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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Renate van der Zee

Hiring women, rather than just talking about it, works. That doesn’t mean all men are on board, it turns out

Women looking unhappy while two male colleagues shake hands in the background
‘The Netherlands lags behind most EU countries when it comes to the percentage of female professors.’ Photograph: Ian Allenden/Alamy

Are radical measures a good idea to attract more women to your organisation? The technology university in the Dutch city of Eindhoven thinks so. In 2019 it decided to open all academic job vacancies exclusively to women. If, after half a year, no suitable female applicant was found, men could apply.

The Netherlands lags seriously behind most EU countries when it comes to the percentage of female professors. And for a long time Eindhoven University of Technology lagged behind even other Dutch institutions. The figures were startling: 12% of full professors and 16% of associate professors were women in 2017.

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