And the 2021 Nobel Prizes go to men … so far

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Oct. 7 (Reuters) – The eight winners of the 2021 Nobel Prizes in Medicine, Chemistry, Physics and Literature are male, igniting a recurring debate about diversity in coveted awards, especially in science .

Ardem Patapoutian and David Julius received the Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday. Giorgio Parisi, Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann won the physics gong for their work deciphering the chaotic climate, while Benjamin List and David MacMillan received the chemistry distinction for developing a tool for building molecules.

Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, 72, on Wednesday became the second writer of color from Sub-Desires of Africa to win a Nobel Prize for Literature. The last black recipient of the award was Toni Morrison in 1993.

“Abdulrazak Gurnah fulfills at least one of the criteria of a writer from a non-traditional cultural circle – a non-European of colonial origin, but not a woman,” said Anne-Marie Morhed, director of Swedish Association of University Women. .

“There are two prizes left, the Peace Prize and the Economics Prize. The (Norwegian) Nobel Committee … still has a chance to honor a woman.”

Belarusian opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Greta Thunberg are at least two women in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway on Thursday.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is headed by a woman and the majority of its members are women. Same as the previous committee: headed by a woman and with a majority of women.

There has also been a real push in recent years not to give the prize only to white males in North America and Western Europe, as was the case in previous decades.

In comparison to the dozen or so black peace laureates in Nobel Prize history, there has never been a black recipient of the prizes in medicine, chemistry and physics, points out Professor Winston Morgan, toxicologist at the University of East London, which investigated price representation as part of its research on inequalities in science.

“In terms of the gap between the world’s population and the winners – the biggest gap is that of gender,” Morgan said. “The number of female winners is really, really tiny.”

Scientists of both sexes have already taken to social networks to denounce the lack of women recognized so far this year.

GenderAvenger, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting the voice of women in public dialogue, say the prices were “like a terrible mystery which you know the end of halfway through the book. 4 out of 6 categories announced and no women in sight, @NobelPrize. Did the 2021 Nobel Prize story that men did it ? (Spoiler: Women also do an amazing job). “

Some, including Ellie Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, expressed his disappointment that this year’s awards excluded contributions from Katalin Kariko and Kizzmekia Corbett, key scientists behind the development of mRNA vaccines that are changing the course of the pandemic.

Nobel Prize watchers, however, said it was highly likely that Kariko and Corbett would be recognized in the years to come. The committee, they said, tended to reward the recipients after a certain period of time.

“The problem for the Nobel Prize is that it has a criterion and a tradition and it is difficult for them to part with it,” Morgan said, adding that the committee would likely respond to scientific innovation during the pandemic in three or more four years.

He added that if you looked at the general trajectory of Nobel Prize winners, the number of female scientists increased as did those given to men from Japan and China.

“We don’t see the same trajectory for black scientists. That concerns me more,” he said. “You have to ask yourself if there are enough black scientists in universities and are they supported.”

When asked why there are so few black Nobel laureates in literature, Gurnah told Reuters the world is changing. Read more

Jesper Haeggstrom, president of the Nobel Assembly that awarded the physiology or medicine prize, said there was no simple explanation for the lack of female laureates, but it reflected the representation of women in science .

“There has historically been an under-representation of women in science, so the further back in time, the fewer candidates there are,” he said.

Haeggstrom declined to comment on whether gender played a role in the committee’s selection process.

“I am not free to give you details on this, but generally speaking I can say that scientific competence is the deciding factor,” he said.

Critics point to the composition of the scientific selection committees, however. Only 25% of the 50 professors on the drug selection committee are women.

The Physics Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences consists of six members, including one woman, and two co-opted members, both men. The chemistry committee is made up of six members, all men, and two co-opted members, both women.

Reporting by Johan Ahlandar in Sweden, Gwladys Fouché in Norway, Julie Steenhuysen in New York; Editing by Leela de Kretser and Lisa Shumaker

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