Roughly as many women as men now leading Dutch universities

There are approximately as many women as men in the primary leadership roles of the 14 public universities in the Netherlands, according to a review by ANP. The University of Amsterdam (UvA) announced on Monday the appointment of Edith Hooge as its new executive board president. She will succeed Geert ten Dam.

Hooge is currently the chair of the Education Council of the Netherlands, a key policy advisor to the Dutch government. She previously studied education at the UvA, and obtained her doctorate there for research in the field of autonomy and deregulation of the education sector. She will return to the UvA after becoming a full professor at TIAS Business School in Tilburg.

Hooge will also be one of six women heading up a public university's executive board. The others are Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, Open Universiteit, and the universities in Leiden, Maastricht and Wageningen.

The board president is generally responsible for the daily affairs of the university. Scientific research and education are usually under the oversight of the rector magnificus. Seven universities have a woman in that post, and the other seven staffed the position with a man. In 2007, Dymph van der Boom became the first woman in that position at a Dutch university when the University of Amsterdam appointed her to succeed Paul van der Heijden.

University executive boards usually also include a vice president, a vice-chancellor, or both. This concerns a total of eight men and seven women.

Men still hold a majority on the supervisory boards, which has oversight over the executive board and the paths they choose. Nine men lead those boards, against five women.

Women are clearly in the minority in the workplace. More than a quarter of all professors are women, the National Network of Female Professors found in December. There are also more male associate professors, assistant professors and PhD students.

The Netherlands has more female than male university students. In addition, more women are graduating from Dutch universities.