Netherlands
According to a Dutch news report released at the start of the new academic year in the Netherlands, women now lead half of the country’s 14 top research universities, a first for the country.
Dutch News recently reported that Radboud University in Nijmegen appointed communications professor José Saunders as the university’s first rector (the equivalent of a chancellor) last year, while Wageningen University has had climate scientist Caroline Kloset as its president since March of this year (2024).
Other senior research universities led by women – a category recognised by the government – include Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Eindhoven University of Technology, Maastricht University, University of Groningen and Leiden University.
“Dutch universities have been pursuing an active diversity policy for some years now, aiming to increase the number of female academics, leaders and experts at the top of their institutions,” Ruben Pulaert, spokesman for the Union of Dutch Universities (UNL), which represents these top research universities, told University World News.
She described as a “groundbreaking event” the fact that half of the association’s university executives are now women, and that the proportion of women among deans (current executive positions such as vice presidents) has increased from 29.7% at the end of last year to 34.1% at the end of 2022.
Female Professor
However, Pulaert said there was still a lot to be done regarding gender equality in our universities. “In 2023, only 27.6% of professors in the Netherlands will be female, so there is still work to be done.”
“It is certainly possible to improve this situation and there has been a significant increase in the proportion of associate professors so there is plenty of female talent available for promotion,” he said.
With more than 50% of people starting out in science careers being women, Puillert said, “it is crucial that we also improve the flow of female talent into senior scientific roles.”
At the student level, women have outnumbered men in higher education for the 23rd consecutive year.
According to a March 2023 report by Statistics Netherlands (CBS – Centraal Bureau voor Statistiek), there were 443,000 female students and 393,000 male students at 41 research universities and accredited universities of applied sciences in the 2021-2022 academic year.
The fields with the highest proportion of female students were medicine, education and journalism.
In September 2020, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology drafted a National Action Plan to Increase Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education and Research, which set out five goals for higher education and research for 2025, including an awards system and new targets for 2025.
“Universities have had targets for the proportion of female professors for several years and every year the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH – Landelijk Network Vrouwelijke Hoogleraren) publishes a monitor with the latest figures,” said Pulaert.
“This will help universities to better identify areas where they can still improve on gender equality,” he added.
The LNVH’s Women Professors Monitor 2023 noted that with an increase of just 1% between 2022 and 2023, the annual increase in female professors in the Netherlands is the lowest in eight years, describing this as an “alarming” situation.
Among top research universities, only five – the Open University, Maastricht University, Leiden University, Radboud University Nijmegen and Utrecht University – have more than 30% female professors, two more than in 2022.
Technical universities within this elite group have the lowest proportion of female staff, with Delft University of Technology remaining at the bottom, increasing by just 0.4 percentage points from the end of 2021 to the end of 2022, from 17.7% to 18.1%.
Female role models
But one university that has made great efforts to increase its female representation is Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e): The university’s Irène Curie Programme, launched in 2019 and revised in 2021 to only include departments with fewer than 30% women, now requires that new posts be open to only female applicants for six months after they are advertised.
“We launched this programme because previous measures to improve the gender balance have not been very effective,” TU/e Rector Robert Jan Smits told University World News.
Reacting to the news that half of Dutch universities are now led by women, he said: “I am really pleased that gender parity in leadership roles has been achieved in Dutch universities. I am convinced that this will help to accelerate improvements in gender balance in our universities and society.”
“This confirms what we have seen at TU/e since we introduced the Irène Curie programme: if you actively look for female candidates, you will find excellent female candidates.”
“A recent five-year evaluation of the program shows that the percentage of female lecturers has increased from 22% to 30%, so we will continue this policy and
It inspires others.”
She told University World News that the programme’s success was due to “a growing recognition in Dutch academia that top-level female role models are essential to improving female representation across academia”.
“Not only is a gender equal balance crucial for equal recognition and opportunities, but we strongly believe that a better balance leads to improved quality of science and education,” he said.
A more diverse and inclusive approach
Jan Willem Besserer, director of marketing, communications and student community at Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas), said a “flexible environment, convenient working hours” and the fact that leadership roles were “easy to combine with personal life” were contributing to the increase in female recruitment.
She added: “There are more and more professional networks out there that create visibility, recognition and publicity for top professional women.”
She also noted that companies are “more consciously looking for talented women when filling vacancies” and that “more recruitment firms are looking for suitable candidates in a more diverse and inclusive way.”
Government policies “always have a positive impact but they have not been particularly necessary in our field,” he said, adding that Dutch universities need to work on all aspects of inclusivity.
“It’s important that there is enough diversity, this helps improve the quality and it’s not just a debate between men and women,” he added.
He said that at BUas, everyone is treated equally and given the same opportunities, regardless of gender, background or religion.
“Unfortunately, there is still not enough diversity in management. We have gender diversity, but we lack diversity of nationalities, citizenship and background. We are aware of this and have incorporated it in our recruitment policy,” he pointed out.
He said the gender ratio “cannot go beyond the threshold” as this would undermine diversity. “At BUas, we have 44% men and 56% women. The executive committee is made up of one man and one woman. Of the nine directors, we have four women and five men, which is the right ratio,” he noted.