Women to the top

A.Flierman On 26 June 2009 the Executive Board signed the National Charter Talent to the Top. In doing so, we show that we attach great value to the progression of women to senior positions at the UT. Our ambition is for equal representation of women in higher academic and support positions. We want to give talent the opportunity to develop itself. Top talent is scarce at this moment and this will only become more pressing with our ageing population. Moreover, studies have shown that companies perform better as the percentage of women at the top rises. After all, female professors are a role model for our prospective female students. They show that the programmes provided by the UT are attractive to women, too. The slow increase of the number of women in top positions in the Netherlands shows that without specific action, we will only reach the desired balance in fifty years time. This is too late in our view. Therefore we have taken a number of measures that will contribute to an accelerated inflow and progression to senior positions of women.

Measures

·	First, we would like to introduce you to our internal ambassadors. They monitor our policy.

·	Women with ambition are invited to take a look under the section “activities for women” for programmes for which they can sign up. Superiors can also look here to encourage their female staff to take part in the possibilities for development offered.

·	We are however more ambitious and believe that only with cultural and structural changes the university will become a place where women are keen to work. You as a superior are the driving force in this.

We therefore invite you to take a look under these sections to see how you can contribute to catching and retaining the interest of female talents.

Dr Anne Flierman

Chairman of the Executive Board

University of Twente

▪ More women to the top