Matilda effect facts for kids

The Matilda effect is a way of describing how the amazing work of women scientists sometimes gets forgotten or given to their male colleagues instead. This idea was first talked about by Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826–1898). She was a suffragist and abolitionist, meaning she fought for women's right to vote and for ending slavery. She wrote about this problem in her essay "Woman as Inventor" in 1870.

The actual name "Matilda effect" was created much later, in 1993, by a science historian named Margaret W. Rossiter. She showed many examples of this happening throughout history. For instance, Trotula, a woman doctor from the 12th century, wrote important medical books. But after she died, people started saying male authors wrote them.

Other women who experienced the Matilda effect include Nettie Stevens, Lise Meitner, Marietta Blau, Rosalind Franklin, and Jocelyn Bell Burnell.

The Matilda effect is a bit like the Matthew effect. The Matthew effect is when a very famous scientist gets more credit than a less known researcher, even if they did similar work.

What is the Matilda Effect?

The Matilda effect highlights a problem in science where women's discoveries and achievements are often overlooked or credited to men. This can happen for many reasons, like biases against women in science or simply because their work isn't recognized as much.

Famous Examples of the Matilda Effect

Many talented women scientists have faced the Matilda effect. Here are some of their stories:

Theano of Crotone (6th Century BCE)

Theano was an early philosopher who also worked in mathematics. However, much of her work was overshadowed by or given to Pythagoras. He was her husband, father, or teacher, depending on the historical source.

Trotula (12th Century)

Trotula was an Italian physician who wrote important medical books. After her death, her writings were often said to be by male authors. People even doubted if she ever existed because of how women were viewed as teachers and healers back then. At first, her work was credited to her husband and son. Later, her name was even confused with a man's name.

Jeanne Baret (18th Century)

Jeanne Baret was a French botanist. She was the first woman to travel all the way around the world! She worked with another botanist, Philibert Commerson. Jeanne joined an expedition disguised as a man. Together, they collected the first samples of the beautiful Bougainvillea plant. Sadly, most of their discoveries were only credited to Commerson.

Nettie Stevens (19th-20th Century)

Nettie Stevens discovered how sex is determined by chromosomes. She studied mealworms and found that an organism's sex is decided by its chromosomes, not by its environment. Her work was very important for understanding genetics. But often, Thomas Hunt Morgan, a well-known geneticist, is given most of the credit for this discovery.

Mary Whiton Calkins (19th-20th Century)

Mary Whiton Calkins was a psychologist at Harvard University. She found that things remembered with vivid experiences are easier to recall. She also learned that the longer you are exposed to something, the better you remember it. Other scientists, like G.E. Müller and E.B. Titchener, later used her findings without giving her any credit.

Gerty Cori (20th Century)

Gerty Cori was a biochemist who won a Nobel Prize. For many years, she worked as her husband's assistant, even though she had the same qualifications as him for a professor's job.

Rosalind Franklin (20th Century)

Rosalind Franklin played a very important part in discovering the structure of DNA in 1953. However, when Francis Crick and James Watson received the Nobel Prize for this discovery in 1962, her work was not properly credited. Later, Watson did write about how important her contribution was.

Marthe Gautier (20th-21st Century)

Marthe Gautier is now recognized for her key role in finding the chromosome problem that causes Down syndrome. Before, this discovery was only credited to Jérôme Lejeune.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell (20th Century)

In the late 1960s, Jocelyn Bell discovered the first radio pulsar. A pulsar is a special kind of star that sends out beams of radiation. In 1974, a Nobel Prize in Physics was given to her supervisor Antony Hewish and to Martin Ryle for this discovery. Jocelyn Bell, who was a Ph.D. student at the time, was not included. Many famous astronomers, like Fred Hoyle, felt she should have been recognized.

Learn More

• History of science
• History of technology
• Sociology of science
• Women in science
• Timeline of women in science