Men more likely to occupy prestigious positions at Dutch universities

Who is assigned management tasks in academia and who is not? To find out, a survey of around 3,100 academics was conducted on behalf of the National Network of Female Professors (LNVH).

The results show that over 70 per cent of assistant professors, associate professors and professors surveyed perform management tasks in one way or another, in addition to their teaching and research. 

Women are more likely than men to do this at a “lower” level in the hierarchy. For example, 72 per cent of research programmes are led by women. At the research director level, which is slightly higher up the career ladder, the percentage of women immediately drops below 40 per cent.

Another striking finding is that international academics at the associate professor and professor levels are less likely to have management responsibilities than their Dutch colleagues. Roughly 40 per cent of staff at Dutch universities come from abroad, but at the higher levels, 70 to 80 per cent of management responsibilities are held by Dutch nationals. Internationals are therefore clearly underrepresented.

Network
According to the report's authors, such differences can only be partly explained by age and job level, which leads us to wonder what the real reason is. One might suspect that academia is an old boys network, where men give each other the best jobs. After all, recruitment for management positions often happens through personal connections. Managers ask people they know if the position available is something for them. According to the report, 80 to 90 percent of positions at the "lower" level are filled in this way, but the practice remains common even at the faculty level, where almost 50 percent of positions are filled through this “closed” procedure.

According to the researchers, this does not do diversity any favours. Nevertheless, when it comes to btaining a position through an open or closed procedure, they see no “significant gender differences” in the survey responses.

Why not take on tasks
The survey also asked researchers what reasons would they give for relinquishing their management tasks. There is little difference between genders, but women are slightly more likely to mention work pressure and work-life balance than men. The difference between them is only a few percentage points.

A slightly larger difference is that women are more likely to experience “barriers” in the work environment: 20.6 per cent of female respondents reported such barriers compared to 11.6 per cent of men. They are therefore more likely than men to feel that they are being hindered in some way.

Though the differences are not huge, ‘they do add up to a big difference,’ says LNVH chair Yvonne Benschop, a professor of Strategic Human Resources Management at Radboud University Nijmegen.

Culture
The higher up the career ladder, the more disadvantaged women are. According to Benschop, this has to do with the culture that prevails at Dutch universities, where the 'traditional' image of effective leadership tends to be associated with masculinity. "When allocating jobs, people higher up the career ladder tend to wonder whether women could bang their fists on the table and fight for resources for the department. However, when they are good at that, women are often perceived as aggressive and unkind, not as good leaders."

Male colleagues do not always understand this problem, says Benschop. "When they are passed over for a position, some men say: 'It must be a woman again, men don't get a chance anymore.' The figures show that this is simply not true. But those same men also get irritated when a woman says: "Of course, it's a man again."

It is not easy to change such a culture. Having more women in positions of power does not help women's careers enough, according to Benschop. "After all, those women have been shaped by the patriarchal system, to use that big word. They often apply the same standards and values that give men an advantage. What does help is that people who allocate tasks are aware of such patterns."

International colleagues
According to Benschop, international colleagues, who also find it more difficult to climb the career ladder, encounter similar cultural problems. It's not just about the language barrier. Dutch people often have a blind spot when it comes to the abilities of their international colleagues.

"The leadership qualities we value here in the Netherlands are based on Dutch standards," she says. "We don't always recognise the style of our international colleagues. It's a shame when foreign researchers are not given a chance because that means a loss of diversity for the organisation. They could offer a broader perspective on Dutch values and norms."

Recommendation
The recommendations are obvious: LNVH advocates structural training and professional development in the field of leadership and “inclusive management”, so that “diverse perspectives” are given more space. This would ensure that universities would better appreciate the capabilities of their employees.

LNVH also believes that transparent application procedures are necessary at all levels to ensure the accessibility of management positions. The private distribution of such positions should not be allowed to occur.

Zeitgeist
The study happened to be conducted "in a different zeitgeist than the one in which it is being presented," LNVH writes. "Dutch universities are currently facing major challenges, such as drastic budget cuts, a political climate that does not sufficiently value scientific work, and international developments that are putting pressure on academic freedom – particularly around issues such as sex, gender, diversity and inclusion."

According to the network, this political shift demonstrates how important "courage, decisiveness and perseverance" are to maintaining diversity and inclusion, "especially among leaders in the sector".