The Executive Board of TU Delft,  in the Netherlands, has decided to implement the recommendation “to provide tenure-trackers a standard option of extending her/his tenure track decision and contract by 12 months in the case of a mother or by the duration of parental leave in the case of a father, for each child born”.

This was a reccomendation put forth by a petition signed by scientists from all over The Netherlands, which was presented to the Minister of OC&W (Education, Culture and Science) during last year’s VSNU Gender Seminar.

“TU Delft brings more flexibility in its Tenure Track to remove obstacles, particularly being experienced by women, surrounding parenthood and parental leave. That is positive for women’s perspectives, and beneficial to young parents.

It has been found that a significant part of the Tenure Trackers have this need. This was underlined in a petition signed by scientists from all over The Netherlands, which was presented to the Minister of OC&W (Education, Culture and Science) during last year’s VSNU Gender Seminar.

Given the constraints on temporary employment relationships in the law and the cao of the Dutch universities (cao NU), TU Delft has now developed a solution for this. As a result, Tenure Trackers’ appointment periods will take into account circumstances such as getting children and parental leave for both women and men. From 1 August 2017, a provision will be entered in the appointment terms which may lead to an extended appointment period, up to 8 years. The purpose of this is to be able to delay the final assessment date. A transitional measure for Tenure Trackers that joined TU Delft on or after 1 August 2013 will be put in place.”