Ashley Terlouw chaired the Radboud Network of Women Professors for three years. She says that women within academia still very much need to seek each other out. ‘As professors, we need to be there for the women who are now bearing the brunt of the cuts.’ Today, Terlouw is taking her leave.

Too often, people assume women’s emancipation to be complete, says Professor of Sociology of Law Ashley Terlouw, who is stepping down as chair of the Radboud Network of Women Professors (RNVH) on Monday. ‘It’s not. Women still find it harder to combine work and care duties, and to be seen and recognised in meetings. Women really need to claim their place.’

‘Precarious positions especially affect women because of their biological clock’

She does not find this to be the most joyful moment for saying goodbye. The zeitgeist is not exactly favourable, and the winds of activism have turned quite dramatically. She mentions the ‘Tate brothers’ preaching their gospel of machismo and influencing countless boys worldwide through social media. Not to mention a US president who has taken up residence in the White House and is reversing diversity policy within US government organisations.

Percentage of professors

But there is also cause for concern closer to home. ‘The percentage of female professors at Radboud University is stagnating at just above 30%, and the gender pay gap is still high. It is wonderful that we now have three women on the Executive Board, but we are not there yet.’

And now we are also looking at budget cuts, which will hit young women hard. ‘There will be more precarious positions and fewer permanent contracts. This also affects men, of course, but even more so women because of their biological clock.’

Terlouw was recently deeply moved as she sat at a dinner table with three international, female postdocs. ‘They all had temporary contracts and a partner abroad. “How do you see the future of this situation?”, I asked. “Would you like to have children?” One of them burst into tears. “If I had known this, I would never have chosen a career in academia,” she said. That breaks my heart.’

The Radboud Network of Women Professors (RNVH), which Terlouw has chaired and represented for three years, definitely also needs to be there for these young women. ‘The less vulnerable you are yourself, the greater your responsibility for protecting those who are more vulnerable and standing up on their behalf.’

Collaboration

Partly with this in mind, Terlouw has worked hard in recent years to intensify collaboration with the Halkes network, which promotes diversity and inclusion and welcomes all female university staff, not just professors. Yet the two organisations are still separate. ‘As professors, we have a certain authority within the University. When I became a professor, I noticed it too. People were suddenly listening to me more. At times, it can be satisfying and safe for us as professors to speak out against a particular injustice.’

‘Don’t be fixated on becoming a professor; that shouldn’t be your goal’

Terlouw is proud of establishing collaboration with Halkes. Where she has been less successful, she says, is in standing up for women from migrant backgrounds. ‘There are hardly any female professors from migrant backgrounds at Radboud University. Here at the Grotius building, we might have one. There is still so much work to do in that respect. We could have put that on the agenda more.’

Other problems were addressed. She mentions student evaluations. ‘As a rule, female lecturers receive more negative feedback than male lecturers. Respondents write about women’s clothes or their voice.’ This is very painful, especially for young women, as Terlouw knows. RNVH raising this kind of issue makes it possible for the University to address it. For example by calling students out on their behaviour, or by changing the evaluation system.

Luck

Would she still advise young women to pursue a career in academia? On the one hand, yes, says Terlouw. ‘Ours is the most wonderful, free profession there is. I would certainly tell them that. But also that there are very few opportunities. Don’t be fixated on becoming a professor; that should not be your goal. No matter how talented you are, there is also a lot of luck involved. Many people who could manage it just fine end up dropping out.’

She was therefore amazed to read an interview in Vox with her colleague Henri de Waele, in which he described professorship as the crowning glory of an academic career. As if becoming a professor is based entirely on a person’s own merit. ‘I found myself thinking: man! Do you seriously believe that? You also need luck. Starting with the place where you grow up.’

‘Draw a line, up to here and no further. Dare to stand up.’

Terlouw relates it to her own experience. ‘I was born in such ideal circumstances. I was so lucky with my parents – my mother wanted me to learn rather than to help out in the household. In my career, a professorial position opened up at just the right time. I received a letter asking me to apply. All of this was so incredibly encouraging. Time and again, I got lucky.’

Courage

But let us consider once again the situation across the ocean, where scientists are self-censoring out of self-protection. While Trump is proclaiming that there are now only two genders, they find themselves deleting words like gender and social safety from their publications. ‘Where are we going? Will we jettison everything we have achieved when it comes to acceptance of trans people? I think a lot of people are afraid, not only in the US but also here.’

Researchers in the Netherlands must be vigilant to make sure they do not to fall into the same trap as their US colleagues. ‘Draw a line, up to here and no further. Dare to stand up. No one is as free as a scholar, but being cautious in anticipation is a very dangerous move.’

But this does requires courage. ‘On your own, that might feel unsafe, which is why we have networking organisations like RNVH and Halkes. That way we can do it together.’