Engineering has a huge impact on society. To responsibly advance science and technology, a university should be a balanced reflection of society. As a top engineering university we believe that diversity and inclusiveness is crucial for the quality of our teaching and research. More than that, we believe we can turn a fully representative academic workforce into a unique strength. This is why, from 1 July, all our job vacancies will be exclusively open to female candidates for the first six months after they are advertised.

This is certainly a radical step, as the international headlines about our move attest. But we felt it was a necessary step as the more subtle measures we tried over the past 10 years were to no avail. The targets we set for female recruitment and the missionary work of our chief diversity officers were certainly useful in making our staff and community aware of inequalities and their own biases. As a result, at least two women are now on every selection panel. And yet, the gender imbalance persists with only 16% of our full professors being female – one of the lowest percentages in the Netherlands, and indeed in Europe.

There is overwhelming evidence that diverse teams are more creative and productive

What has become clear is that during the recruitment and selection processes, all of us – males and females alike – have an unconscious bias that means we gravitate towards male candidates. This makes it harder for women to start and develop their academic careers. To address this unfair situation, we had to take affirmative action, even at the risk of upsetting some male candidates for jobs. The aim currently is to raise female representation to at least 20% by 2020 and eventually to over 30% in the next decade.

As a university devoted to engineering and technology we thrive on innovation to create the unimaginable, such as 3D-printed housing and living heart valves, and this means it is essential to embrace diverse teams. There is overwhelming evidence that they are more creative and productive. Including different perspectives leads to better solutions. We simply need to tap the intellectual power of all genders.

A university that is fully representative of society calls for an inclusive academic community. But the change we are embarking on will also have a favourable impact on the quality of our teaching and the varied perspectives that our students encounter. In recent years we have successfully attracted more female students, but now we need a culture change to enhance this further. More female staff will attract even more female students. More female professors will serve as role models and epitomise the values of the university.

Men built this system. No wonder gender equality remains as far off as ever | Ellie Mae O’Hagan Read more

Again, this is not only a matter of fairness. In the Netherlands, as in many other European countries, there is a shortage of engineers. We simply can’t afford to exclude half the intellectual potential of our populations. Besides, engineering is a discipline that is all about brainpower, regardless of gender.

The laws of the European Union allow us to favour women, given suitable competences, if they are seriously underrepresented. Smaller initiatives at universities in Delft and Groningen, which have been challenged in court, have shown that this is possible.

Diversity, of course, goes beyond gender. As a leading university we seek to recruit academic staff worldwide and have been more successful in doing so than in overcoming the gender gap. Some 40% of our young academic staff come from overseas. Having tried many different ways of attracting female staff and failing, it is time for tough measures. May many other universities follow our lead.

• Frank Baaijens is rector of Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands