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How we name academic prizes matters

Most scientific prizes and medals are named after men, and most of these are also awarded to men. The very few awards named after women or not named after a person at all are more frequently awarded to women, although parity between the gender of recipients is still not achieved. We call on the scientific community to rethink the naming of academic awards, medals and prizes, their nomination and selection criteria, and to diversify awarding committees and procedures to ensure greater inclusivity.

Scientific awards and academic prizes are key elements of the academic reward system and represent critical esteem indicators of relevance for the personal career development of scientists across all career stages. They have a profound impact on hiring, academic promotion and tenure processes. As these ‘academic life events’ are linked to the self-valuation, satisfaction and wellbeing of academics1, receiving scientific awards and academic prizes may indirectly contribute to the wellbeing of academics. Recently, concerns have been raised about the lack of equality and diversity in the distribution of scientific awards and prizes, specifically with regards to the gross underrepresentation of women and minority groups as recipients of scientific awards and medals2,3. This underrepresentation includes the highest scientific prizes such as the Nobel4 and therefore has received substantial media attention.

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Fig. 1: Gender disparities in naming and awarding scientific medals and prizes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank E. Gibney for the stimulating discussions when producing her Nature News article on the initial findings of this study, which were presented at the 2022 European Geoscience Union General Assembly. K.G. is funded by the British Heart Foundation (PG/19/45/34419), The Medical Research Council (MR/V009540/1) and the The National Centre for the 3Rs and Industry (NC/T001747/1) and received funding for research by a US-based pharmaceutical company (Rocket Pharmaceuticals). The Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, has received an Accelerator Award by the British Heart Foundation (AA/18/2/34218). S.K. is funded by the Royal Society (INFR2212060), The Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2021-030; RPG-2017-377), Natural Environment Research Council (NE/X018830/1), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/X03626X/1; EP/X036472/1; EP/Y004027/1), NIHR (NIHR204871), GameChangers programme 347 and 471 and EU Horizon Europe (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-DN-01-01 PlasticUnderground) and is supported by the Birmingham Institute for Global Innovation. None of the funders had a role in the decision to publish or in the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK

    Katja Gehmlich

  2. Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine and British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence Oxford, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Katja Gehmlich

  3. School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK

    Stefan Krause

  4. Institute of Global Innovation, Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK

    Stefan Krause

  5. Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1 Claude Bernard, UMR 5023 LEHNA, Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex, France

    Stefan Krause

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  1. Katja Gehmlich
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Katja Gehmlich or Stefan Krause.

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Gehmlich, K., Krause, S. How we name academic prizes matters.
Nat Hum Behav (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01773-9

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  • Published: 21 November 2023

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01773-9

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