- The University
- 08/12/2025
The figures come from the new Monitor Female Professors, published today. Each year, the Netherlands Network of Women Professors (LNVH) presents an overview of gender differences within Dutch academia.
30 percent is a symbolic threshold, the authors write. Women are no longer an exception at the top of academia and together form a critical mass for change.
Almost
But technically, that milestone has not yet been fully reached. In the most recent count (reference date December 31, 2024), 29.9 percent of all full professors were women. This figure is based on full-time equivalents (FTE). Measured in persons, the percentage is slightly lower.
Nevertheless, the authors write: “We have chosen to mark this as reaching the 30 percent threshold.”
By university
The share of female full professors increased at all universities except TU Delft, where it dropped from 18.9 to 18.6 percent. Delft is also the only university where fewer than 20 percent of full professors are women.
In total, six universities remain below the 30 percent mark. Besides Delft, these are Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Wageningen University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and the technical universities of Eindhoven and Twente. At TU/e, the percentage of female full professors is just above 25 percent (see figure).
The remaining universities are above the threshold, with the Open University standing out at the top. At this small Limburg-based institution specializing in distance education, 42.8 percent of full professors are women.
Female full professors by university
Women are often better represented in other senior positions at universities. Of the 41 members serving on Executive Boards, 21 are women—more than half.
Among deans, who lead the academic departments, 36 percent are women, and the same applies to directors of research institutes. At educational institutes, women make up 47 percent of leadership.
Other countries
Compared to other countries, the Netherlands is certainly not leading the way. Some countries have even lower representation—Germany and Belgium, for example, reported less than 25 percent female full professors in 2022. But there are also countries where women are much more likely to reach the top of academia. In Romania, more than half of full professors are women.
Female full professors in EU countries (2022)
KNAW and NWO
The LNVH also examined gender balance at the institutes of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Researchers there do not hold the title of “full professor.”
In the comparable senior salary scales at NWO institutes, 23.8 percent are women. These institutes mainly focus on science and technology, the monitor notes, making this percentage slightly above average for that sector. At the KNAW institutes, women make up 28 percent in the same salary scale.
Is academia moving in the right direction when it comes to gender equality? The LNVH warns against complacency: “Growth remains modest and unevenly distributed across institutions and disciplines,” the monitor states. It could easily take another twenty years before there are as many female full professors as male ones.
This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor
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