None of the 2021 science Nobel laureates are women – here's why men still dominate STEM award winning

Science fields are improving at being more inclusive. But explicit and implicit barriers still hold women back from advancing in the same numbers as men to the upper reaches of STEM academia.

Mary K. Feeney, Professor and Lincoln Professor of Ethics in Public Affairs, Arizona State University • conversation
Oct. 8, 2021 • ~12 min

John Glenn’s fan mail shows many girls dreamed of the stars – but sexism in the early space program thwarted their ambitions

John Glenn would have turned 100 on July 18, 2021. Today's space program is a giant leap more inclusive than when he made his pioneering orbit of the Earth in 1962.

Roshanna P. Sylvester, Associate Professor of Critical Media Practices and Digital Humanities, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
July 13, 2021 • ~12 min

The 2021 World Food Prize recognizes that fish are key for reducing hunger and malnutrition

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, is the winner of the 2021 World Food Prize for her work identifying small fish as valuable nutrition sources for developing countries.

Ben Belton, Associate Professor of International Development, Michigan State University • conversation
May 21, 2021 • ~9 min

Nobel Prizes have a diversity problem even worse than the scientific fields they honor

With 3% of science Nobels going to women and zero going to Black people, these awards are an extreme example of how certain demographics are underrepresented in STEM fields.

Marc Zimmer, Professor of Chemistry, Connecticut College • conversation
Sept. 29, 2020 • ~8 min

The 'female' brain: why damaging myths about women and science keep coming back in new forms

From having small brains to being better at reading, it is often argued that women aren't well suited to do science.

Gina Rippon, Professor Emeritus of Cognitive NeuroImaging, Aston University • conversation
Aug. 3, 2020 • ~8 min

Marie Tharp pioneered mapping the bottom of the ocean 6 decades ago – scientists are still learning about Earth's last frontier

Born on July 30, 1920, geologist and cartographer Tharp changed scientific thinking about what lay at the bottom of the ocean – not a featureless flat, but rugged and varied terrain.

Suzanne OConnell, Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University • conversation
July 28, 2020 • ~10 min

Sexism pushed Rosalind Franklin toward the scientific sidelines during her short life, but her work still shines on her 100th birthday

Franklin was born a century ago, and her X-ray crystallography work crucially contributed to determining the structure of DNA.

Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University • conversation
July 20, 2020 • ~8 min

Vaccines without needles – new shelf-stable film could revolutionize how medicines are distributed worldwide

Inspired by amber and hard candy, researchers figured out a new, needle-free, shelf-stable way to preserve vaccines, making them easier to ship and administer around the world.

Maria Croyle, Professor of Pharmaceutics, University of Texas at Austin • conversation
March 4, 2020 • ~5 min

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