What is good to make?

On Friday, 14 November, I attended the farewell speech of Patricia Osseweijer. A woman I admire, under whose guidance I obtained my doctorate, and who broke through any potential glass ceiling with her pink office chair. Her call in her farewell speech to keep asking ‘what is good to make’ stayed with me.

And exactly at that moment TU Delft announced two new heads: Hester Bijl as Rector Magnificus and Ingrid Thijssen as the new Chair of the Executive Board. It was as if TU Delft thought that it should suddenly do something good. A top layer that not only consists of grey suits, but hopefully from now on also of colour and an occasional panther print (although I would like to encourage everyone, regardless of their gender or identity, to wear this).

That more women are joining the top layer of the hierarchy is fantastic. You do not even need to do a complicated impact analysis – role models work. Whether you are a student, researcher or lecturer, it is reassuring to know that your career will not stop at the glass ceiling, but that there is now a door to the attic.

The best candidate often seems to be a woman

It is good news that the top echelons of TU Delft are becoming more diverse. Not because they ‘have to’ have women, but because it shows that the pool of top talent is considered more broadly. And it seems that the best candidate is now more often a woman. Whether Bijl and Thijssen were selected because they are women, I don’t know. What does count is that both have strong CVs, bring academic depth and managerial clout, and fit the challenges that TU Delft is facing.

That has nothing to do with gender, but with good management. If they simply were the best – which is what I assume – then this is exactly how it should be. The example of TU Eindhoven (in Dutch) after all shows how quickly a well-meant policy can clash with equal treatment. More women at the top is valuable, but only if it rests on quality, open processes and equal opportunities for everyone.

At the same time we need to be realistic. Administrators can give direction, but you only change the culture if the organisation shifts with it. Two women in the Executive Board will not suddenly create a complete turnaround in our TU Delft culture. The real change needs to happen in the layers under them: in the appointment procedures; the inequalities in doctoral dissertation defences (in Dutch); in teams which take little account of the responsibilities of parenthood, or which are based on the ‘mother’ stereotype; and, where people sometimes leave because the rules are so discouraging. Herein lies the real challenge: not in the changing of the guard, but in amending the systems with which we work.

This is why I believe Osseweijer’s call is so relevant. ‘What is good to make?’ Not only for biotechnology or other technical innovations, but also for a university! So yes, women at the top. And more too. A lot more! But not as an excuse, not to tick a box, and certainly not as a smoke screen behind which the old culture simply continues.