“We want to keep it as a hallmark of excellent research,” senior policy adviser for research Serge Mordang said in response to questions. ‘We’ here refers to the college of deans, which, according to Mordang, recently discussed the news from Twente. Every year, about 5 per cent of doctoral candidates graduates cum laude at UM. That is in line with a national guideline that is also set out in the Maastricht graduation regulations. The distinction is intended for PhD theses which the assessment committee and the supervisor consider among the best research in a particular field. Included in the decision is what the PhD thesis contributes to the field, what its impact is and whether the approach used was creative. If the defence is also good enough, and two independent experts and the graduation committee agree, then the latter can award the PhD thesis cum laude.
The discussion
Over the last calendar year, that has happened seven times at Maastricht, in previous years, “a few more”, said Mordang. He cannot comment any further, including about the number of men versus women. The numbers are currently being compiled and will first be sent to the deans for discussion. The question whether there may be a gender bias when assessing PhD theses has “not yet been discussed in detail”. Should that be the case, “then that will of course be discussed”.
In 2023, at least, the numbers appeared to be balanced. In the five years prior, 63 people were awarded cum laude at Maastricht, Observant reported at the time: 34 men and 29 women. Although Mordang said it should be noted that “we generally have more female candidates than male candidates”. The proportion nationally is different, as shown in research by Thijs Bol, sociologist at the University of Amsterdam: men were awarded cum laude for their PhD thesis nearly twice as often as women.
The criteria
When asked about the other point of criticism, the objectivity (or lack thereof) of the criteria, Mordang stated that aspects such as creativity and innovation are hard to express in grades. It is effectively a peer review. “The way to safeguard the quality is by ensuring as many independent experts as possible consider the work worthy of honours. In itself, not that strange, because that is how academic articles are also assessed.”