This year is one of the best years for women in the history of the Nobel prize: 4 of the 11 winners are women. The prestigious awards were set up to honour \u2018those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind\u2019 in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. The economics prize was added later, in 1969.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 1901, only 65 prizes have been awarded to women, a tiny 6.5% of the 1,000 awarded in total. When I told this to my daughter, who starts university next year, she said, cynically, \u2018Are you surprised?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year American Claudia Goldin won the economics prize \u2013 the third woman ever to do so \u2013 Iranian Narges Mohammadi won the peace prize, Hungarian Katalin Karik\u00f3 won the physiology or medicine prize, and French scientist Anne L’Huillier was one of 3 scientists to win the physics prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The peace prize has been awarded to 19 women, 3 of them Africans: Kenyan Wangari Maathai in 2004, and Liberians Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee in 2011. South Africa\u2019s Nadine Gordimer is one of 17 female Nobel literature prize winners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel prize in 1903, in physics, for her research in radioactivity. She won it again in 1911 for chemistry. Her daughter, Ir\u00e8ne Joliot-Curie, also won the chemistry prize in 1935, for her work in radioactivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than half of the Nobel prizes that went to women were awarded in the past 20 years. A positive sign for women of my daughter\u2019s generation. The average age at which women win their Nobel prizes is 58. I hope by the time my daughter reaches that age, it won\u2019t be surprising if at least half of the prize winners are not men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n