Inside the Student Clubs

Every year, many students sign up to become part of a student club in the Netherlands and Belgium, and although the culture around and within those clubs significantly influences the students and the academic atmosphere in university cities, it remains an under-research phenomenon. The project “Inside the Student Clubs” seeks to research this unexplored social phenomenon and explore the dynamics of student clubs from outside and within. This includes how those social groups shape group and personal identity, along with their meaning-making processes through the significance of traditions and rituals, the profile of participants, as well as their overall social impact and influence on the university atmosphere. The research, spanning over four years, will focus on bigger themes such as “Personal Identity and Group Identity,” “Inclusivity and Diversity,” “Traditions and Rituals,” and “Social impact and Role in the Academic Sphere.” These larger themes will be investigated through qualitative research methods, such as observations and interviews in different cities in the Netherlands and Belgium. The analysis will be supported by numerous theories, such as Social Identity Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, Social Capital Theory, and Critical Race Theory. The significance of this project lies in its contribution to the little academic knowledge that exists on student club culture in Europe, particularly in English academic literature. This research pushes the boundaries of what is known by studying the secretive and exclusive nature of these clubs. By doing this, this research hopes to achieve a more open dialogue, and contribute to informed policies for how to create a more inclusive, but most importantly, safe academic environment for all students.