What appears to be a pattern among Nobel Prize recipients? |
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Since 1950’s, Nobel Prize winners in the traditional sciences are, in general, male, senior citizens.
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Why does the current gender bias give hope and despair? |
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The situation has improved over time but women laureates are still a very small percentage, not only in traditional sciences but other spheres as well.
Facts: As of 2015, Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 822 men, 48 women, and 26 organizations. 16 women have won the Nobel Peace Prize, 14 have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, 12 have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 4 have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, only 2 have won the Nobel Prize in Physics (Marie Curie in 1903 and Maria Mayer in 1963) and only one, Elinor Ostrom, has won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.Curie is also the only woman to have won multiple Nobel Prizes; in 1911, she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Curie's daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935, making the two the only mother-daughter pair to have won Nobel Prizes.The most Nobel Prizes awarded to women in a single year was in 2009, when five women became laureates. The most recent women to be awarded a Nobel Prize were Tu Youyou for Medicine and Svetlana Alexievich for Literature (2015). |
When, in the twentieth century, has there been an exception? |
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When quantum mechanics took the academic world by storm in the early twentieth century, it also provided several young achievers in the field to be recognized soon enough by the Nobel Committee.
As researchers explain through the anomaly of quantum mechanics, “New ideas sometimes serve as revolutions and revolutions favor the young”. Thus, “If there are future revolutions out there, it may make winners younger yet again”. Note: William Lawrence Bragg was, until October 2014 (when his record was surpassed by Malala Yousafzai at the age of 17), the youngest ever Nobel laureate; he won the prize in 1915 at the age of 25. He still remains the youngest Nobel laureate in science. He won the award along with his father for "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays". |
Where are the problems in the “aged laureate” pattern? |
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In addition to delay between the discovery and the award, scientists have also been observed to make their discovery or achieve the breakthrough that wins the Nobel at a later age than before.This seems to follow the observation that laureates receive their PhD later than they did before. While they start at a later age, it has also been observed that they end their careers at the same time as their predecessors did. Researchers say this means the greatest of our minds are productive for a shorter period of time and their work yields lesser. Researchers are worried this could result in the stagnation of technological advancement.
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Who are some of the potential women laureates in Physics and Chemistry? |
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Though the gender gap exists in all Nobel Prize fields, it is at its worst in Physics and then Chemistry. In these fields there are several deserving women candidates. A few are shortlisted below.
These women’s achievements were widely noted and acknowledged through other prestigious awards.By all standards, they deserve the Nobel Prize but luck or gender has not favored them so far. |
How can these biases be overcome? |
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As far as the age bias is concerned, the explanations for starting late and a long waiting period seem reasonable.These imply the need for the next scientific revolution and a gateway for young achievers.
As for gender bias, studies have definitively shown science professors to consider women students as less competent than men. Implicit or explicit, this unfair bias – that women performed as well as men and are yet not given the same importance – damages progress.Job and mentorship opportunities become less available, and women find it more difficult to obtain grants and access to resources. When this vital environment is not provided to women, there is less chance, even of them entering their chosen field of research. Every possible effort and beyond should be made to minimize and eliminate these biases at the graduate level.
People – scientists and non-scientists - have actively called for the Nobel Committee to recognize of Vera Rubin’s achievement by awarding her the Nobel Prize. They have also taken to social media to voice the need for urgency on this front. Such initiatives, whether futile or not, are heartening, and should continue till there is sufficient momentum for positive change. |