“The WISE network wants to contribute to the increase of the number of women in (higher) academic positions at TU/e by promoting awareness of existing mechanisms that hold women back. It is more difficult for women to attain higher level scientific posts even if their performance is excellent,” says WISE chairman Dr. Mila Davids, who shares her chairman’s post with colleague Dr. Monique Jansen-Vullers.

“Achieving more diversity is not always easy, not only in terms of gender but also in terms of culture and age.”

“The obstacles can be overcome. TU/e women themselves can contribute a lot to achieving better positions for themselves and for future generations. We can learn from each other by discussing career paths and choices. The network offers practical help, for example through workshops which aim to make us more aware of our own qualities and help us improve our visibility.”

Kick-off
The Executive Board supports this initiative more than ever, they say in a statement on the new website. WISE fits in with the TU/e policy to increase the number of talented women on the academic staff. “We can’t afford to ignore much-needed talent, so we are looking at ways to help people develop,” said TU/e vice-chancellor prof.dr.ir Hans van Duijn last year at the kick-off.

Although more women than men graduate from universities in the Netherlands, women are still under-represented on academic staff. The higher the position, the fewer women there are to be found. Even so, a slow improvement is becoming visible at TU/e.

In 2006 15 percent of Bachelor students and 22 percent of Master students were female. In 2007 29 percent of all PhD students and 16 percent of all assistant professors were female. This is a marked improvement compared to 2001, when these numbers were only 24 and 10 percent, respectively.

After that things come to a stop, only 4 percent of assistant professors and professors are female. This has doubled since 2001 from 2 to 4 percent, but is still very low in terms of actual numbers, as only four of TU/e’s full professors are female.

WISE is convinced of the strength and quality of TU/e women,” Davids states. “It is important to get to know each other. The strange thing is that many women have a better network outside than inside the university. This is something we want to change.”

Buddy
The network has advised the Executive Board to set up a coaching/mentoring program like the one the Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht has for female academics, only they also want to include their (young) male colleagues. The idea is to give each academic an established professor as a kind of buddy to help them navigate the pitfalls of academia. “This kind of program is not our area of expertise, it will be organised by the Personnel department. We will be ready with advice to ensure the system is as effective as possible,” Davids explains./.

Van links naar rechts: Mariska Netjes (Technologie Management), Adriana Creatore (Technische Natuurkunde), Ria Overwater (Technologie voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling), Elise van den Hoven (Industrial Design), Mila Davids (Technologie Management), Emilia Motoasca (Elektrotechniek), Maria Stekelenburg (Biomedische Technologie), Monique Jansen-Vullers (Technologie Management), Anke Stekelenburg (Biomedische Technologie). Foto: Bart van Overbeeke