-consultancy project). As such, this project will help you build relevant work experience that you can use for your future career as a consultant, manager, or project leader. Upon completion of the project, you are also invited to become part of the Diversity Committee and to participate in the EB Diversity committee's bi-monthly meetings to give input to its (student-related) discussion topics (OPTIONAL).

Possible projects could be:

• Any diversity initiatives for of our students/staff with special needs/disabilities
• Any diversity initiatives for of our LGBTQIA+ students/staff 
• Any diversity initiatives for first generation students
• Any diversity initiatives for cultural diversity
• Any diversity initiatives that foster diversity & inclusion in general 

Examples from previous rounds include:

• a pairing algorithm that aims to facilitate collaboration between Dutch and International students to foster more diverse work group teams – outcome: algorithm (currently tested for possible integration in Canvas)
• an examination on how to improve FEB venues/locations and teaching materials for students with visibility issues (led by a student with loss of sight) – outcome: action points for FEB
• an examination of the FEB teaching curriculum in how we teach about diversity and inclusivity – outcome: teaching materials for Skills Training course 

*These are simply exemplary ideas, if you want to propose something else, do not hesitate.

We are looking for:

• UvA Economics and Business students 
• Basic familiarity with and interest in the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion
• Highly motivated to learn and to try to contribute with your own view and ideas
• Good with time management, able to work independently and proactively
• Sufficient basic communication in English (upon agreement and depending on circumstances, you may be able to conduct the majority of the work in Dutch if you prefer this)