IT'S still a man's world out there - at least in the realm of Nobel science prizes.
The 2005 awards in chemistry, physics, and physiology or medicine continue a long and unsettling pattern in which men dominate the greatest honor in science.
Swedish kings have handed out more than 500 prizes in science since 1901. Only 12 have gone to women.
Seven female scientists won the medicine prize in the last 104 years - the most recent being in 2004. Only three women won the chemistry prize (the last, 41 years ago), and there are two female laureates in physics (the last, 42 years ago).
The Nobel Prizes don't recognize the tremendous breadth of scientific creativity, focusing on limited fields and a handful of individuals. They sometimes overlook scientists who made critical contributions to a discovery.
Women certainly are among those who can legitimately claim, "We wuz robbed." It happened to DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin, for instance, and a great genius in physics named Lise Meitner.For all their shortcomings, however, the Nobels are the Nobels. Countries, universities, and funding agencies track the number of winners and trumpet it as the ultimate yardstick of scientific excellence.
The gender count gives a distorted image of the contributions and potential of women in science. Women have made big gains in some science careers. They now account for about 40 percent of science and engineering graduate students.
Perhaps the Nobel gender gap will narrow as contributions of the growing number of female scientists have an impact. Remember that Nobel prizes usually recognize research done decades ago, in the era when there were far fewer women scientists.
Nobody knows, however, whether such optimism is justified.
Some contend that it is easier for women to begin science careers today, but quite difficult for them to advance into senior positions - especially into the elite corps that nominates candidates for the Nobel Prizes.
All too often, parents share the perception that science - aside from fields like medicine and psychology - isn't the best career for a girl. As a result, they don't encourage daughters to study science. That is short-sighted and unfair.
A few female Nobel laureates could have a big impact in changing those perceptions, especially laureates who use their newfound prestige to encourage science careers among young women. Success will only beget more success.
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