Universiteit Leiden

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More PhDs awarded to women than men in 2019

For the first time ever, more women than men have been awarded PhDs at Leiden University. In 2019, 226 women defended their dissertations as opposed to 207 men. More women were also awarded a distinction: seven of the thirteen ‘cum laude’ distinctions were awarded to women.

This was announced at the annual meeting of prorectors in the Academy Building on 3 December. Prorectors are professors and emeritus professors who act as chair of the opposition committee on behalf of the Rector Magnificus at PhD ceremonies.

The majority of the PhDs awarded this year went to the Faculty of Medicine/LUMC, namely 136, followed closely by the Faculty of Science at 131. The Faculty of Humanities was awarded 73 PhDs, the Faculty of Law 42, the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences 28, the Faculty of Archaeology 19 and the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs 4.

More talented women

Leiden University is pleased with the growing number of female PhD candidates. It is working to improve the position of talented women in academia. The Executive Board of the University is channelling its efforts to appointing more female professors. In this respect, Leiden is also faring well: at over 27% it had the third-highest percentage of female professors in 2018, beaten only by the Open University and Radboud University Nijmegen. The figures for 2019 have not yet been released.

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