Women win Nobel Prizes in science - are we at the beginning of a trend?

The number of women who received the Nobel Prize in physics increased from three to four, and in chemistry from five to seven (in both cases including Marie Curie). Is this a coincidence or the beginning of a trend * Prof. Yael Rauchman from the Faculty of Chemistry at Tel Aviv University believes that the fact that the chemistry award is a relatively new discovery indicates the integration of women in science in the 21st century, Dr. Hadas Cohen from the Center for Gender Studies at the Hebrew University: still Successful women pay a large social price

These two lists say it all:

• Women who win the Nobel Prize for Physics: 2020 Andrea Gass, 2018 Donna Strickland, 1963 Maria Goffert Meyer and of course the founding mother Marie Curie who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903. 
• Women winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry: 2020 Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, 2018 Frances Arnalod, 2009 Ada Yonet, 1964 Dorothy Croft Hodgkin, 1935 Irene Julio Curie, 1911 Marie Curie (i.e. the short list of laureates in the exact sciences includes one name twice).

The list of winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine also includes only 12 names, the last of which Tu Yoyo won the prize for her part in discovering a treatment for malaria in 2015.

If we had to publish the list of men who won the three awards, we would have to turn the article into a phone book.

Prof. Yael Rauchman from the chemistry section of the Faculty of Exact Sciences at Tel Aviv University says that this year three women won prizes in chemistry and physics out of eight winners: at least for the prize in chemistry, the prize is for a recent discovery made eight years ago. As you get closer to the present, you see a change in tone - there are more women in senior positions in academia than before, and therefore more Nobel Prize winners.

My prediction is that we will see more and more women winning Nobel Prizes, now as the revolution of more and more women entering academia. In physics, one of the winners is Roger Penrose for works from the XNUMXs, a time when women were given credit. Today it is impossible to avoid it. Everyone who shares the discovery gets credit. Women are not behind, but lead research groups and see the impact immediately."

Dr. Hadas Cohen, a lecturer at the Gender Center at the Hebrew University, explains that the gates of higher education were not open to women. The fact that the late Bader Genisburg studied law at Harvard University was a cover for women.

"What is really behind this are the social perceptions regarding the place of women in society. The classic role of women to be wives and mothers was seen as the proper way to model female success. A woman will be considered successful if she has children. If she has a doctorate in physics and chemistry and if she managed to get a senior professorship at a reputed university, that doesn't count."

According to her, a large percentage of women abroad who work in an academic career do not have children or give birth for the first time in their forties. There is advance paving of women for other positions in society. Much has been written about the fact that in kindergartens and elementary schools, boys are encouraged to study mathematics and science much more than girls. In the first degree, you often see a female majority, at least in the social sciences. In the exact sciences, absolutely not. There is a minority of women already in the bachelor's degree and as you progress to the master's degree and doctorate there are far fewer women, and this is reflected in the share of women in the standards for teaching positions in the academy."

It is difficult to get a postdoctoral position

"Another important characteristic is that many women in senior academic positions around the world do not have children. We talk about the fact that women have the first and second shifts - work outside the home and work at home - taking care of the family after they return from work, and today we are talking about the third shift which means responsibility for all the emotional aspects of the family. It is very difficult for them to invest the time that men were allowed to invest in work in general. When you look at the academy in Israel, in order to advance in the academy you have to do a doctorate outside the country, a post-doctorate in research institutes that are not in the country where the doctorate was done. If the man is a female academic, she will move with her partner and family to the country where he needs to study. The opposite phenomenon exists much less. It is very rare for a man to move with his wife, who is a chemistry researcher, to a research institute in Idaho and for two or three years raise the children at home."

"Staying abroad is necessary in order to later obtain tenure and advance in the academic track, and thus we are slowly seeing how the pool of women from which to choose Nobel Prize winners is small. And that's even before we mentioned the amount of work and time required to bring results from the lab, travel to conferences and more. These things make it difficult for women to both do what is required within the family and invest in academia to the same extent."

"You see a change, there is more equality for women, but still if we are talking about a country like Israel where not being a mother is considered an exceptional trait that has a great social cost. In European countries or in the big cities in the USA, you see a change taking place, but even today, if I'm not mistaken, over half of the women in academic positions at American universities are childless, or if they are, they get pregnant in their forties. It is very difficult to combine the two things."

Prof. Rauchman says that the feminist revolution began in World War II, when women wanted to work and after the war many of them decided that they did not want to give up. Women today are forced to choose a career because in many places in the world it is impossible to live from one career. In recent years, serious moves have been made in Europe and the US for equal opportunities and the promotion of women in science, and there are scholarships, awards and requirements from academic conferences that will ensure gender equality as much as possible."

"It started with affirmative action which helped to admit the first women and as soon as it was created as something possible already a lot of women know it is possible and apply more to the academy. There are still gaps, there is still no perfect equality of opportunity. In the field I am researching at Tel Aviv University Chemistry and Biophysics in the chemistry department when I arrived I was the only one after many years that no women had joined. We took in a faculty member a year ago and next year we will take in another faculty member, but in my broader field the university has taken in ten women in recent years. We are witnessing the beginning of a transformation."

Dr. Cohen suggests proactively encouraging programs in the fields of science in girls' and even girls-only schools because studies have shown that when girls study separately from boys, they are more successful, and do not have to deal with social conventions and compare themselves to boys.

Even in universities, women should be encouraged to integrate into the scientific professions with the help of scholarships, which is something that happens partially, and also recognize the complex reality that women face and not expect that each one will fight her own battle personally, but rather come towards them, for example to allow her to be a mother as well, it is possible to delay by a year or two the exam for tenure.

A personal example like Ada Yonat

Prof. Rauchman recommends personal examples. From a female undergraduate lecturer to female scientists winning Nobel Prizes against all odds. According to her, after Ada Yonat won the Nobel Prize, interest in science increased among girls in Israel.

Dr. Cohen concludes by saying: "We are in a time when we are making a change, in the US there was a presidential candidate who received the majority of the voters' votes, but on the other hand there is an American president who said he could grab any woman by her genitals and women still vote for him. This is not considered severe enough. The misogynistic conditionings still exist in society and still exist within the very complex reality. As long as these gender structures do not change in society, it will be very difficult for women to reach senior positions, whether it is winning the Nobel Prize or whether it is the presidency or CEO positions."

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• The President of Harvard: Women are less successful in the sciences * Prof. Teicher of Bar Ilan: encourage women to be cool
• Women are a minority in the senior academic staff in Israel - 29% in universities, 39% in budgeted colleges
• Rosalind Franklin - the scientist whose fame was stolen from her

Nobel Prizes 2020

• The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the scientists who developed the CRISPR "genetic numbers" immediately after the Wolf award
• Roger Penrose and the two black hole detectors at the center of the galaxy won the Nobel Prize in Physics