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Part-time researchers

In the Netherlands part-time work is more the rule than the exception – and this applies to female university researchers and managers as well. Judith Rispen is a language researcher 3½ days a week, giving her more time to look after her family.


By Claus Leick         
Freelancejournalist

On Monday evening her working week begins. Tuesday is a long day at university, Wednesday is a day off, and Thursday and Friday are ordinary working days.
Judith Rispen is a researcher and teacher at the Department of Psycholinguistics, University of Amsterdam who works with developmental language disorders. Like many other Dutch women in the university world, she has chosen to pursue a part-time career. An increasing number of men are doing the same thing.
“I started out as a full-time researcher, but switched to a 3½-day week when my children were born. I’m passionate about my work, but I don’t want to miss out on spending time with my children while they’re young,” explains 38-year-old Dr. Judith Rispen. Her husband works part-time, too.
In the Rispen family either Mum or Dad stays home three out of five days a week. Like many other Dutch families, they get by on what could be called “1½ salaries”.

Fewer publications

“I get a lot of positive energy out of spending time with my children; but of course the cost of this is that I can’t manage to produce as many research publications as I would have done if I’d worked full time. But for me and my family there is a good balance between work, career and family life.”
Even though her thoughts are full of research before taking a day off, she finds it easy to switch off.
“It can be difficult to be dragged away from your research. Having young children helps you make the switch. But sometimes important things occur to you on a day off. That’s why I always carry a small notebook with me, so I can jot down any important thoughts that strike me – for instance while I’m watching my boys playing football,” says Judith Rispen.
She also checks her emails a couple of times on her days off, even though she tries to avoid doing this.
“This means that I can deal with any important issues that arise. But all my colleagues know that I’m not available on Mondays and Wednesdays. And they accept this completely. After all, lots of other people work part-time as well.”

Downscaling at the Faculty of Law

At one of the other universities in Amsterdam, the research manager of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Vrije University, Marjolein Broese van Groenou, has also chosen a part-time career.
At first she decided to work part-time for the sake of her children. Now she spends her time off with her mother, who is old and infirm.
“I used to have the same weekday off each week, but now I save them up so I can take a long weekend or extend my holiday. I like to work hard during certain periods when this is necessary so I can manage the faculty or devote myself to my research entirely,” says Marjolein Broese van Groenou.
The popularity of part-time work at Vrije University has also had an impact on the physical layout of the place.
Instead of building a lot of offices for single occupancy at the new Faculty of Law, flexible large offices have been chosen and staff do not have regular, fixed places to sit. The fact that most people work part-time has made it possible to build a smaller-scale Faculty of Law – although there is room for all the staff, of course

Part-time is popular in the Netherlands

There is more part-time work in the Netherlands than in any other country in the EU. Women are particularly interested in working part-time. Three out of every four Dutch women work part-time, with the average being 24 hours a week.
“You can easily survive on one and half salaries in the Netherlands,” explains the Dutch sociologist Amelia Román from Tilburg University, whose research focuses on part-time work.
Even though Dutch childcare options have improved in the past ten years, a lot of people in the Netherlands still prefer to look after their children themselves – especially in the early years. Surveys have even shown that most Dutchmen are suspicious of professional childcare.
But like Denmark, the Netherlands is facing the problem of a growing group of older people. As a result, the government is exerting pressure to persuade Dutch women to work more hours a week.
So far their efforts have been in vain.
At the same time, an increasing number of men are now choosing part-time work. Here too, the Netherlands leads the way in the EU: 23 per cent of Dutch men work part-time, while the corresponding figure for the most easily comparable EU countries is 10 per cent.