Over a Third of Professors at Leiden University Are Women, Slightly Above National Average

December 8, 2025, The share of female professors is increasing, but the growth remains limited. With 34.2%, Leiden University ranks in the national top three, according to the 2025 Female Professors Monitor.

At the end of 2024, the proportion of female professors at Dutch universities was 29.9%, a very slight increase of 1.2 percentage points compared with 2023. The figures come from the monitor published by the National Network of Female Professors (LNVH). This means the symbolic 30% threshold, often seen as a tipping point for structural change, has essentially been reached. Nevertheless, growth remains modest and unevenly distributed. Universities are therefore urged not to become complacent, the network emphasizes. Based on the current trend, a balanced male-female distribution is not expected until 2043. The Open University leads with 42.8%, followed by Maastricht University (36.2%) and Leiden University (34.2%).

Bottlenecks in Career Progression
A striking finding is that career progression still lags. The proportion of women decreases sharply after graduation: from 51.9% of students to 46.1% of PhD candidates, 47.6% of assistant professors, 36.6% of associate professors, and 29.9% of full professors.

Target Figures
Universities have set new targets for 2030, with a national average of 36.9% female professors. Goals vary significantly by institution: TU Delft aims for 25%, while Leiden University targets 40%. The LNVH stresses that ambitious goals are crucial, especially given the current pressure on political support and funding.

Response from the University Board Chair
“It’s moving in the right direction, but we need to keep pushing,” says board chair Luc Sels in response to the monitor. Achieving nearly 30% does not automatically signal progress, he notes. The monitor shows that career progression still stalls at the step from assistant professor to associate professor, and then to full professor. Sels emphasizes that Leiden University’s target of 40% female professors by 2030 is a clear choice for a future-oriented academic community. “It is a choice that requires vision and persistence. The foundation for acceleration is there, as the replacement potential is substantial.” The expected retirement of male professors in senior age groups will create new opportunities to speed up the career progression of women to higher positions.

Diversity Policy
Leiden University promotes female career progression through talent programs, monitoring, inclusive recruitment policies, and support for diversity networks. This provides female researchers with more opportunities to advance to professorship. More information can be found in the Diversity & Inclusion dossier.

Large Differences Between Disciplines
The monitor shows significant variation across fields. On average, Economics counts only 19% female professors, Science and Engineering 20.5% and 20.7% respectively, while Social & Behavioral Sciences reaches 43.9% and Humanities & Culture 42.3%.

Leadership Positions
At the management level, for the first time, more than half of university boards are women (51.2%). However, the share of women in supervisory boards (44.9%) and influential positions such as directors of research institutes (36.4%) still lags behind.

Netherlands Lags Behind in the EU
According to the European She Figures 2024 report, the average share of female professors in the EU rose from 27.3% in 2019 to 29.7% in 2022. In the same period, the Netherlands increased from 23.7% to 27.3%, leaving it among the lower-ranking countries; no fewer than 15 EU countries scored higher.