Professors
Photo: EyeEm Mobile GmbH/Hollandse Hoogte

In short
- The Netherlands has 3,195 professors (fte).
- This figure excludes the over 1,600 professors (persons) working in health care.
- 29% of all professors are women.
A professorship is the most senior academic position at a university. The number of fte professors employed by Dutch universities was 3,195 in 2023. In addition, there are 1,098 'professors by special appointment' (persons, 2021). These endowed professors hold a chair at a university but are actually financed by companies or civic institutions. This group is described briefly in this factsheet as well.
3,108 professors: 1 in 5 in natural sciences
By 2023, there were 3,195 professors (FTE) at Dutch universities (3,699 persons). This does not include the more than 1,600 professors (persons) in health care (2018). In addition, there are 1,098 associate professors (persons, 2021). The number of professors is rising slightly. If we exclude Health Care, Natural Sciences has the most professors (614 FTE) and Agriculture the least (158 FTE). See also the figure below.
Health professors not included in the statistics
We do not include the HOOP classification Health in the statistics because there is no consistent multi-year series of them. This is because the employment of health professors has partly been transferred from the universities to the university medical centres. In total, 30% of the professors at the Dutch umc's will be women in 2022 (Monitor female professors; 2022). In 2018, this was 24%.
Agriculture | Natural sciences | Engineering | Economics | Law | Behavioural and social sciences | Language and culture | Miscellaneous | |
2003 | 104 | 432 | 395 | 251 | 232 | 366 | 348 | 36 |
2004 | 100 | 433 | 384 | 263 | 232 | 373 | 355 | 42 |
2005 | 97 | 411 | 372 | 266 | 233 | 358 | 342 | 39 |
2006 | 97 | 411 | 394 | 272 | 237 | 370 | 362 | 44 |
2007 | 98 | 412 | 407 | 277 | 239 | 366 | 379 | 50 |
2008 | 99 | 417 | 422 | 298 | 256 | 382 | 398 | 48 |
2009 | 98 | 428 | 422 | 307 | 268 | 423 | 398 | 57 |
2010 | 100 | 458 | 446 | 303 | 292 | 437 | 412 | 57 |
2011 | 97 | 456 | 451 | 302 | 291 | 430 | 399 | 56 |
2012 | 100 | 451 | 447 | 298 | 290 | 446 | 394 | 56 |
2013 | 102 | 469 | 457 | 295 | 297 | 462 | 399 | 60 |
2014 | 98 | 472 | 458 | 292 | 293 | 463 | 400 | 54 |
2015 | 101 | 483 | 474 | 295 | 310 | 471 | 414 | 61 |
2016 | 98 | 497 | 475 | 294 | 316 | 481 | 428 | 53 |
2017 | 97 | 507 | 491 | 315 | 311 | 486 | 440 | 58 |
2018 | 98 | 526 | 507 | 338 | 333 | 513 | 449 | 57 |
2019 | 108 | 545 | 524 | 373 | 335 | 533 | 445 | 59 |
2020 | 115 | 591 | 545 | 379 | 343 | 536 | 442 | 57 |
2021 | 126 | 602 | 555 | 381 | 350 | 553 | 438 | 55 |
2022 | 145 | 595 | 568 | 385 | 359 | 558 | 428 | 70 |
2023 | 158 | 614 | 577 | 408 | 369 | 571 | 432 | 66 |
29% of professors are women
Only 28.7% of all professors in the Netherlands are women. This means that the Netherlands is lagging behind internationally (source: She Figures, EC). Slowly but surely, more women professors are becoming involved in all fields of science. See also the figure below.
Agriculture | Natural sciences | Engineering | Economics | Law | Behavioural and social sciences | Language and culture | Total (exclusive health and not specified) | |
2003 | 9,6 | 5,1 | 2,5 | 4,4 | 11,2 | 13,1 | 15,5 | 8,5 |
2004 | 11 | 5,3 | 3,1 | 3,8 | 12,1 | 16,4 | 16,3 | 9,5 |
2005 | 12,4 | 5,6 | 3 | 4,1 | 14,2 | 16,2 | 17 | 9,9 |
2006 | 12,4 | 6,3 | 3,8 | 5,1 | 14,8 | 15,9 | 17,4 | 10,4 |
2007 | 10,2 | 7,5 | 4,4 | 6,5 | 15,1 | 17,2 | 17,7 | 11,2 |
2008 | 10,1 | 7,7 | 4,7 | 6,7 | 16,4 | 17,5 | 18,3 | 11,6 |
2009 | 10,2 | 7,9 | 6,4 | 7,8 | 16,8 | 18,2 | 19,4 | 12,4 |
2010 | 9 | 9 | 6,5 | 7,6 | 19,2 | 20,1 | 20,2 | 13,5 |
2011 | 9,3 | 9,7 | 7,3 | 8,6 | 22,3 | 21,4 | 23,3 | 14,9 |
2012 | 8 | 9,8 | 8,3 | 8,4 | 22,1 | 24 | 25,1 | 15,8 |
2013 | 6,9 | 9,6 | 9 | 9,2 | 21,9 | 25,1 | 25,8 | 16,3 |
2014 | 8,2 | 10,8 | 9,6 | 9,3 | 21,8 | 25,7 | 27,3 | 17,1 |
2015 | 12,9 | 11,6 | 9,9 | 9,2 | 23,9 | 26,5 | 28 | 18,1 |
2016 | 16,3 | 11,9 | 11 | 10,5 | 25,3 | 29,1 | 29 | 19,3 |
2017 | 17,5 | 13,6 | 12,6 | 11,1 | 28 | 30 | 30,7 | 22,4 |
2018 | 17,3 | 16,2 | 15 | 12,1 | 30,3 | 33,5 | 32,7 | 23,1 |
2019 | 18,7 | 16,2 | 17,1 | 13,9 | 31,1 | 34,9 | 34,6 | 24,3 |
2020 | 21,1 | 18,5 | 17,6 | 15,4 | 31,6 | 36,9 | 36,8 | 25,6 |
2021 | 22 | 19,8 | 17,8 | 16 | 32,9 | 38,5 | 37,4 | 26,6 |
2022 | 25,3 | 20,4 | 18,7 | 16,2 | 34 | 39,9 | 38,4 | 27,6 |
2023 | 26,7 | 20,9 | 19,8 | 18,5 | 34,3 | 42 | 39,5 | 28,7 |
A quarter of professors by special appointment are women
In addition to professors on the university payroll, universities also have another group of professors: professors by special appointment. They are not part of the official staff, but are financed from special sources. Often these are stakeholders of the university (companies or institutions) that find it interesting for their own policy to fund a chair at a university. Through the Narcis database, we can map the size and development of this group of scientists from 2013 onwards.
