“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman: you’re a researcher”
Four scientists on VUB’s executive team have never regretted their careers. Even for the most determined, it has sometimes been a tough ride. Here they look back on their path in academia: how they experienced their careers as women, what they were able to contribute, the barriers they met, and how they balanced work and home, then and now, at VUB and beyond. Dominique Maes, dean of Science and Bioengineering Sciences: “I’ve often said: there’s one woman here, and she can be the secretary again.”
“The academic world has become particularly competitive, and that puts personal happiness and collegiality under pressure”
Annick Hubin, former dean of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences (2012–2016)
Annick Hubin: “I’ve experienced my career as a woman in the engineering world as remarkably positive. When I started my studies in 1978, fewer than five per cent of students were women and some professors – certainly not all – voiced a hint of scepticism: ‘Why would you want to become an engineer as a woman?’ But once I was an engineer – later a Doctor of Engineering and eventually a professor – I was able to build my academic career without feeling held back as a woman.”
"What have I been able to contribute as a woman? For me, the crux is that we’ve shown it doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman: you’re an engineer, with specific interests and skills. It’s about discovering what you’re good at, making the most of it, and not needing to be out in front in everything. As a team, with respect for each other’s strengths, you achieve far more than when you go it alone. Have I encountered barriers, or had to prove myself more than men? No — and that’s precisely what’s so fantastic about academia: we’re valued on the basis of our competences and our personality. From conversations with women engineers in industry, I do know that things can sometimes be more difficult there. I found a good balance between scientific research and teaching, between collaboration with industry and leadership, first within my own department and my Faculty of Engineering Sciences, and gradually also beyond it, both nationally and internationally."
"As for work–life balance: I found it because I’m good at delegating, professionally and privately. That allowed me to focus on what I both do well and enjoy, to achieve successes and at the same time be available for my family and my professional circle — and yes, even have time left for myself. As dean, one of my first interventions was to adjust the meeting schedule: avoiding evening meetings. I see that male colleagues are happy about that too — it gives them the space to pick up the children from school in the evening; that wasn’t always a given in the past. At the same time, the performance pressure has increased sharply. I felt I was given time to grow as a researcher and professor and to find my way; now the pressure is enormous right from the start. The academic world has become particularly competitive, and that puts personal happiness and collegiality under pressure.”
“I sometimes joke that I have 7 bodyguards”
Dominique Maes, dean of the Faculty of Science and Bioengineering Sciences
Dominique Maes: “Years ago, when I started out, I was often the only woman in a meeting with members of the independent academic staff. And every time someone had to take the minutes, they automatically looked at me. More than once I said: there’s one woman here, and she gets to play secretary again. That kind of macho male behaviour was quite common back then, although I hardly notice it anymore now.”
"I do notice that women put the emphasis elsewhere. In meetings about teaching or wellbeing, women are always well represented, while men tend to show up when it’s about research. And when changes are on the table, I see some colleagues wanting to endlessly debate the underlying reasons, while others – often women – move more quickly and systematically towards solutions. Then I sometimes think: let’s stop going round in circles and just get on with it."
"Work–life balance remains a challenge in academia, but among younger colleagues I really see a change in mindset. They attach more importance to balance and take on an active, caring role at home. That creates a culture in which it becomes normal to keep work and private life in balance. Gender quotas have had both positive and negative effects for me. At first it felt as if I had to sit on all sorts of committees, while male colleagues had more time for research. But at the same time, it gave me insight into how the university works, and from that grew my ambition to help shape policy myself."
"If I’d been a man, I might not have been given those opportunities – or I might not have made use of them in the same way. In the end, it was Caroline Pauwels who gave me that first nudge towards becoming dean, because she regretted that there wasn’t a single female dean at the time. The fact that in 2023 I became the first female dean of the Faculty of Science and Bioengineering Sciences still strikes me as remarkable. What’s more, all the other current deans are men. I sometimes joke that I have ‘7 bodyguards, while my colleagues like to talk about ‘Snow White and her 7 dwarfs’. It says enough about where we’ve come from – and how much work there still is to do.”
“I readily admit it: I’ve always had a kind of maternal feeling towards my PhD students and young colleagues.”
Yvette Michotte, former vice-Rector for Education and Student Affairs (2008–2016)
“I look back with great gratitude on my career at VUB, because I was able to develop myself there and seize every opportunity that came my way. As I was raised with values that closely match those of the university, VUB felt from the very beginning — in the 1970s, when gender equality barely existed — like my natural habitat. Although I was often the only woman in meetings and committees, I never felt I was disadvantaged because of it.”
"I never consciously experienced any barriers myself, probably because I always had the support of people who believed in me and whom I could turn to. But gender equality did matter to me. I always tried to lower the barriers for talented women, to encourage them and to be a role model myself. During my time at VUB, there was hardly any focus on work–life balance. Only later, and certainly today, has it moved much higher up the agenda. Thanks to my husband’s support, I was always able to combine my career with time for my family, friends and relatives."
"What exactly I’ve contributed is hard to pin down, but perhaps I brought a more traditionally feminine approach: a strong sense of justice, a listening ear and the instinct to seek consensus. I was quite ambitious, but strikingly I was always asked, throughout my career, to take on roles: chair of the Education Council’s Resources Committee in the 1990s, three times vice-dean and eventually dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy — to this day the only woman to have held that position. It was especially in that role as dean that I felt I was truly making a difference in an environment largely dominated by men."
"Later, Paul De Knop asked me to become Vice-Rector for Education Policy, a difficult decision, because at the time I was leading a large research group and department. In that role, I was able to coach young women researchers and give them the confidence and opportunities they deserved. I readily admit it: I’ve always had a kind of maternal feeling towards my PhD students and young colleagues. But I still decided to take on the challenge of the vice-rectorship."
"But I can see how hard things are now for young academics, especially women: the workload is immense, fundraising is extremely competitive and the demands in terms of output and teaching are sky-high. A great deal of female talent is lost because the thresholds on the academic ladder are simply still too high. Precisely for that reason, after retiring I worked to help reform career policy for senior academic staff, with more attention to workload and a revision of the evaluation criteria. If we want to retain future talent — especially female talent — then that change has to happen.”
“In the past, the norm was to devote your life to science, and taking holidays was almost seen as a lack of ambition”
Nadine Engels, vice-Rector for Education and Student Affairs
Nadine Engels: “When I graduated in the first half of the 1980s, it was a bleak economic period, with sky-high inflation and few opportunities — especially for women, who then made up only a third of the workforce. So I grabbed the chance to start at VUB with both hands, even if it was only through short-term cover contracts. It was only two years later that I could apply for an assistantship and start a PhD. That was mainly down to the wider context, not to the fact that I was a woman.”
"What I’ve mainly tried to contribute is to encourage collaboration — inspiring people to strengthen one another, in both teaching and research teams. I think that’s worked. Was that because I’m a woman? Perhaps, but I know plenty of counter-examples. The toughest phase is when you’re both building an academic career and having children. I wanted, without making a fuss about it, to prove that this had no impact on my commitment: long working days, international conferences, late meetings… it all came with the territory, even if it was a major organisational challenge. Of course, there was occasional pressure from old boys’ networks keen to push their own protégés forward. You’d hear questions like: “Is that role really right for you? Is your network strong enough? Maybe that’s harder for a woman?” But whenever I felt I had the stronger expertise and was genuinely interested in the substance, I simply pushed on."
"In the meantime, a lot has changed. There is finally attention for work–life balance. In the past, the norm was that you devoted your life to science, and taking a holiday was almost seen as a lack of ambition. I remember a head of department who, when I announced two weeks of summer leave, said: “Well, if you think you can afford that…” Today, young colleagues dare to claim their rights, including at VUB, and wellbeing is much higher on the agenda. My own career has remained challenging, but the pressure to be constantly absorbed in your job has disappeared — and that feels liberating. And that’s how it should be.”
