Only in 2030 will one in four university professors in Holland be a female. The country lags behind the rest of Europe, as has appeared in the Monitor Female Professors 2009.
Countries with even worse ratio are Belgium, Cyprus, Luxemburg and Malta. Ireland on the other hand has the most female university professors at one in three. In Holland 11.7 percent of profs are currently female and the European aim of 25 percent in 2009 was obviously not met.
There are stark differences between universities however. Radboud University Nijmegen and Leiden University have the highest rates of female profs at 16.7 and 16.3 percent respectively. Eindhoven University of Technology has the lowest rate at 1.6 percent. Compared with 2003 though, there has been an increase in women becoming professors.
In some universities their number even doubled. The fields of language and culture, social studies and law have the highest rates of women professors, ranging from 18.4 to 16.4 percent. Technical studies, not surprisingly, have the fewest ladies in their midst with 4.8 percent.
The step from associate professor to professor is a difficult one to make, but this is a difficult promotion for men as well. Still, men seem to make it to the top more easily than women. If there are only men in an application committee for example, they are most likely to appoint a man to a vacant position. If there are two women in such a committee, in 24 percent of all applications, a woman is appointed.
However, it is not solely sexism that causes the difference. Women will more often have part time positions at universities, which makes it more difficult for them to climb career ladder. The authors of the monitor argue there should be a law in Holland requiring the presence of two women in the application committees. HOP
