Gender
The Dutch academic community is failing to tap into a great deal of female potential, especially in high-level positions. With only 17,1% of Dutch professors being female, the Netherlands has the fourth-lowest percentage of female professors in Europe (LNVH, 2015). This means that other countries are much better than the Netherlands at capitalising on the talent of female academics. If the percentage of female professors continues to grow at the same rate as during the last ten years, it will take until 2055 to achieve an equal male to female ratio.
The Dutch universities want to bring about change and have set gender targets for the percentage of female professors in 2020. In order to reach these targets, the universities are undertaking several actions. They for instance monitor the development of the number of female professors, share their best practices and each have their own projects like fellowships and grants. Moreover, the VSNU is a member of the Gender Task Force that was set up by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
You can find more information on this subject in the Facts & Figures section of our website and on the LNVH website and the SoFoKles website.