Academic careers of researchers

Academic job structure

Dutch universities divide their staff into two main groups: academic staff and support and management staff. In this publication, we will mainly discuss the academic staff.

The academic job structure resembles a pyramid. At the base, there are two large groups of young employees: PhD students as starting positions and researchers (postdocs) and lecturers as transfer positions. Above them are the university lecturers and the associate professors. At the top of the academic career house are the professors.

On average, PhD candidates are 29.5 years old when they finish their PhD. Starting university lecturers are on average 37 years old, associate professors on average 42 years old and full professors on average 49 years old. So on average it takes about 19 years from promotion to full professor (see also the fact sheet Factsheet Women in academia).

The academic staff at Dutch universities in figures in 2023:

• 11,603  FTE PhDs (34% of the total scientific staff)
• 7,155 FTE assistant professors (21%)
• 4,426 FTE researchers (13%)
• 4,096 FTE teachers (12%)
• 3,195 FTE professors (9%)
• 3,155 FTE associate professors (9%)
• 318 FTE other scientific staff (1%)

The figure below show the number of scientific personnel per category from 2005 onwards.

Academic staff rising faster than support and management staff

In the graph below, we compare the complete academic staff with the complete support and management staff. Academic staff grew from 19,610 fte in 2005 to 33,947 fte in 2023. Support and management staff increased from 16,419 FTE to 24,041 FTE. Support and management staff did not grow at the same rate as academic staff. In 2005, there were 84 support staff for every 100 scientists. In 2023, there were 71 support staff for every 100 scientists.

Dynamics of the academic job market

The job market for academic staff is highly dynamic, with staff regularly moving to more senior positions, or to a similar position at another university (reference date 31 december 2011). They also move in and out of positions in academia and other sectors. This applies less to associate professor positions, 80% of which are filled by academics already on the university career path. In the case of assistant professors and professors, 40% of all new appointees are not from within the university system. Almost 10% of professorships change incumbent each year, 12% of associate professors positions change hands, and 15% of assistant professor posts.

The same dynamism is seen in staff leaving academia. A third of professors who leave their post do so because they have reached retirement age, while two-thirds take a job outside the Dutch academic world. 43% of associate professors leaving their post do so because of a promotion to professor, 32% leave the university and the rest retire. Among assistant professors, a higher proportion leave (47%) than are promoted to the post of associate professor or professor within the same university (37%).

There is even more dynamism among other academic staff (including postdocs). More than one in four leave each year, with only a relatively small proportion (18%) moving on to a more senior position in the university (assistant professor, associate professor or professor).

Less women in academia

Women are underrepresented in academic jobs: the more senior the position, the smaller the proportion of women. The share of female scientific staff in 2023 can be found below:

• 46% female PhDs
• 54% female teachers
• 43% female researchers
• 42% female other scientific staff
• 47% female assistant professors 
• 35% female associate professors
• 29% female professors

The figure below shows the differences between the categories from 2005 onwards. The total proportion of women has slowly increased in recent years. The ratio of PhD students and lecturers, researchers and other academic staff seems to stabilise from 2012 onwards.

Internationalisation

Dutch science is becoming more and more international. This is also shown in the figure below. The share of non-Dutch scientists in all positions is gradually increasing. By now, more than 55% of the PhD students and over 50% of the university lecturers are foreign.