A Comparative Study of Nobel Prize Winners in Chemistry and Physics over a Century Focusing on Gender and Age

The Nobel Prize is considered as one of the most prestigious awards universally. In this study, we analyzed gender and age at the time of award in two areas of physical science, chemistry and physics. Based on data from 419 laureates, we were looking for trends over the time period of one hundred twenty-three years. We divided this period in two parts: the twentieth century and twenty-first century. Then we compared data for Chemistry and Physics Nobel Prize groups looking for similarities and differences within each field and then compared one field to another. We primarily focused on three parameters: (i) representation of women among winners, (ii) average age of all laureates and (iii) ages of men and women award winners. Our analysis indicates that women in both areas are representing a small proportion of all Chemistry and Physics Nobel Prize winners. However, there is an upward trend in women representation from the past to present century in both fields. Overall “aging” appears to be not gender-specific for both Chemistry and Physics Nobel Prize laureates. Demographic data analysis revealed an interesting fact: on average, both chemistry and physics women laureates are younger than men. Alfred Nobel in his will of 1895 designated the prize to “those who during the preceding year have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” Acknowledging the global significance of a Nobel Prize, we hope that our findings will motivate more girls and women to pursue science leading to a smaller gender gap in chemistry and physics.