We want to put our members in the spotlight! For the Meet the WISE series, we interview WISE members in different stages of their career across the university. We hope that their stories, experiences and career paths can be an inspiration to other women at TU/e.
Hello! Could you start by introducing yourself and the research that you're doing?
My name is Laura van Hazendonk, and I'm a PhD student in the chemistry department researching graphene based inks for printed electronics. The first two years of my PhD were pretty applied -- a lot of printing, a lot of focus on the ink formulation and characterization of the printed materials. The second part of my PhD is a bit more fundamental; I'd say more on the physical chemistry side.
Approximately a year ago I switched to a part time PhD, so I'm now working 60% on the PhD. Not because I didn't like the research, I love it. The other 40% I'm in politics. It's very different [working in politics], but I love the combination of the fundamental science and at the same time feeling I contribute a bit more directly to society and to the bigger picture.
Could you talk more about your role in politics?
I'm an elected member of the provincial parliament for the regional Green Party (GroenLinks). My topics are focusing first on the energy transition, which I'm very passionate about and is also slightly related to my background in chemistry. The second is public transport, which is just something I'm passionate about but is not at all related to what I'm doing at TU/e. On top of that, I'm also involved with infrastructure and public health.
What is the representation like for women in your political sphere versus your academic sphere?
It's actually rather similar. In the political sphere here in Brabant I think approximately one third (19/55) are women. And I think that's similar as it is in my field, although I'm a bit on the border between physics and chemistry. In January, for example, I went to the NWO physics conference and there I was a super minority... but at more chemistry related conferences I find the gender representation more level.
Are there skills that transfer across your two roles?
I feel that academia is highly political, so to be honest, yes. The political aspects of academia are just a bit more covered than in (provincial) politics. Like, whom can we collaborate with and also which topics can we investigate? The networking. The money -- where does it come from? How can we use it? Otherwise, besides the political aspects, I feel in terms of presenting oneself, it also helps.
Do you think your STEM background also brings advantages to your role in politics?
Yes, I actually strongly believe we should have not only more women, but particularly more people with STEM background in politics. After the national elections in 2021 we only had like 10% or less people with a STEM degree in the national parliament. So many topics we are dealing with require STEM knowledge. Of course, it's always important to have a diverse team, and diversity has many aspects including STEM representation.
There is movement though in getting more STEM experts into politics. For example, last November I was invited to join a panel discussion on the ‘Beta in Bestuur en Beleid’ career day. It was organized by the Dutch Physics Council to encourage PhD students in STEM to consider a career in policy, politics, or governance. There was also a track in English for European institutions. There were a lot of speakers there to convince us how useful it is to have more people with a STEM background working in these fields, and I would encourage anyone curious to check it out.
Do you have any advice for women in STEM who might be interested in getting into politics?
I think we should have more women in politics for sure, considering the decisions that are taken there. My first piece of advice would be to join a political party – with the warning that you're probably never going to find a party that you align with for the full 100%. But as long as your core values resonate, just stop by at a local event and see if you feel at home. Another way would be to just take a seat on the public gallery in the municipality council in Eindhoven. They have meetings most Tuesday nights at the Gemeente Eindhoven building. It's live streamed as well if you cannot go in person.
And then the second piece of advice is to just give it a go – just apply or take the first step. To be honest, I needed a lot of encouragement to get more involved. At the start of my PhD, I joined the board of GroenLinks Eindhoven as a secretary. It was a behind-the-scenes role, and I liked it a lot, but I never saw myself as a politician. When I was on the campaign team of the local elections here in Eindhoven, I made a lot of connections. They started poking me; saying “hey, Laura, the province, isn't that something for you? The topics discussed in the province could probably benefit from your STEM background, like the energy transition”. I thought... come on, don’t you need like tons of experience? I’m only 28.
It was thanks to multiple people pushing me that I ran [for the election]. They listed me in the third spot on the on the ballot so there was pretty good chances of getting elected, but I would have never believed that. I think what women often need most is encouragement. Just go for it and don't dismiss yourself as being too young, or a woman, or for not having much political experience.
How has it been for you to balance being in academia and also taking on this second role in another high-pressure environment.
It's definitely true that both are high pressure environments. I feel having another job, or at least another hobby or passion besides the PhD, is important. Actually it would be one of my pieces of advice in general for others. I think that it makes it much easier to put your PhD struggles into perspective. Sometimes, you get negative results, but having something outside of research makes me realize it's not the end of the world because my PhD doesn't fully determine me.
To be honest, I wouldn't have done it [taking a role in politics] in the first year, or the second year maybe even. When doing a lab-based PhD, in the first year or two years you just need to do experiments and generate data. But now that I have a lot of data to be analyzed, I think it's easier because I'm more flexible in terms of where I work.
I’m very lucky because both of my promotors are very accommodating, and it really helps that they don't micro-manage me and give me a lot of freedom to split my time. After a few days in politics, I usually return to my PhD with fresh energy.
Do you have role models in your environment that are also balancing things like you are?
We have one associate professor in our lab, the only female professor. I really admire her for combining her position as a professor with being a mother. And she's also an editor of a journal, so I really admire her for somehow juggling all these responsibilities.
There is also a male assistant professor in our group, he had his second daughter in a pretty short time span. It's really cool how he has been taking his paternity leave and just making full use of it. Even though, I can imagine, that within an academic environment, it's not really encouraged. I know it's weird that when it's a man, we applaud him, and with mothers and we think it's normal, but at least I think he's showing leadership and giving the right example.
Do you have any hopes for women in science going into the future?
I just hope that we will have even more women as role models, also in the full professor positions. It would be nice if we won't stand out anymore. But the same holds for other minorities. Because I think, to be honest, as a Dutch white woman, I still have it relatively easy compared to some other minorities.
If there was a junior career researcher coming into academia tomorrow, what advice would you give her?
I think first of all to enjoy it, to not put too much pressure on themselves. Because I think generally, at least me as a first year PhD student and most of my colleagues, people put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform. I thought people expected a lot of output in the first year, whereas I think the first year is for learning or should be for learning.
The next STEM career day will be organized on November 20th, 2024.
If you want to learn more about a career in politics or doing a part-time PhD in general, Laura would be happy to answer your questions over a cup of tea. You can contact her at l.s.hazendonk@tue.nl.