How many women have become Nobel Prize laureates since the beginning of the 20th century by now?

2018.07.05 1,779

 

Between 1901 and 2017, 892 people became Nobel laureates, of which only 48 were women or 5.4% of total winners. The first woman who enjoyed this award was Marie Curie, in 1903 she received the Nobel Prize for Physics, and in 1911 the second prize in another science - chemistry.

Over a century later, little progress has been made reducing the gender gap in science. So far in the 2010s only 9% of winners have been female compared with 88% male (the rest were organisations). Throughout the history of the awards women have been most likely to win a Nobel Prize for Peace and Literature. There has only ever been 1 female winner for Economics and only 2 for Physics. 

Who were the women and men Nobel Prize laureates see below in an interactive infograph (place the cursor on bars or points for more information).

Author: David Hoskins