Professors

3,217 professors: almost 1 in 5 in natural sciences

By 2024, there were 3,217 professors (FTE) at Dutch universities (3,718 persons). This does not include the more than 1,600 professors (persons) in health care (2018). We do not include the HOOP classification Health in the statistics because there is no consistent multi-year series of this field. The employment of health professors has partly been transferred from the universities to the university medical centres. The number of professors is rising slightly. Excluding Health Care, Natural Sciences has the most professors (609 FTE) and Agriculture the least (164 FTE). See also the figure below.

30% of professors are women

Only 30% of professors at a Dutch university are women. This means that the Netherlands is lagging behind internationally (source: She Figures, EC). Slowly but surely, more female professors are becoming involved in all fields of science. See also the figure below. In total, 32% of the professors at the Dutch university medical centres are women in 2024 (Monitor female professors). In 2025, this is 33%.

More than one third 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. 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.

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. Women are the most represented in Behavioural Sciences and Educational Sciences (48%) and in Social Sciences (42%). From 2023 onwards, no data on professors by special appointment is available through the Narcis database. The Women Professor Monitor (LNVH) shows that 36% of all professors by special appointment is female in 2024.

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 2005-2024, the number of PhDs increased by 91%. The number of professors increased by 52% (UNL/ WOPI figures, excluding university hospitals). So per professor there are more PhD 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%.