Over one-fifth of scientific personnel at Dutch universities comes from foreign countries. At technological universities, that share is almost a third. At higher vocational education institutions (HBO), only three percent of teachers are foreign.
These are the findings of the report `The international mobility of knowledge workers in higher education. A survey of the size and composition in the year 2004,' compiled by the Bureau for Policy Research in Leiden. This report was commissioned by Nuffic, the Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education.
Most of the foreign academic staff working at Dutch universities belong to the younger generations. They are working as PhD or post-grad students. This applies to three quarters of the international scientists at the University of Eindhoven. Half of all PhD candidates at technological universities come from foreign countries.
Most international scientists consider the Netherlands as only one step in their career path and do not intend to stay. 77 percent of them have a temporary contract. PhD students, in particular, leave the country quickly after graduation.
In a couple of years, Dutch universities will have to deal with a wave of retirements, as the large group of scientists employed during the speedy growth of higher education in the sixties and seventies reaches retirement age. The report concludes that this will leave vacancies that can only be filled by convincing foreign academics to stay in the Netherlands. When that happens, Dutch universities will have to compete with foreign universities.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
