Examining Gender Imbalance in Chemistry Authorship.

Despite decades of progress toward a more equitable society, gender representation in the sciences continues to be heavily skewed toward men. We were interested in gender representation in chemistry through the lens of scientific publishing. Publications are a central academic currency and are critical for funding, recruiting, and promotion in academia. Here we report the results of an analysis that compared the percentage of female first and last authors across 10 chemistry, 3 chemical biology, and 3 general journals from 2005 to 2020. We show that women are substantially underrepresented in chemistry authorship even when compared with their relative populations in academia and are not predicted to achieve parity within the next 50 years at the current rate in any journal. Our findings highlight the need for changes to the publishing process to achieve a more equitable publishing environment.

The Mutation of the "Nobel Prize in Chemistry" into the "Nobel Prize in Chemistry or Life Sciences": Several Decades of Transparent and Opaque Evidence of Change within the Nobel Prize Program.

Over the past several decades, the Nobel Prize program has slowly but steadily been modified in both transparent and opaque ways. A transparent change has been the creation of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. An opaque change has been the mutation of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry into what is effectively the "Nobel Prize in Chemistry or Life Sciences." This paper presents a detailed study of this opaque change, including evidence that the disciplines of chemistry and biochemistry cover, today, intellectually quite distinct and generally scientifically-unrelated intellectual territory. This paper supports the evolution of the Nobel Prizes, and encourages the Nobel Prize program to move from opaque to transparent change processes for the next generations of achievement in the sciences.

The Chemical Sciences and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.

There has been mounting concern over the absence of gender equality in the sciences in recent years. This has been accompanied by a broadening of the perspective, in order to address issues of equality, diversity and inclusion, relating to a wide range of circumstances in which individuals suffer discrimination. While some progress has been made in some countries, nationally or at the level of institutions, much more needs to be done. The chemical sciences can play a leading role in addressing biases, through 1) becoming a model of good systemic practice in policies, processes, and actions; 2) developing practical skills through training in cultural competence; and 3) promoting a stronger evidence base to uncover both the extent of problems and the degree to which approaches to improve equality, diversity, and inclusion are working.