The Matilda Effect

Hello All,

I am so excited – the daffodils have raised their sunny faces all over the place! Which also means my beloved tulips are not far behind! Both of these flowers make me happy (like crocuses do in the Autumn). Spring has definitely sprung! Spring and Autumn are my favorite times of the year – colors in abundance, flowers and plants that I love, the opposing seasons of sandals and sweaters, growth and rest, baseball and football. And you can be outside without roasting or freezing :-)!

I love learning something new every day. In this last full week of National Women’s History Month, I read about The Matilda Effect for the very first time. I expect all of you were aware of this ahead of me! The Matilda Effect is “a bias against acknowledging the achievements of women scientists whose work is attributed to their male colleagues.” This phenomenon was first described by Matilda Joslyn Gage, a Native American abolitionist, rights activist and suffragist, in her essay “Woman as Inventor”…..in 1870! Ms. Gage protested the common thought of that time that “women…..possess no inventive or mechanical genius.”

The term The Matilda Effect was actually coined by Margaret Rossiter, an American historian of science, in 1993! Ms. Rossiter wanted to recognize Ms. Gage’s work. Ms. Rossiter has been recognized for her “tenacious work” in “unearthing the contributions of U.S. women scientists”- and the History of Science Society named a prestigious prize after her!

On reflection, I don’t recall learning about hardly any women scientists in history. Marie Curie is the one who does come to mind. She would have actually fit in well with the blog about firsts. Madame Curie, both a physicist and chemist, was the pioneer in radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (in 1903, and she shared this with her husband Pierre and physicist Henri Becquerel – though she created the term radioactivity), the first and only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice (she discovered polonium and radium), and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two scientific fields   She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris in 1906.

Even as young as I am (“Ahem”), I do remember growing up thinking that the sciences were more male oriented, and English and the arts were more female oriented. Interesting and so inaccurate – and so reflective of societal views in my younger years. I never thought that women’s achievements were understated or ignored, which is why we weren’t learning about these incredible women and their work. Many were written out of history and/or denied awards and recognition during their lifetimes. The Matilda Effect was never discussed.

Nettie Stevens discovered the  XY sex determination system. Her extensive study of mealworms revealed that gender is determined by chromosomes, and not environmental or a variety of other factors. However, there was a very distinguished geneticist at the time – Thomas Hunt Morgan – who is credited with the discovery.

I had definitely heard of Francis Crick and James Watson who won the 1962 Nobel Prize for the discovery of the structure of DNA. The person who was not credited for this discovery? Rosalind Franklin, who was an important contributor to the discovery of DNA structure in 1953!

Marte Gautier has finally been recognized for her role in the discovery of the chromosomal abnormality that causes Down Syndrome. For many years, that discovery was exclusively attributed to Jerome Lejeune.

Back as far as 1702, Marian Winckelmann Kirsch discovered a comet – while her husband Gottfried was sleeping! But he wrote the paper about this discovery utilizing only his name. He did set the record straight – eight years later!

Lisa Meitner shared work on nuclear fission with Otto Hahn. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944 – she was named “woman of the year” by the newspaper.

There is one great story about this. “In 1934, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to George Whipple, George Richards Minot, and William P. Murphy. They felt their female co-worker, Frieda Robscheit-Robbins, was excluded on grounds of her sex. Whipple shared the prize money with her as he felt she deserved the Nobel as well, since she was co-author of almost all of Whipple’s publications.”

It is so important to recognize everyone’s contributions in science, in life – women and men – even belatedly, as is now being done for these women who made such important discoveries. As leaders, it is also important to recognize the contributions of the people who work with us, individually and as a group/team. Recognition and appreciation are so important in relationships, personal and professional.

Keep these two quotes in mind:

“Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated.” – Robert McNamara, Former Secretary of Defense

“Recognition is not a scarce resource. You can’t use it up or run out of it.” – Susan M. Heathfield

Recognize someone today. Celebrate her/his achievement. Recognize your own.

Phyl