When university isn’t the obvious choice
They confounded expectations and went to university anyway – as a woman of colour, a working-class student or refugee... Throughout the centuries the university has always welcomed pioneers. Students for whom going to university was not the obvious choice and who did not grow up in an academic environment. They paved the way for others, and they still do.
‘Female brains are not equipped for study’
Despite vehement opposition from widely respected (male) academics, Maria Slothouwer became the first ever female student at Leiden University in 1878. She was the daughter of a church minister and would work for a short while after her literature studies before leaving her career to get married – that was how things were at the time.
One of the greatest opponents to admitting women to the university was Leiden professor and historian P.J. Blok. He thought female brains were not equipped for study. In a fierce polemic about women at university, he wrote, ‘Would women truly be physically and mentally equipped for the university studies considered and practised as preparation for practical life? Girls may be good at rote learning, but fall short when it comes to historical analysis and seeing the bigger picture.’
In 2025 the percentage of female students is higher than that of male ones.
‘I only spoke the Drèents dialect’
Cor de Graaf
History, 1986-1993
‘I came to Leiden to study history. A huge step: I came from a small village in the province of Drenthe and only spoke the Drèents dialect. None of my classmates went to Leiden but I was really interested in coins and had been in contact with the Royal Mint Museum on Rapenburg while still at school, hence my decision. The first four months, I wanted nothing more than to crawl back home; that’s how bad I found it in Leiden. I was used to everyone greeting each other on the street. But when I said ‘moi’ – as we did in Drenthe – people laughed at me or didn’t respond.
‘As a lad of 17, I found myself living with a family that was Leiden through and through. We couldn’t understand each other. It was like we came from different countries. When I moved into a house with 27 others a few months later, things took a turn for the better. I spent many happy years there. That’s the bottom line: you have to feel at home. I have now worked as an archivist at the Municipality of Leiden for 30 years. It feels like home here. But I still can’t be cross in Dutch. Or count. I’ll always be a Drent at heart.’
‘My student funding stopped’
Hawra Nissi
Research Master’s in Colonial and Global History, 2021-present
‘I fled to the Netherlands with my parents when I was 15. We belong to the Ahawzi ethnic minority in Iran that suffers severe discrimination. We arrived unprepared in the Netherlands. Added to that were the traumas of what we experienced in Iran and as refugees.
‘From the transition class, I went to pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO) and then via secondary vocational education (MBO) to a higher professional education (HBO) programme. At Leiden University I am doing a research master’s on a subject that is linked to my identity. That is important to me and to my personal development. I am almost finished and only have to write my thesis.
But when I turned 31, I was informed by DUO that my student funding would stop. I wasn’t aware of that. So I had to stop studying and find a job. I’m really motivated to finish my degree but I don’t know if and when I’ll be able to.
‘I think it’s important that teaching staff and your fellow students realise what it means to go to university when you come from a situation like mine. There are always worries, traumas, language deficits and a lack of knowledge about how things work.’
‘I found everything out on my own’
Lizzy Rothert
Pedagogical Sciences, 2023-present
‘My parents both have a mild intellectual disability. I was always surrounded by people for whom secondary school was a huge achievement in itself, let alone university. I always felt different, which is really lonely. My level was HAVO (senior general secondary education)/VWO but because of my home situation school thought it better that I do VMBO. I soon moved to HAVO. And then an HBO programme came in sight. University seemed really far away.
‘I always thought you had to be really smart to study there. But I didn’t feel challenged during my HBO nursing programme. I have a coach who supports me and they suggested looking on a university site. Pedagogical Sciences caught my eye and I enrolled. It was really scary and I wondered whether I was up to it. When my first grade was 10, a weight fell from my shoulders. In my situation you are really alone. I decided on my own which secondary school to go to, just like I figured out for myself how DUO works. When my parents say they’re proud of me they don’t really know what they’re proud of.’
Lustrumeditie alumnimagazine Leidraad
To celebrate the university’s 450th anniversary, Leidraad alumni magazine dived into the university’s history. In 45 key moments, milestones and highlights, the magazine details how the university developed over more than four centuries. This article can also be found in the anniversary edition (in Dutch), which is now online.
Photo: The board of the Association for Female Students in Leiden 1901-1902.