Rosalind Franklin, a British chemist and crystallographer, played a crucial role in determining the double helix structure of DNA. Henrietta Swan Leavitt, an American astronomer, discovered the relationship between the period and brightness of Cepheid variable stars, which later became essential for the precise measurement of astronomical distances. These are just a few examples of women whose contribution has been very important, but too often forgotten or minimized in the history of science.
In fact, many of them have only received recognition after several years or are still largely unknown to the general public. The reason why this happened has its origins in a systematic tendency towards the devaluation of women’s scientific achievements, defined Matilda effect.
The impact of these dynamics extends well beyond the individual, influencing gender perceptions, career aspirations and opportunities available to women. We talked about it with Valeria Fiorenza Perris, psychotherapist and clinical director of the Unobravo online psychology service.
What is the Matilda effect?
It is a phenomenon typical of the academic and scientific world, for which the discoveries, inventions and research carried out by a woman are ignored, belittled or even attributed to a man. Fu Margaret Rossiter, historian of science, to study it in depth and call it the “Matilda effect”. In his 1993 publication, “The Matthew Matilda Effect in Science”, illustrated how gender influenced the dissemination and recognition of research works, regardless of their scientific value. The effect is named after Matilda Joslyn Gagea 19th century women’s rights activist, who highlighted the lack of recognition of women’s contributions in history, thus underlining the historical importance and continuing relevance of this issue.
«Margaret Rossiter brought to light numerous cases of women scientists who were denied credit or who were made invisible. For example, by analyzing how many times articles written by women were cited in the works of other authors, she found that these citations were significantly lower than those of their male colleagues. It must be underlined that, in the academic field, being cited also reflects the success of the publication and is a fundamental fact to signal its success”, explains Valeria Fiorenza Perris.
The impact of gender stereotypes in the professional and academic world
«The concealment of the scientific merits and relevance that emerged thanks to the work of women, and also the attribution of all the main discoveries to men, has for centuries supported theories according to which women were not suited to the scientific field. A sort of developed dresser for which, in determined areas, women were destined never to stand out. From many points of view, including the economic one, there is still a tendency to give greater value to men’s work. These prejudices concern the scientific sector but also, more generally, the world of work».
«The feeling that one’s efforts and results will not be recognized or will even be attributed to other people can create a huge deterrent, even in an absolutely unconscious way. I believe there is one double loss: a personal for a woman who gives up her ambitions and another at the level social. In fact, the Matilda effect discourages women from making discoveries that are potentially beneficial to the entire community.”
The Matilda effect: how it can impact your self-confidence and future aspirations
«L’self-esteem it is built over time also thanks to our experiences, which are a milestone with respect to the image we build of ourselves. We know we can do it because in our minds we identify as capable and valuable people. As a result, for a sort of self-fulfilling prophecythe more we feel like this, the more we really become like this”, continues the psychotherapist.
«If the social and cultural context in which we are inserted hinders us, it creates a impediment both on a concrete and psychological level. Then, the people around us, our family and our friends also have a significant impact on giving us the idea of being anything we want. In the absence of these conditions, all the repeated failures, disappointments, vanished opportunities and missed opportunities will obviously leave us with a great sense of frustration, anger, sadness, but also of fear in taking on new challenges».
The importance of having figures to identify with
«Knowing that other women before us have managed to do it can give us further motivation. In this sense, it is as if history helps us. However, if it does not exist, it is clear that we must build it. That’s why another woman’s success isn’t just meaningful on a personal level. AND important for everyone have figures to identify withknowing that they have managed to overcome barriers such as the Matilda effect.”
«However, the fact remains that There is still a lot to do regarding gender equality, if we have to underline how much a woman’s success matters. We are not here to say, “Thank goodness this man made it, so he will be an example for other men.” This means that we are still far from the final goal.”
«What struck me about the Matilda effect stories is the dynamic they all have in common. That is, studies of a certain importance that led to absolutely revolutionary discoveries, which remained ignored by the scientific community until a man decided to take on the authorship. This, in my opinion, is the most serious thing. However, none of these women gave up. They gave the signal that maybe persistence can be truly transformative is that value cannot be denied for long. Without their commitment it would not have been possible to realize the unfairness with which the scientific system was moving forward.”
Matilda effect: overcoming stereotypes starts with education and awareness
«Until we know a dynamic, we will never be able to do anything to counter it. If we don’t delve deeper into the issues and remain on the surface, we will never have the tools to unhinge what’s wrong because, first of all, we don’t see it. We tend to look at reality with the own perspective which, by and large, it is very limited and subject to bias social, cultural and of many different natures. The issue is that we cannot ask a person who is not the object of prejudice if prejudice exists, because, otherwise, it is obvious that no one will ever see it.”
«We need to know the phenomena in their entiretyso long as awareness is empowering. To the casual eye, no one would have noticed the Matilda effect, since these stories were not known. Telling them allowed us to re-establish a historical truth, which goes beyond false myths and false beliefs. Starting from an awareness of more people, we can then talk about restructuring and rethinking systems too. Only in this way can they be done create the foundation for an opportunity for growth and change potentially positive for everyone. Ability, merit and commitment must always be recognized and encouraged, regardless of personal characteristics or prejudices of any kind”, concludes the expert.