King's Castle  

3 October 2013 

Queen’s Palace

Female talent in the spotlight

On the day that emancipation was the topic for political discussions in The Hague was Wageningen the place to be for female talent on the way to the top. Ten Leading Ladies from Science, Corporate Business and Public Service came together to exchange experiences and to inspire the public to go for their ambitions.

The Leading Ladies came together in the Restaurant of the Future to enjoy dinner, to get to know each other better, to exchange experiences and views, and to prepare for the public debate later that evening. They talked about the role models they had in early or later life. How important it was to have someone who inspired, motivated and stimulated them to fulfill their dreams and ambitions.

As an appetizer the public could watch the video ‘Mevrouw de Professor’ showing that the opportunities for male and female talent in science are far from equal. A musical interlude was provided by The SongWorks with a song that celebrated female talent and encouraged women to feel their strength.

The main dish of the evening was the public debate facilitated by Samira Abbadi, program director at ‘De Baak’, a Dutch institute for leadership development. The Leading Ladies discussed with the audience how to get more women to higher positions at Wageningen UR. The topic was analyzed and discussed from many different perspectives; historical, psychological, cultural and political. Ideas were exchanged, positions taken, views checked, all in a very lively atmosphere. The discussions even continued during the drinks and bites.

To create better opportunities for female talent women and men have to work together. Therefore in October a group of Leading Lords is invited to shine their light on the barriers and careers of women at Wageningen UR. Don’t miss it and join us in King’s Castle!

Reflections on Queen’s Palace by Ewa Wietsma

For myself - a leading lady from one side and board member from the other - it was a very inspiring evening as well. I have no negative remarks, but only very positive ones. Today I am still impressed and many sayings, conclusions and statements are still in my head.
As you were not all present during the leading ladies workshop, I would like to write some main points we talked about:
1.  Raising awareness on gender is very important among women, but more important among men and it should start at a very early stage of women's / man's life. The opinion of mothers and fathers is crucial, as is the follow up by teachers.
2.  Women must be able to choose for her own benefit (to work or not, to be professor or not) without feeling guilty.
3.  To change cultural aspects in the Netherlands will take time, but it is possible to change the structure of Wageningen UR, simply by introducing quanta's (this proofed to work in other countries).
4.  Positive or negative role model is important, but often there is not just one role model, but several and they change during life time.
5.  Very often a woman is already on the top and she does not realise it.

Reflections on Queen´s Palace by Lenneke Vaandrager

I had a conference in Norway this week and every time a "hotshot" (general director/head of department/chef of the restaurant etc) was announced I realised I was expecting a man, but every time it was a women! Leading
Ladies are mainstream in Norway. It made me think of our meeting last week. Maybe we should organise a study trip to Norway to find out what the secret of the Norwegian Leading Ladies success is?
I enjoyed the meeting very much, thank you organisers!