Jonathan Jan Benjamin Mijs
Graduate Student in Sociology
Biographical Note
I hail from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where I earned my undergraduate degree in Sociology from the Universiteit van Amsterdam. I wrote my Bachelor's thesis on regionalization policy in secondary vocational education in the Netherlands, based in part on my research fellowship at the Max Goote center for vocational education research (now: ECBO) supervised by Sjoerd Karsten.
In pursuing my Bachelor's degree I was a visiting student at the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam where I took a course on Virtual Communities with Stef Aupers and Willem de Koster, and at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where I studied the Anthropology of Religion with Anton van Harskamp. After graduating, I spent part of the Fall semester in '07, and the whole of Spring '08, as an international visiting student in the Graduate school of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, where I took courses in Quantitative Methods (with Leo Goodman), Social Stratification (Sam Lucas), and Education (Jerome Karabel).
I returned to the Universiteit van Amsterdam for two years to earn my M.Sc. Social Science Research, before coming to Harvard. For my Master's thesis (supervised by Herman van de Werfhorst and Daniela Grunow) I studied the burden of 'acting 'White'' thesis in Dutch secondary schools, combining qualitative fieldwork with large-N quantitative analysis.
My current research engages with the concept of "Meritocracy" and its role in perpetuating inequality of opportunity in education (the video posted below gives a general sense). I am interested in particular in the institutional and organizational characteristics of schools that profoundly shape their students' educational experience. My interest more broadly lies with topics of morality and legitimacy, the intersections of identity, race and class, as well as with questions of immigration, self-worth, and national identity. I write op-eds on these topics and others for Scienceguide e-zine and NRC Handelsblad newspaper (see Papers and op-eds in Dutch below).
I am the founding editor of Amsterdam Social Science, and this academic year, Jessica Tollette and I will co-ordinate the Harvard Migration and Immigrant Incorporation Workshop.
And to put the American Dream in perspective, here's a peek at the Thai Dream:
05/07/2012
- Research Interests
- Economic Sociology, Education (Meritocracy), Organizations, International Migration, Racial and Ethnic Minorities
- Previous Degrees
-
B.Sc. Sociology (with highest distinction) - Universiteit van Amsterdam
M.Sc. Social Science Research (with highest distinction) - Universiteit van Amsterdam
| Teaching Experience | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sociology 97 | Tutorial in Sociological Theory | Teaching Fellow |
Presentations and Publications
|
Publications |
|
|
|
2011. "Van terecht onrecht naar pluriform talent." ["Let us Move Away From 'Just Injustice' to the Recognition of Pluriform Talents."] Beleid en Maatschappij 38(3): 327-333. [PDF; in Dutch] |
|
|
| 2011. "Book Review: Inheriting the City." Teachers College Record. [PDF] |
|
|
| 2010. "Achievement Inequality and the Institutional Structure of Educational Systems: A Comparative Perspective." Annual Review of Sociology 36: 407-428 (with Herman G. van de Werfhorst). [PDF] |
|
|
| 2009. "Pitfalls and Springboards in Education. Second Generation Turkish Students In Europe Compared." The Hague: NICIS Institute (with Maurice Crul, Adel Pasztor, Frans Lelie & Philipp Schnell). [PDF; in Dutch] |
|
|
| 2009. "The Long Route in International Perspective. Second Generation Turkish Students In Europe Compared. Report for The Netherlands Ministry of Education." Amsterdam: Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (with Maurice Crul, Adel Pasztor, Frans Lelie & Philipp Schnell). [PDF; in Dutch] |
|
|
| 2008. "Meritocracy or Plutocracy? Finding Explanations for the Educational Disadvantages of Moroccan Immigrants Living in The Netherlands." Amsterdam Social Science 1(1): 44-70. [PDF] |
|
|
| 2008. "Balance in Amsterdam-West. Report for the City of Amsterdam." Amsterdam: City of Amsterdam (with Bowen Paulle & Joram Pach). [PDF; in Dutch] |
|
|
| 2007. "To Polder with Quality. A Critical Assessment of the Pending Revision of the Dutch-Flemish System of Accreditation." Journal of Higher Education and Management (TH&MA) 15(4): 60-61 (with Remie Bolte). [PDF; in Dutch] |
|
|
|
2007. "Educational Differentiation and Inequality: The Netherlands in Comparative Perspective. Report for the Netherlands Ministry of Education." Amsterdam: Amsterdam Institute for Advanced labor Studies (with Herman van de Werfhorst). [PDF; in Dutch] Presentations |
|
|
|
"A Burden of 'Acting 'Wise'': Popularity and Achievement in Dutch Education." Paper presented at Aage Sorensen Memorial Conference. Stockholms Universitet, Stockholm, Sweden, April 12th, 2012. |
|
|
|
"Academic Excellence and Internationalization from a Sociological Perspective." Keynote at Nuffic Anniversary Conference. The Hague, The Netherlands, January 11th, 2012. |
|
|
|
"A Burden of 'Acting 'Wise'': Ambivalence Towards Academic Achievement in Dutch Education." Paper presented at Workshop on Race, Culture & Inequality. Black Youth in Comparative Perspective: Amsterdam, London and New York. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, September 17 2010. |
|
|
|
"Ethnic Educational Inequalities in The Netherlands." Paper presented at SOCCULT research group workshop, Ecole Normale Superieure. Paris, France, October 27 2009. |
|
|
|
"Educational Differentiation and Inequality: The Netherlands in Comparative Perspective." Paper presented at the joint Equalsoc and ESCR Summer School Social inequalities in contemporary societies. New empirical evidence and methodological innovation. University of Trento, Italy, September 6 2008. [PDF] |
|
|
|
"Educational Differentiation and Inequality: The Netherlands in Comparative Perspective." Paper presented at Ministry of Education and Sciences. The Hague, The Netherlands, December 10 2007. Op-eds |
|
|
|
"Zijlstra scheidt studenten in winnaars en verliezers." ["Education Secretary Zijlstra Separates Winners from Losers."] NRC Handelsblad, p. 14, July 8th 2011. [PDF] |
|
|
|
"Boston Seminar Report: Visiting America." ScienceGuide, April 19th, 2011. [link] |
|
|
|
"Boston Seminar Report: In Defense of Mediocrity." ScienceGuide, April 19th, 2011. [link] |
|
|
|
"Boston Seminar Report: Learning to Start Anew." ScienceGuide, April 27th, 2011. [link] |
|
|
|
"Op naar monocultureel Nederland." ["Onward to a Monocultural Holland."] NRC Handelsblad, p. 9, March 4th, 2011. Reprinted in NRC Internationale Editie, p. 15, March 14th, 2011. [PDF] |
|
|
|
"Nederland loopt leeg na verbod op intolerantie." ["Holland Will Be Deserted After the Ban on Intolerance."] Joop.nl, March 4th, 2011. [link] |
|
|
|
"Eindtoets in het Hoger Onderwijs lost niets op." [Central Examinations in Higher Education Do Not Solve a Thing."] Joop.nl, November 7th, 2010. [link] |
|
|
|
"Het lijkt op poging tot staatsgreep." ["Wilders Sounds Like He Anticipates a Coup."] NRC Handelsblad, p. 7, October 25th, 2010. [PDF] |
|
|
|
"Veroordeel niemand tot leren." ["Stop Convicting Our Youth to Schooling."] NRC Handelsblad, p. 21, May 26th, 2007. [PDF] |
|
|
| "Brinkhorst kan leren van Adam Smith." ["Secretary of the Interior Brinkhorst Ought to Know His Adam Smith."] De Volkskrant, March 1st, 2006. Reprinted pp. 43-44 in Van Riet, Nora. 2006/2010. Social Work: mensen helpen tot hun recht komen. Assen: Van Gorcem. [PDF] |
|
Miscellaneous Additional Information
- GSO/GSC Committee Positions Held
- 2010-2011 Social Science At-Large Representative, Graduate Student Council
Suggested Links
| Michael Young's reflection on his own "invention" of Meritocracy |
Contact
617-496-5794 (FAX)
611 William James Hall
33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Office Hours
By appointment