Across Women's Lives

The 2019 Nobel Prizes for chemistry and physics were awarded this week, and — as is the case most of the time — they went to men. That’s despite steps the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which runs the Nobel program, took just last year to be more inclusive.The academy's secretary-general, Göran K. Hansson, sent a letter to scientists asking them to take geography and gender into consideration in their nominations and asked more women to suggest candidates.But efforts to diversify Nobel winners are slow going, and there’s a long history to overcome: Of the more than 600 Nobel Prizes that have been given out in the sciences, just 20 have gone to women. Some other prize categories, such as peace and literature, are more diverse, but they are considered more “acceptable” for women. (The 20 awards include prizes in physiology or medicine, chemistry and physics.)But those prizes have also had their challenges. The Nobels haven’t been spared from modern movements like #MeToo; last year, because of a complicated