Female Talent Committee

Since July 2019, the WVT organizes informal drinks on the theme diversity. The aim of the Diversity Drinks is to offer an informal platform for all scientific employees of the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS; including PhD students and postdocs) to interact with other experienced researchers and exchange advice and/or tips and tricks on various diversity-related issues. Some examples (but definitely not an exclusive list) are gender related issues, issues related to writing grant proposals, and climbing the academic ladder.

The diversity drinks are organized twice a year, and each edition will center on a specific topic.

Every year the WVT devotes attention to International Women’s Day (8 March), by either organizing activities themselves or co-hosting an event with the Faculty and WO&MEN network. These activities vary from workshops to informal drinks, but the central question of these activities is often ‘how do you, as a woman, acquire a high(er) position at the university?’ In recent years acquiring prestigious research grants and building a strong CV has become increasingly important, the WVT is also focused towards those goals.

The Wilhelmina Drucker Awards are initiated by the Werkgroep Vrouwelijk Talent, aiming for strengthening young female talent within FSS. In December 2015, the Wilhelmina Drucker Awards were awarded for the first time. The Wilhelmina Drucker Awards are available for talented female master students (or recent graduates), PhD students and junior researchers.

The awards are named after Wilhelmina Drucker (1847 - 1925), a Dutch politician and one of the first Dutch feminists. With various initiatives such as the weekly magazine 'De Vrouw', 'The Free Women Association' and the 'Society for Women's Suffrage', Wilhelmina Drucker committed herself to women's emancipation and women's rights. Her various initiatives laid the foundation for later movements aimed at women's emancipation, for example the feminist movement 'Dolle Mina' refers to the Wilhelmina Drucker’s nickname (iron Mina).

With the introduction of the Wilhelmina Drucker Awards, the WVT hopes to offer young female talents a better chance on having a successful academic career.

THREE CATEGORIES

• Wilhelmina Drucker Student Talent Award: intended for talented female master students (can be recently graduated)
• Wilhelmina Drucker PhD Talent Award: intended for female PhD students within the faculty
  
• Wilhelmina Drucker Career Award: intended for female researchers in the faculty to apply for ‘personal grant coaching’ in support of a research proposal.
  

WINNERS 2020

In 2020 the WVT awarded the Wilhelmina Drucker Career Award to:
Loes Aaldering (public Administration and political Science)

WINNERS 2018/2019

In 2018 and 2019 the WVT awarded the Wilhelmina Drucker Career Award to:

• Marieke Slootman (Sociology)
• Jacquelien van Stekelenburg (Sociology)
• Mariken van der Velden (Communication Science)
• Christine Moser (Organization Science)
  

WINNERS 2017

The WVT awarded the Wilhelmina Drucker Awards to six talented young researchers in 2017:

• Student Talent: Ellen Droog (Communication Science)
  
• Early Career - januari 2017: Evelyn Ersanilli (Sociology), Marijn Hoijtink (Public Administration and Political Science), Christine Moser (Organization Science)
  
• Career Award - juli 2017: Eva-Maria Merz (Sociology), Marii Paskov (Sociology)
  

WINNERS 2015

In December 2015, a total of ten Wilhelmina Drucker Awards were granted: The Wilhelmina Drucker Student Talent Award was granted four times and the Wilhelmina Drucker PhD-Talent Award and the Wilhelmina Drucker Early Career Award were both granted three times.

• Student Talent Award: Nadia Bij de Vaate, Britta Brugman, Daniëlle Bovenberg, Kim van Zoest
• PhD-Talent Award: Anouk den Hamer, Adina Nerghes, Marloes Spekman
• Career Award: Greetje Corporaal, Guilia Sinatti, Jolanda Veldhuis

During the global corona pandemic the WVT introduced a call for female academics to hire a student assistant. During the corona pandemic female academics were and are still hit especially hard. For example, data show that women’s publishing success dropped during the lockdown weeks, as did their share in grant applications (e.g., Davis et al., 2022; King & Frederickson, 2021; Lerchenmüller et al., 2021). The ongoing impact of the pandemic may set back the gender-gap even further (also see Breuning et al., 2021). Hence, to alleviate some of the heavy workload female academics can apply for a female student assistant (max. 0.2FTE for three months; 1 day per week). Via this call we address the gender-gap twice, by creating additional research time for female academics, and at the same time offer female VU-students an opportunity to work with researchers in our faculty and highlight the possibility of pursuing an academic career.

References:

Breuning, M., Fattore, C., Ramos, J., & Scalera, J. (2021). The great equalizer? Gender, parenting, and scholarly productivity during the global pandemic. PS: Political Science & Politics, 54(3), 427–431. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096520002036

Davis, P. B., Meagher, E. A., Pomeroy, C., Lowe, W. L., Rubenstein, A. H., Wu, J. Y., Curtis, A. B., & Jackson, R. D. (2022). Pandemic-related barriers to the success of women in research: A framework for action. Nature Medicine, 28(3), 436–438. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01692-8

King, M. M., & Frederickson, M. E. (2021). The pandemic penalty: The gendered effects of COVID-19 on scientific productivity. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 7, 1–24.

