{"id":154794,"date":"2023-05-16T15:29:59","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T13:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=154794"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:47","slug":"men-twice-as-likely-to-obtain-a-phd-with-honours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/05\/16\/men-twice-as-likely-to-obtain-a-phd-with-honours\/","title":{"rendered":"Men twice as likely to obtain a PhD with honours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doctoral dissertations produced by men are almost twice as likely to receive the designation cum laude <\/em>in the Netherlands than dissertations by women, according to the pre-publication of a study by sociologist Thijs Bol. Differences in discipline do not play a role in this \u2018honours gap\u2019.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Approximately five percent of all doctoral dissertations are awarded the designation cum laude<\/em> by an assessment panel. This is in recognition of outstanding research that scores well above average across a range of criteria.<\/p>\n

In all disciplines, men are almost twice as likely to obtain a PhD with the designation cum laude<\/em> than women. The more men there are on an assessment panel, the more likely male candidates are to obtain the designation. Thijs Bol is a sociologist at the University of Amsterdam and vice-president of The Young Academy, a group of relatively young scholars. These findings are stated<\/a> in a pre-published abstract of his study.<\/p>\n

Peer review<\/h2>

Bol\u2019s research is based on assessments of over five thousand former candidates who obtained their PhD at \u201ca large Dutch university\u201d between 2011 and 2021.<\/p>\n

To date, Bol has declined invitations to be interviewed about his findings. His paper is currently awaiting peer review by the scientific journal in which he plans to publish.<\/p>\n\n\t

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