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Nobel? Why No Women?

Text: The 2019 Nobel Prizes include no female laureates in the categories of physics, chemistry, and medicine/physiology.
Text: It’s hardly the first time the science Nobels have overlooked women. Only 19 female scientists have ever won in the 118 years the Prizes have been awarded, out of 607 total laureates. Image: A small group of women are surrounded by a sea of men that stretches into the background. A medal bearing the face of Alfred Nobel looms above them.
A full width panel featuring all the female science Nobel winners over the years. Text: The problem actually gets worse when you look at the individual fields: 12 of the 19 female scientists were in the medicine/physiology category. Five women won for chemistry and 3 won for physics. but one of those — Marie Curie — won twice, first for physics then for chemistry.
Text: Per Lunnemann Hansen, Mogens H. Jensen, and Liselotte Jauffred calculated the probabilities of female Nobelists, accounting for age of recipient and gender fraction of each field under consideration. They determined a 96% chance of gender bias, even though there are more female scientists today than in the past. Image: Three researchers hold up a placard showing their result.
Image: A single medal rolls into a pile that has amassed. Text: Specifically, even as the number of female physicists and chemists has grown, the number of Nobels granted to women in these fields has not increased proportionally. The situation is slightly better for the physiology Nobel, but if you were to bet in a given year that no science Nobels would be awarded to women, you'd likely win.
Text: Nobels are hardly the only prizes for scientists, but they’re by far the highest-profile. On top of the cash award, winning a Nobel guarantees public attention to your work, including lucrative speaking invitations and other professional boosts. As men continue to win Nobels, male scientists’ profiles remain high while women lag behind. Image: A lectern for a prestigious university with stacks of money piled in front of it and a medal hanging off a magazine reading "Popular Scientist. Wow."
Text: Proving explicit sexism in the Nobels is difficult, since the nominations are sealed for 50 years. We simply can't know how many women have been proposed in recent years, only to be rejected by the committee. Image: An envelope with a wax seal and a padlock labeled "nominations."
Image: An angry generic white man in a suit says, "Women aren't interested in science! Women aren't as good at science as men!" Text: Multiple scientific studies have debunked these stereotypes, but they have proven hard to eradicate among scientists and nonscientists alike.
Text: Sexist attitudes are certainly not rare among scientists. even Nobel laureates. Image: Nobel winners George Beadle, James Watson, and Tim Hunt are shown with their names covering their mouths. Beadle: You too can win Nobel Prizes. Study diligently. Respect DNA. Don't smoke. Don't drink. Avoid women and politics. That's my formula. Watson: I think having all these women around makes it more fun for the men but they’re probably less effective. Hunt: Let me tell you about my trouble with girls … three things happen when they are in the lab … You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them, they cry.
Three smiling white figures with medals around their necks stand before the shape of a large crowd in various shades of brown. Text: Part of the problem, however, is intrinsic to the Nobel Prize, which awards no more than three scientists in each category. Three white men received the 2017 physics Nobel for LIGO, an international astronomy project involving thousands of scientists, engineers, and other staff of all genders and races.
A group of people diverse in age and race stand on a beach before a half-sunken monument of an old white scientist, like the ending scene of the original Planet of the Apes film. Text: In other words, it may be impossible to fix any bias in the Nobel Prize without changing its design. The prize is based on an archaic "Great Man" model of science, which fails to acknowledge the collaborative, cumulative nature of scientific knowledge.
A globe with scientists scattered around it. Three white men in the west cheer and congratulate each other while Asian and African scientists look on. Text: This is also reflected in the geographic distribution of awards, which heavily favors Europe and the United States. The type of science awarded — requiring money and extensive university support for research — is extremely difficult for scientists from nations struggling with the legacy of colonialism.
Image: An old white scientist smiles smugly with a medal around their neck while in the background, a woman side-eyes him while she carries out a box of her belongings. Text: Nobels are also typically awarded to senior scientists for work done many years earlier. The systemic problems driving women from scientific careers before they reach seniority may influence who seems prominent enough to receive a Nobel, perpetuating the problem.
A group of scientists diverse in age, gender presentation, religion, and ability gather in the direction of a sunrise, leaving a Nobel medal behind them. Text: In its systemic biases, whether conscious or not, the Nobel Prize reflects the history of Western science. As we all-too-slowly acknowledge the value of diversity and inclusion in science, Maybe it's time to leave the Science Nobels in that past where they belong.

Description

  • Vox.com

  • 2019

The Nobel Prizes are arguably the most prestigious awards bestowed upon the sciences and other fields, but a look at their history shows a disturbing discrepancy in who receives these awards.

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