Lerchenmüller, C., Schmallenbach, L., Jena, A. B., & Lerchenmueller, M. J. (2021). Longitudinal analyses of gender differences in first authorship publications related to COVID-19. BMJ Open, 11(4), e045176. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045176

Supporting a WVT initiative, the faculty board set up the Jenny Gierveld Fellowship in 2010. This fellowship gives a talented female Assistant Professor a two-year appointment to Associate Professor, so that she can more strongly present herself in teaching and research. The fellowship is named after emeritus professor Jenny Gierveld, who championed better positions for women in science, and who with her impressive scientific track record was a source of inspiration for other female scientists.

The faculty board appointed Karin Lasthuizen and Barbara Vis in 2011 as the first Jenny Gierveld Fellows on the recommendation of the department heads. Ellen Bal was appointed in January 2013.

This fellowship offered talented female Assistant Professors a two-year appointment to Associate Professor, allowing her to strengthen her position in teaching and research.

The WVT encourages female scholars in the Faculty of Social Sciences to submit a Veni application. Since 2012, the WVT supports a procedure that enables female scientific talent to be exempted for fifty percent for a period of six months, for example from educational responsibilities, in order to prepare a Veni application. The scholarships are financed from the Aspasia funds acquired by Elly Konijn, Iina Hellsten and Eva Maria Merz.

The scholarship consists of a maximum amount of € 12,500 as a means to expand research time allocation by 0.6 fte to a maximum of 0.9 fte for 6 months.

The WVT selects candidates and presents them to the faculty research committee for advice. In February, applicants will be informed whether their application has been honored. In this way, candidates can start writing their proposal before the summer in order to realize an optimal result for their final NWO grant application.

In 2014, the fair was made available to Jolanda Veldhuis, in 2013 to Naná de Graaff en Annemarie Walter.

The Female Talent Committee lends its support to a mentoring project, the three-part Female Leadership programme developed by the VU Center for Career and Development. In this programme, experienced professors are linked to talented postdocs, Assistant or Associate Professors who are seeking their way in the academic world.

The programme aims to provide mentees with answers to questions such as:

• How do you increase your visibility within and outside the faculty? How can you give more direction to the course of your career?
• How do you acquire external research funding?

Mentor and mentee preferably come from different faculties. The department heads nominate talented female scholars. The Female Talent Committee chooses five mentees from these nominations.

How do women obtain a higher position at the university? The WVT has organized various workshops and events on how to reach to top in academia. This theme is still highly relevant for the WVT and through other initiatives and grants still aims to support women in academia, such as the Wilhelmina Drucker Awards.

HOW CAN WOMEN GAIN HIGH(ER) POSITIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY?

That is the central question of the workshop 'Talent to the Top', organized annually by the faculty-wide Female Talent Committee on or around March 8, International Women’s day.

FEMALE QUALITIES

Becoming full professor only because there is a designated chair available for women can be ungratifying. There are other, better ways. For instance, by not only looking at lists of publications – in which women are sometimes penalized for having taken maternity leave – but also by taking specific qualities into consideration. 

Even the best qualifications are still no guarantee for promotion. When applying to a full professor position, it is likely you will have ten male competitors. If you are not more than evidently the best, you are unlikely to make the cut. Full professorships are scarce. Chances would already improve if there were more part time professorships.

Special measures, such as the Jenny Gierfeld Fellowship, can shed more light on a women’s talent. A female assistant professor is thereby promoted to associate professor for a period of two years.

BITCH WITH STATUS

Women have the talent to work hard and put energy in diverse tasks. But that is not always recognized as a talent. Men are often much more strategic in their efforts and know what statements to make in a meeting to be heard. Many women still believe in simply working hard as a sufficient means to make it to the top.

Women often have to fight harder and vocalize their positions more loudly to reach top positions. And they also mustn’t be afraid to be portrayed as a bitch. Elly Konijn: “If people consider me a bitch, then I prefer to be a bitch at a top position!”

YOUNG TALENT TO THE TOP

The Werkgroep Vrouwelijk Talent (WVT; Female Talent Committee) has shifted its focus in the coming period to the female talent at the beginning of their career: the young talents! Due to the lack of effective means to offer talented students a PhD trajectory, the WVT offers scholarships aimed at young female talents as a path toward a successful academic career. Achieving prizes within science significantly increases later success rate (for example, the Veni-Vidi-Vici series).

In 2016, the theme of International Women's Day (8 March) was therefore young female talents. The winners of the Wilhelmina Drucker Awards (grant for young female talents) presented their research to the WVT and other interested parties. The presentations of these young talents displayed the varied research foci of female talents within FSW is: from migration crisis to financial crisis and from 'boundaries' to cyberbullying. The central topic of the day was the need to win prestigious grants. The acquisition of grants plays an increasingly prominent role nowadays, demanding of scholars to be increasingly self-sufficient. This means that obtaining grants is crucial for conducting research. The winners of the Wilhelmina Drucker Awards and the members of the WVT also used this day to provide each other with useful 'tips and tricks' to personalize, present and further improve their research.

The meeting was truly a success and very inspiring. I enjoyed all the presentation and the presence of the prize winners. All talented and motivated women who presented important research, and who provided each other with many useful and constructive comments. - Eva-Maria Merz