The abilities of citizens to make themselves heard and listen to each other are essential for the functioning of democratic societies. Schools are practice grounds for these citizenship competences. This study investigates whether students’ experiences with voice in school are related to their attitudes towards voice (contributing and listening democratically), and how a democratic school culture affects this relation. Overall, 5297 students, from 240 classrooms, in 81 Dutch secondary schools, participated in the study. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that students’ voice experiences at school, their own and those of their classmates, are positively related to students’ attitudes towards contributing and listening democratically. This relation is not affected by a democratic school culture. These findings underline the relevance of opportunities to practice voice at school for all students and of the social nature of practicing voice. More generally, this study illustrates the importance of understanding schools as practice grounds for citizenship.

Research in the US indicates that classroom diversity is related to better social adjustment of students, but research on this association in European classrooms is limited in scope and yields inconsistent findings. This study examined how classroom ethnic diversity is related to social adjustment of societally dominant versus minoritized ethnic groups, and how an open classroom climate for discussion contributes to this. This was examined in low to moderately diverse Dutch classrooms (2703 secondary school students, from 119 classrooms and schools, M_age = 14, 50% female, 18% foreign-born parents). Results revealed that students from minoritized groups reported lower social adjustment. For all students, classroom ethnic diversity was related to worse social adjustment which was partly explained by classroom socioeconomic status (SES). An open classroom climate for discussion did not moderate the relation between diversity and social adjustment. The findings indicate that students’ social adjustment is worse in ethnically diverse and low-SES classrooms, and an open classroom climate for discussion does not solve this.

Studenten die tot minderheidsgroepen behoren in termen van migratieachtergrond, LGBTQAI+, functiebeperking, sociaaleconomische status (SES) en internationale status voelen zich minder verbonden met de universiteit dan studenten die tot de meerderheid behoren. In deze studie is onderzocht in hoeverre studenten die behoren tot een minderheids- en de meerderheidsgroep zich verbonden voelen met de universiteit en in welke mate de verbondenheid wordt beïnvloed door sociale uitsluiting, interpersoonlijke en academische validatie. Gebaseerd op data van 440 studenten (convenience sample) aan twaalf Nederlandse universiteiten laat de multilevel analyse zien dat studenten met een migratieachtergrond en studenten met een lager sociaaleconomische status minder verbondenheid ervaren dan studenten die tot de meerderheid behoren. De ANOVA bevestigt dit voor andere minderheidskenmerken en laat zien dat minderheidsstudenten minder validatie en meer uitsluiting ervaren. Deze verschillen zijn sterker voor studenten die tot meerdere minderheidsgroepen behoren. Verder laat de Structural Equation Model zien dat sociale uitsluiting de relatie met verbondenheid medieert voor studenten met een migratieachtergrond en studenten met een lagere SES. Ook interpersoonlijke validatie medieert deze relatie voor de laatst genoemde groep. Tenslotte profiteren studenten met een migratieachtergrond minder van academische validatie in hun verbondenheid dan studenten zonder migratieachtergrond.