Illustration of the Matilda effect with men laughing at a scientist

The Matilda Effect

The Matilda effect highlights how women scientists, often underrepresented or invisibilized, struggle to receive the recognition they deserve. Through this page, discover the stories of these forgotten researchers and understand why their contributions are finally coming into the light they merit.

Drawing of women scientists
Portraits of pioneering women, symbols of science

What is the Matilda Effect?

The Matilda effect is named after Matilda Joslyn Gage, an American 19th-century activist who already denounced injustices against women in scientific recognition. The term was popularized by historian Margaret W. Rossiter in the 1990s to describe the systematic tendency to minimize or ignore women's scientific contributions in favor of their male counterparts.

Photo of Matilda Joslyn Gage
Portrait of Matilda Joslyn Gage

It manifests when works and discoveries by women are wrongly attributed to male colleagues, or when their contributions are simply forgotten in historical accounts and academic citations. This invisibilization can take several forms: lack of credit in publications, exclusion from awards or distinctions, or lack of public and media awareness.

Drawing of a woman scientist passing by a man holding science in his hands
Illustration of women scientists in the laboratory

The Matilda effect reinforces sexist stereotypes and limits the visibility of female role models in science, hindering equal opportunities and inspiration for future generations. Understanding and denouncing this effect is an essential step to restore a fairer and more inclusive history of science, fully valuing women's contributions.

Matilda Timeline

Alice Ball

1892 - 1916

First African-American woman chemist, she developed a revolutionary leprosy treatment, the "Ball method."

Mary Whiton Calkins

1863 - 1930

American psychologist and philosopher, first APA president, denied a PhD because of her gender.

Lucia Moholy

1894 - 1989

Hungarian photographer and documentalist, she documented the Bauhaus and contributed to spreading modernist works.

Mary Jackson

1921 - 2005

NASA engineer and mathematician, she broke racial and gender barriers in aerospace.

Dorothy Vaughan

1910 - 2008

African-American mathematician, NASA computing pioneer and mentor to other Black women.

Daisy Dussouix

1936 - 2014

Swiss biochemist recognized for fundamental discoveries on DNA's role in heredity.

Marthe Gautier

1925 - 2022

French physician and researcher, co-discoverer of the link between trisomy 21 and a chromosomal anomaly.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell

1943 - ?

British astrophysicist, she discovered pulsars, celestial objects of capital importance in modern astronomy.