University positions by age and gender
In short
- In all scientific positions the share of women is still smaller than the share of men, except for teachers.
- The relative share of women in academic positions decreases with age.
- The growing employment opportunities at universities are increasingly taken by women.
Academic careers by position, age and gender, 2023 (fte)
Academic careers by position, age and gender (fte)
Note: Data on the categories of teachers, researchers and other scientific staff are available from 2005 onwards.
Analysis
In 2023, the share of women in all scientific positions is still smaller than the share of men, except for the teachers. The relative share of men in academic positions increases with age. Age also correlates with position. The majority of PhD students (fte) are aged 25 to 29 years; 55% of them is male. Most professors (fte) are aged between 55 and 59 years; 76% of them is male.
The number of fte in academics that is executed by women increased more in the past years than the number of fte that is executed by men. After a period of increase between 1998 and 2003, a slight decrease can be observed in the years 2004-2008 for men. The number of fte keeps growing steadily to 19.037 in 2023. The number of fte that is executed by women shows a different pattern. In the past years this number increased from 3,637 in 1998 to 14.910 in 2023 (+310%). The growing employment opportunities at universities are increasingly taken by women. The share of women having an academic position at a university increased from 22% in 1998 to 44% in 2023. With every career step, the gap between the share of men and women increases. The higher the position, the smaller the proportion of women.
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 acronyms we kindly refer to the web page Definitions for Science in Figures.