Eindhoven explicitly invites women to apply for the position of mayor. This is apparent from the profile, the vacancy, which was handed over to Commissioner of the King Ida Adema on Thursday evening. It would be the first time that the fifth city in the Netherlands would have a woman as mayor.
The profile consists of twelve pages with a striking detail: ‘she’ and ‘her’ are used everywhere, with texts such as: “She herself sets a good example”. “She is open and accessible.” “She knows what lives in the city.”
Senior lecturer Niels Karsten of Tilburg University does not see this very often. For a study, he compared 231 profiles for mayors. “It has been done this way a handful of times. Normally it happens in the ‘he’ form. It is an open invitation to women to apply for office and increase the number of female mayors.”
“It would be the first female mayor of Eindhoven.”
“About thirty percent of Dutch mayors are women. That percentage is increasing very little. It would be the first female mayor of Eindhoven and that would be good for a change.”
Men can of course also apply: the sketch states that you can of course also read “he” or “his” where “she” or “her” is written. Still, according to Karsten, it means something that the side-shape was deliberately chosen. “By choosing the ‘side-shape’ you put the issue on the map.”
“It’s a fairly decent, classic profile.”
According to Karsten, the profile also resembles many other profiles of future mayors. “It is not a sketch that will do things radically differently. It is a fairly good, classic profile with a neutral role for the mayor.” The sketch itself says: “Eindhoven is looking for a contemporary mayor with charisma, perseverance and guts. A colorful person with a healthy dose of humor and someone who can put things into perspective.”
Yet there are accents that make the sketch really Eindhoven. In particular the international character, stating that the mayor is ‘the face of our city with about 154 nationalities’.
Senior lecturer Karsten: “The sketch is very internationally oriented with a lot of attention for expats, the international guests in the city. You don’t see that in all towns and cities in the Netherlands. Eindhoven has many international companies, an excellent role in the knowledge economy, the High Tech Campus. This includes a mayor who represents the city and who puts the importance of Eindhoven on the map. It is someone who has a network, in The Hague and Brussels.”
“Eindhoven is looking for a mayor who is highly demanded.”
What also stands out, according to Karsten, is the attention for social issues and the socially disadvantaged. The sketch talks about ‘haves and have-nots’: those who can and cannot come along. “You don’t see that in all profile sketches,” says the senior lecturer.
“Eindhoven is looking for a mayor who is in high demand. Which, on the one hand, puts Eindhoven on the international map and enters Europe, and on the other is active in the neighborhoods and seeks contact with young people, for example. That is a tense combination. A mayor’s week has only seven days.”
