FFNT, the Female Faculty Network Twente, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The network was founded in November 2005, as a group of 50 women gathered together for the Female Faculty Network Twente's (FFNT) first conference, entitled Professional Women. Back in 2005, FFNT was the first professional society at UT to create university-wide awareness of the importance and the organisational benefits of leveraging female talent.
Since then, FFNT has established itself firmly as the voice of UT’s academic women. FFNT became one of the leaders of the university-wide organisational change towards increased diversity and inclusion. FFNT has been actively involved in the design of measures targeting the increased participation of academic women in the key areas of academic life: research, educational program development and policy-making. The ongoing dialogue of FFNT and the UT’s stakeholders has actively contributed to the UT achieving an important milestone in gender diversity, bringing the share on female professors from 6% in 2005 to 21% in 2020.
FFNT: "With a membership base of over 300 female scientists, FFNT has established itself as both as a symbol and reference platform for UT women. FFNT has been providing ongoing support to women to chart their professional plans and boost their role at UT. In its 15 years of service, FFNT has organised over 150 network events, training workshops and conferences, to help the members grow and develop their strengths."
Despite all the progress made, further actions are needed to bridge the gender gap, toward a new inclusive culture that embraces diversity. "The motto High Tech, Human Touch adopted by the University of Twente recalls the importance of a diverse university, where everyone is heard, and different perspectives merge."
Why is this so important? FFNT: "Because diversity and inclusion improve motivation, enhance talents and open to new, unexpected opportunities. An inclusive workplace supports all employees to reach their full potential; those are inestimable resources that cannot be missed."
The Female Faculty Network has decided to celebrate this special anniversary with a video. The voices of members and supporters are collected, to reflect together on 15-years path of FFNT, its mission and expectations.
