Nobel Prizes Struggle With Wide Gender Disparity... This Year Too

Nobel Prizes 2021: Scientists of both genders have already taken to social media to decry the lack of women recognized so far this year.

All eight winners of the 2021 Nobel Prizes in medicine, chemistry, physics and literature have been men, re-igniting a recurring debate about diversity in the highly coveted awards, particularly those in science. This is like a terrible mystery where you know the ending halfway through the book. 4 out of 6 categories announced and nary a woman in sight, @NobelPrize. Is the story of the 2021 Nobel Prize that the men did it? (Spoiler: Women are also doing amazing work) #GenderAvengerpic.twitter.com/ZQBotA9Hl0

Ardem Patapoutian and David Julius received the Nobel for medicine on Monday. Giorgio Parisi, Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann won the physics gong for their work deciphering chaotic climate, while Benjamin List and David MacMillan received the chemistry accolade for developing a tool for molecule building.

Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, 72, on Wednesday became only the second writer of color in sub-Suharan Africa ever to win a Nobel Prize for Literature. The last Black recipient of the prize was Toni Morrison in 1993.

"Abdulrazak Gurnah meets at least one of the criterion of a writer from a non-traditional cultural circle - a non-European with a colonial background, but he's no woman," said Anne-Marie Morhed, head of the Swedish Association of Female Academics.