UT women moving to the top

Dr. Wietske Bijker, 45, was the first academic from the ITC to join the Female Faculty Network (FFNT) board in January. Last month she agreed to become FFNT Vice Chair. She talks about her new role, present research, and hopes for women academics at the UT.

Born in Den Helder, Bijker specializes in tropical soil science and monitoring rain forests with radar. Bijker is married with two children and lives in Goor. Presently, she is working on two projects that involve monitoring systems based on remote sensing of vegetated surfaces: one concerning drought in Rwanda and the other monitoring urban trees in Enschede and Delft. Bijker first worked for the Department of Natural Resources and then the Department of Earth Observation Science after obtaining her PhD from Wageningen University in 1997.

We spoke together in her ITC office during lunchtime. One wall is decorated with a collection of delicately hand-woven straw purses from her travels to Columbia, Rwanda, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Can you describe how the data you collect is practically applied?

‘I find it fascinating how much detail you can see from space, and how this data can help us better manage what we have here on earth. For example, by mapping urban trees, we help municipalities obtain more accurate tree counts. Many cities have databases where they store the number of trees and their location, but nearly half the trees are missing. This makes it difficult when contracting the maintenance of city trees.’

What made you decide to become FFNT Vice Chair?

‘I initially joined the FFNT in January because it felt like a positive way to integrate into the broader university vision, and I also thought that I could contribute.’

What’s your response to the recent results of the FFNT 2010 survey?

‘You have to keep in mind that the survey was conducted before ITC joined the UT. The results are an indication of how career development opportunities and organizational practices by the UT were seen by the FFNT members who responded.’

‘But it is clear that present figures of female faculty are low throughout the UT. For example, at the ITC we have only one full professor and no associate professors. We have a few more women in the lower echelons: five assistant professors and nine docents. Docents are ITC-specific and mainly teach without doing much research. Of course, without research and publications, it is difficult to be promoted.’

How can the FFNT help those women?

‘The FFNT aims to prepare women academics to move into areas of leadership through training and also assist them to gain awareness of their potential and opportunities. Women have less access to this implicit information. It is well documented that men tend to learn these skills more informally from superiors. Through our training, we hope to encourage and teach women how to play the rules of the game, build adequate networks, and benchmark career advancement.’

I see the TNW wants to go from zero female associate professors to four. Will the 2014 targets to increase the number of women holding full and associate professorships be met at the UT?

‘It will go slowly. But it will happen. There are enough male academics willing to deal with this issue. There has been progress and good will, but we have to work hard to make it happen. As a part of the FFNT-organized, gender-awareness event, Professor Virginia Valian presented a workshop in March where she talked about our having gender schemas—preconceived unconscious opinions about men or women. The better we understand these mechanisms, the better we can improve our situation. For example, whenever I judge a person’s work, I now ask myself, “Would I judge these results differently if this person were a man or a woman?” This is a useful and easy way to check if I am applying two sets of rules or criteria.’

You’ve been an assistant professor for 13 years. Are you ready to become an associate professor?

‘I would like to become one, but it is difficult at the ITC. You first need a vacancy and we have few. And there are many assistant professors with excellent track records. The competition is tough.’

Who inspires you?

‘The women at the UT who are full professors are so inspiring. Their passion gives us hope that it can be done and you can enjoy being a scientist. But still we need more role models like them. You learn something different from every one of them, and the more diversity the better.

What do you think about quotas?

‘Quotas are uncomfortable for many reasons. The women never really know if they were hired because they were women or because they were really qualified. Afterwards, it can be difficult for them to be taken seriously. But sometimes quotas can be good. Quotas can give women opportunities to prove themselves. It can sometimes be the only way to get things going. At the ITC, we have 271 students who receive Netherlands Fellowship Program scholarships. Half of the students must be women and half must come from sub-Saharan Africa. This quota works to help women enter courses. And these international women are very strong and work very hard.’

Speaking of working hard, how do you relax?

‘I enjoy all handicrafts. Cooking and gardening is a great contrast to working scientifically all day in your head. There’s nothing like the instant satisfaction of baking a fresh apple tart and taking it out of the oven.

For more information about Women to the Top, go to http://www.utwente.nl/pao/en/info_voor/medewerkers/women_to_the_top/

‘Women academics get lost in the pipeline,’ said Bijker. ‘There’s an equal number of male and female students, but we loose the women along the way.’

Where do the UT women stand?On 26 June 2009, the UT Executive Board signed the National Charter Talent to the Top. This charter is a commitment to meet targets by 2014 to increase the number of women holding full and associate professorships. The target numbers were initially considered infeasible, so the faculties were challenged to come up with their own figures. Here are the current UT figures for female academics along with the targeted numbers. The ITC dean has yet to supply targets for the ITC.

Top includes the following positions: dean, director of education, scientific director, and full professor. Subtop includes: associate professor.