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The Study
The Study
Matilda Effect: when work conducted by women is overlooked or not given the same recognition as work done by men.
In 2012, there was a systematic analysis of gender distribution of STEM awards and prizes. Lincoln et al. (2012) collected data on awards during 1991-2010 from 13 disciplinary societies.
Prizes were classified into four categories:
Scholarship/discovery/research
Young investigator
Service to discipline
Teaching/education
The first category is seen as the most prestigious and contributes largely to advancing the recipient's professional career.
Results (Lincoln et al. 2012)
Results (Lincoln et al. 2012)
It was found that even though awards to women have increased throughout the decade, there is still underrepresentation of women in the scholarly category.
In the 1990s, the proportion of women who received scholarly awards was significantly lower than the proportion who won teaching awards.
There was unequal gender distribution in the award process itself. Most committees were composed of and chaired by men.
Only 17.1% of nominees were women.
Women-only awards can camouflage women’s underrepresentation by making it appear that there is a significant amount of female award recipients, in a general sense.
Figure 1. Percentage of female winners in the four categories during 1991-2000 and 2001-2010 (Lincoln et al. 2012).
Our review of the material and the circumstances leads us to believe the Matilda Effect may be a potential reason why Esther Lederberg was marginalized. This may have ultimately led to her not receiving the recognition she deserved during the 1950s.
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