A Dutch human rights watchdog has ruled that Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) can reserve 30 per cent of places in its aerospace engineering programme for female students, a decision that comes two years after authorities initially blocked the proposal.
The Netherlands Institute of Human Rights said that the university’s plan to allocate 132 of its 440 places to women in the programme is allowed under Dutch equality laws because women are significantly under-represented on the course.
Women make up about 20 per cent of students in the bachelor’s programme, which the university says has suffered from a low intake of female students for decades.
Under the scheme, female applicants would still have to meet the course’s admission requirements.
The watchdog’s ruling only clears the policy under equal treatment law, and it now must be agreed by the government because the Dutch Higher Education and Research Act (WHW) prohibits universities from having preferential policies based on gender.