The number of professors by special appointment went from 1,259 in 2013 to 1,360 in 2016 and 1,056 in 2022. The number of male professors by special appointment has been declining, while the number of female professors has grown to 308 in 2022. The percentage of female professors by special appointment in 2022 lies around 29% This is the same as the percentage of female 'regular' professors in 2022. See also the figure below.
We can also say something about the fields of science in which the professors by special appointment work. Although the same professor in Narcis can fall under several areas, most professors by special appointment work in Life Sciences, Medicine, and Health Care (31%). This is followed by Humanities (15%). Some professors have been counted twice. Women are the most represented in Behavioural Sciences and Educational Sciences (48%) and in Social Sciences (42%).
Women | Men | |
2013 | 234 | 1025 |
2014 | 249 | 1062 |
2015 | 267 | 1076 |
2016 | 283 | 1077 |
2017 | 280 | 1033 |
2018 | 293 | 986 |
2019 | 286 | 912 |
2020 | 277 | 827 |
2021 | 288 | 810 |
2022 | 308 | 748 |
Labour market for professors: more dynamic than previously thought
Professor is the highest academic position at the university. For some professors, it is also their final function prior to retirement. However, the labour market for professors is more dynamic than it seems. The following figures, among others, demonstrate this:
- Each year, professors come and go in significant numbers: every seven years, half of all professorial positions are filled by others.
- Of the new professors, 63% come from other positions within Dutch universities, while 37% are recruited from outside Dutch universities.
- About a quarter of the departing professors leave because of retirement and a quarter fill another position within the universities, such as another chair or a management position.
- More than half leave for a position outside the Dutch university world. For them, the professorship is not an end function but an interim function in their career.
Workload
In the academic world, there are many complaints about the increased workload, also among professors. There is no systematic research into work pressure across all universities and disciplines in the Netherlands.
In 2022, the Rathenau Instituut conducted research into what motivates researchers and teachers and how they spend their time. This showed that professors spend 20% of their time on management tasks, 8% on acquisition, 5% on knowledge transfer, 30% on teaching, 19% on supervising researchers and 15% on conducting research themselves. They would prefer to have fewer management tasks and to carry out more research.
There are also indicators that point to an increased workload. For example, in the period 2003-2016, the number of PhDs increased by 86%. The number of master's degrees also increased by 57% (CBS figures). The number of professors increased by 16% (UNL/ WOPI figures, excluding university hospitals). So per professor there are more PhDs and more Master's students.
The number of scientific publications (of all scientists together) also rose from 20,000 in 2004 to 33,000 in 2013 (+65%). The pressure to acquire money in competition has also increased. For instance, for a number of disciplines and grant types, the chances of winning grants through the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) or Horizon 2020 are below 20%.
The data are obtained from the WOPI-file of UNL. The WOPI-data (Information on scientific education personnel) is annually requested by UNL from fourteen universities, conform a standardized format and agreed definitions. The reference date for the WOPI-data is 31st December for each year. All personnel is included who have a permanent or temporary employment contract or contractual agreement for a fixed number of working hours at a university. Student-Assistants excluded.
Over time, the personnel of almost all the academic hospitals have moved from the medical faculty or university as employer towards the academic hospital or the university medical centre (umc). The scientific field (HOOP-classification) Health sciences therefore shows an inconsistent pattern over time and is therefore not included in the data and graphs.
For an explanation of the used definitions and abbreviations we refer to the webpage Definitions for Science in Figures.
Sources
UNL: WOPI data (Dutch website)
Landelijk netwerk vrouwelijke hoogleraren: Monitor vrouwelijke hoogleraren. (Monitor female professors)
European Commission, She figures 2015 gender in research and innovation. Brussels 2015
I. Robeyns. Waarom een lagere werkdruk zo belangrijk is. DUB opinion paper: March 2015
Koens, L., R. Hofman & J. de Jonge (2018). What motivates researchers? Research excellence is still a priority. The Hague: Rathenau Instituut
DANS 2018: National Academic Research and Collaborations Information System - NARCIS 2013-2019
Statistics Netherlands: Statline
Downloads
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EN-University personnel (WOPI).xlsx
file type xlsx - file size 308.93 KB
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