On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, this year we want to share with you some data regarding Women underrepresentation in the history of Science and specifically, Nobel Prizes.
The Nobel Prizes began to be awarded in Stockholm in 1901 in the categories of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace.
In 1969, the Bank of Sweden Prize for Economic Sciences was awarded for the first time in memory of Alfred Nobel, popularly known as the “Nobel Prize in Economics”.
In these 120 years of existence, the Nobel Prize has been awarded:
887 times to men
59 times to women, of which:
- 25 in Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Economics)
- 34 in Literature and Peace
The Polish-born scientist Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person in history to achieve the milestone of winning it twice:
1903: Nobel Prize in Physics
1911: Nobel Prize in Chemistry
If it’s true that historically there has been a clear underrepresentation of women in Science, the current efforts worldwide to attract girls and women into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers is going to have a clear effect in our society in few generations.
