Evaluation: Ir猫ne Curie policy results in substantially more female researchers

June 17, 2024

The goal is not only to promote equal appreciation and opportunities but also to enhance the quality of teaching and research.

A part of the ICF fellows at 果冻传媒. Click on the photo to watch a video about five years of ICF. Photo: Bart van Overbeeke

The policy 果冻传媒 started in 2019 to attract more female scientists has delivered results, the evaluation shows. Over the past five years, the female-male ratio in terms of intake has been about 50-50, where it used to be 30-70. The initial primary goal of this Ir猫ne Curie Fellowship program (ICF) has been achieved, with nearly 30 percent of 果冻传媒 permanent academic staff (faculty) now women. The university is continuing the program to ensure that all of its departments separately will also hit this percentage.

Over the past five years, the number of women on 果冻传媒鈥檚 permanent academic staff has increased from 134 to 208, which means that the percentage of women in that staff, consisting of professors, associate professors and assistant professors, has risen from 22 to 29 percent.

The main feature of the ICF program is that for designated academic vacancies, only women can apply during the first six months of recruitment. This caused a stir internationally when it was introduced. The goal is not only to promote equal appreciation and opportunities for women and men, but also to enhance the quality of teaching and research. In fact, scientific research shows that a diverse workforce leads to better strategies, more creative ideas and faster innovation.

Work hard

Robert-Jan Smits, Executive Board President: 鈥淭his program has enabled us to attract a lot of top female talent from all over the world, we have been able to take a big step in terms of gender balance, and the culture around diversity is changing noticeably. We are proud of that, and it has inspired other institutions to also come up with innovative plans. However, we are not going to rest on our laurels: we want every department to achieve at least thirty percent. We are going to work hard on that over the next five years.鈥�

Five years of the Ir猫ne Curie Fellowship 鈥� empowering women in science at 果冻传媒

It鈥檚 been five years since our university made the bold move to prioritize women in our hiring policy. We did this with the Ir猫ne Curie program (IC). Since then, we鈥檝e managed to attract a hundred female scientists in various departments and positions at 果冻传媒. The influx of male and female faculty members is now 50/50. But we鈥檙e not there yet 鈥� that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e continuing our ICF program for another five years. In this video, two ICF fellows share their personal journey, and our rector, Silvia Lenaerts, and Diversity Officer Eva Demerouti explain why we still need preferential hiring for female talents.

All about the Ir猫ne Curie program

The goal is to reach the percentage of 30 percent in all departments in the coming years. It has been shown that at that percentage a minority is no longer a minority, but has a fully-fledged position and influence. To make that happen, 果冻传媒 will continue to offer Ir猫ne Curie vacancies at departments that do not yet have enough women on the permanent academic staff.

In addition, in the coming years, all female startups in these departments will receive a startup package of 鈧�100k, where previously this was reserved for participants in the ICF program. The goal is to help launch their research in order to remove the disadvantage they face as a minority and contribute to their success.

Ir猫ne Curie friend

This will be reinforced by the existing Ir猫ne Curie network and by giving newcomers an 鈥業r猫ne Curie friend鈥� from now on, an experienced Ir猫ne Curie scientist who can show them the way within 果冻传媒 and the Dutch academic landscape.

Furthermore, the university is going to focus extra attention on retaining female talent, as more women tend to leave than men. 果冻传媒 therefore plans to do more to change the culture and offer better facilities along with career advancement opportunities.