In 1895, Swedish scientist and industrialist Alfred Nobel drafted a will stating that most of his fortune be reserved as prizes “to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Presented within the categories of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economics, the Nobel Prizes have come to be considered the most prestigious awards in their respective fields.
In the 119 years since the first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901, there have been 930 individual laureates. Of those laureates, 57 of them are women (13 of which are women of color), 57 are Asian, 17 are Hispanic, and 16 are Black. In total, women and minorities make up not even a fifth of all Nobel Prize winners. Nobel himself stated, “It is my express wish that when awarding the prizes, no consideration be given to nationality, but that the prize be awarded to the worthiest person, whether or not they are Scandinavian,” yet the “worthiest” people seem to be almost exclusively white men.
In total, women and minorities make up not even a fifth of all Nobel Prize winners.
Today, research teams can consist of a plethora of students, postdoctoral researchers, and technicians, but their collective work is typically credited to a single investigator. While the Nobel Peace Prize can be awarded to individuals or organizations, only up to three people can share the prize in each of the other categories. This restrictive system has practically ensured that many important collaborators will go unrecognized, especially those from already marginalized backgrounds.
Not only does the Nobel system perpetuate the myth of the “lone genius,” just short of asserting that most are white and male, it also reinforces the idea that history is written by the victors, or in some cases, the survivors.
The first Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Emil von Behring in 1901 for the discovery of antitoxins, but not to his close collaborator Shibasaburo Kitasato, a co-author and equal contributor in their research for the treatment of diphtheria. In 1962, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins for discovering the double helix structure of DNA, but not to Rosalind Franklin, whose foundational work was central to their work, simply because she died four years prior. This underlines another limiting condition upheld by the Nobel Committee: a prize cannot be awarded posthumously, unless the announcement was made before the recipient died. Astronomer Vera Rubin, with her discovery of dark matter, is widely considered to have been robbed of a Nobel Prize in Physics in this same way.
Because such a prestigious prize only recognizes up to three people and has historically omitted researchers from marginalized groups, it creates a problematic “winner-takes-all” reward system, bolstering the reputations of a select few while the vast majority of contributors are left in the shadows, written out of history.
So who gets to choose the winners? The nominators of the Nobel Prizes are shrouded in mystery. Every year, thousands of academy members, professors, scientists, past Nobel Peace Prize laureates, and government officials, among others, are asked to submit potential candidates for the upcoming year. However, the names of the nominators themselves cannot be revealed until 50 years afterwards. They are specifically chosen to represent as many countries and universities as possible, but the candidates they select do not share this same diversity. Once all the nominations are finalized, the Nobel Committees of the four prize-awarding institutions vote on the winners.
And because the Nobel Prizes are typically awarded to tenured professors or famous scientists at prestigious research institutions, this usually means older, established white men take the cake.
Historically, STEM fields have been dominated by white men. While U.S. colleges and universities are becoming increasingly diverse, there are still systemic barriers that inhibit underrepresented groups in higher education. Fewer tenure positions for them means they lack the job security that would grant more freedom and time to pursue further academic research. And because the Nobel Prizes are typically awarded to tenured professors or famous scientists at prestigious research institutions, this usually means older, established white men take the cake.
The Nobel Prize paints an unfair picture for a young, aspiring scientist: when you see mostly white males being recognized and immortalized in the history books as “great scientists,” it’s hard to imagine yourself sharing a place among them if you don’t look like them.
Alfred Nobel died in 1986, but in 2020, there’s no reason for the list of Nobel laureates to resemble the scientists of Nobel’s time more than our own. Credit is far overdue — the Nobel Prize highlights the need to promote more diversity in STEM, and properly award the “greatest benefits” that come from it.
Sources: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5
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The Nobel Prizes, established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel, continue to be the pinnacle of recognition in various fields, including Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economics. Over the years, these awards have shaped the trajectory of human knowledge and global contributions. Yet, the statistics reveal a stark reality: a significant lack of diversity among the laureates. Out of the 930 individual laureates, only a small fraction—57 women (13 women of color), 57 Asians, 17 Hispanics, and 16 Black individuals—represent minorities, leaving the majority of recipients as white men. This imbalance contradicts Nobel's wish for nationality to hold no bearing on the selection process.
The issue expands beyond gender and racial disparities. The structure itself limits recognition. The requirement that only up to three individuals can share a prize perpetuates the idea of the "lone genius," disregarding the collaborative efforts that fuel groundbreaking discoveries. This limitation has led to the oversight of crucial contributors, particularly from marginalized backgrounds. The Nobel Committee's rule against posthumous awards further compounds the problem, as seen in the cases of Rosalind Franklin and Vera Rubin, both integral figures in their respective fields but overlooked by the Nobel system due to untimely deaths.
The opaque selection process, involving thousands of nominators whose identities remain confidential for 50 years, seeks diversity in representation but fails to reflect it in their chosen candidates. Consequently, the committees, dominated by established figures from prestigious institutions, continue to recognize older, often white, male laureates. This perpetuates an unfair cycle in STEM fields, where systemic barriers hinder underrepresented groups from achieving tenure positions or gaining the necessary recognition for their work.
The Nobel Prizes, although a beacon of excellence, highlight the urgent need for diversity and inclusion in STEM. Recognizing and properly crediting all contributors, irrespective of race, gender, or background, is pivotal for the advancement and fairness within these esteemed fields.
