Over a third of Leiden’s professors are women, just above national level
The proportion of female professors at Dutch universities is increasing, but at a modest rate. At 34.2%, Leiden University is in the top three. These are the results of the Women Professors Monitor for 2025.
The proportion of female professors at Dutch universities rose to 29.9% by the end of 2024, a slight increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to 2023, the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH) reports in its annual monitor. The network notes that the 30% milestone has just about been reached, a percentage often seen as a critical mass for structural change. But with growth modest and unevently distributed, the network cautions against complacency. Based on the curent trend, it will take until 2043 to close the gender gap. The Open University leads the list with 42.8%, followed by Maastricht (36.2%) and Leiden (34.2%).
Slower career progression
The Monitor shows that women still take longer to climb the career ladder. The proportion of women decreases on each rung after graduation: from 51.9% of students to, 46.1% of PhD candidates, 47.6% of assistant professors, 36.6% of associate professors and 29.9% of professors.
Targets
The Dutch universities have set a new targets for 2030, with a national average of 36.9%. There are considerable differences between the universities: Delft University of Technology is aiming for 25% and Leiden University for 40%. Ambitious goals are crucial, the LNVH warns, especially with dwindling political support and funding.
Response from Luc Sels
‘We’re moving in the right direction, but we’re not there yet,’ President of the Executive Board Luc Sels notes. Hitting the 30% milestone does not mean we can afford to become complacent. Women’s career progression still stalls at the step from assistant to associate professor and again to professor. Leiden’s target of 40% by 2030 is a clear choice for a future-focused academic community, he adds. ‘It will takes vision and tenacity. We have ample replacement potential, which creates a basis for acceleration.’ The expected departure of male professors in the higher age groups will create new opportunities to speed up women’s progresson to higher roles.
Diversity policy
Leiden University supports women’s career advancement with its talent programmes, monitoring, inclusive hiring practices and support for diversity networks. There are more opportunities for women to progress to professorships, for example. Read more about this in our Diversity & Inclusion dossier.
Differences between disciplines
The Monitor shows significant differences between disciplines. On average, only 19% of professors in Economics are female, while for Science and Technology this is respectively 20.5% and 20.7%. In contrast, 43.9% of Behavioural and Social Sciences and 42.3% Language and Culture professors are female.
Senior roles
At the senior level, this is the first time that women constitute more than half of the members of executive boards (51.2%). However, boards of governors still lag behind (44.9%), as do influential roles such as directors of research institutes (36.4%).
Netherlands trails in EU
According to the European She Figures for 2024, the average share of female professors in the EU rose from 27.3% in 2019 to 29.7% in 2022. In the same period, the Netherlands grew from 23.7% to 27.3%, placing it in the lower ranks of the list: 15 countries performed better.