The Matilda Effect

We all know the major milestones of world history and the men who achieved them—how they shaped the world as we know it. But how many of us truly know the women who were there too? Women who stood beside these achievements yet were often ignored or erased from the narrative. The world needs to recognize these women, because otherwise the question persists: “Are there any women besides Marie Curie who have accomplished something significant?”

The Matilda Effect is one of the biggest biases in science and academia, where the contributions and achievements of women researchers are often overlooked or ignored by their male colleagues, who receive the credit themselves. This dismissal by male colleagues often leads to these women being erased from the historical record.. The term was coined by historian of science Margaret W. Rossiter in 1993 and is named after Matilda Josyln Gage, a 19th-century suffragist who first highlighted how women’s scientific accomplishments were frequently ignored or attributed to men. The Matilda Effect includes cases where women made significant discoveries or contributions, but the credit was given to male peers, supervisors, or spouses. This effect not only diminishes the visibility of women in STEM fields but also perpetuates gender inequality in science and academia. As a result, women do not receive proper recognition for their work, which can negatively impact their careers and distort the historical record of scientific progress.

I am going to talk about some of them in this text, and their stories.

Mileva Marić

Mileva Marić, Albert Einstein's first wife, is an important figure in the scientific world who has long been overlooked. While studying physics and mathematics at the Zurich Polytechnic School (now ETH Zurich), Mileva met Einstein, and they conducted scientific studies together. However, the details of this collaboration and Mileva's contributions are poorly documented historically, and some researchers have suggested that Mileva may have contributed to Einstein's 1905 special theory of relativity and other important papers. For example, Einstein's use of the phrase “we have successfully completed our joint work” in a 1901 letter has been cited as evidence for the existence of this collaboration, but these claims have not been conclusively proven and are controversial among historians. Some sources state that Mileva's contributions were more of a supporting role and that most of the scientific content belonged to Einstein. Mileva’s scientific career was shaped by personal difficulties and social obstacles. As one of the first women admitted to the Zurich Polytechnic School, she achieved great success in the male-dominated academic environment of the time. However, roles such as marriage and motherhood had a negative impact on her scientific career and her contributions were often overlooked. In conclusion, although Mileva Marić's scientific contributions are not fully documented, her role and influence in the world of science is an important example of the “Matilda Effect”. 

The contributions of female scientists are often overlooked or attributed to their male colleagues, which has been a common occurrence throughout history. Mileva's story reflects this type of injustice and lack of recognition. 

Esther Lederberg 

In the annals of molecular biology, some names shine brightly while others remain in the shadows, despite equal or even greater contributions. Esther Lederberg is one such figure. A brilliant microbiologist and geneticist, she transformed the field of bacterial genetics but long remained known primarily as the wife of Nobel laureate Joshua Lederberg.

Born in 1922 in New York, Esther pursued chemistry during the turbulent war years and then turned to microbiology. She married Joshua Lederberg in 1946, forging both a personal and scientific partnership. Yet the credit for many joint discoveries often fell to her husband alone.

Esther discovered the lambda bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria, which became a fundamental tool for understanding bacterial genetics. She also developed “replica plating,” a method to track mutations and antibiotic resistance with unprecedented precision. This technique revolutionized microbiology and is still a cornerstone in laboratories worldwide.

However, when Joshua Lederberg received the Nobel Prize in 1958, Esther’s name was absent. The award recognized his achievements but neglected her crucial contributions. In scientific literature, she was often relegated to “assistant” or “supporting collaborator,” despite her independent innovations.

Her exclusion extended beyond awards. During her tenure at Stanford University in the 1970s, Esther faced open gender discrimination. Nonetheless, she founded the Plasmid Reference Center, an essential resource for geneticists worldwide, securing her legacy behind the scenes.

Esther Lederberg’s story exemplifies the Matilda Effect’s quiet injustice: a woman whose scientific brilliance shaped modern genetics, yet whose name remained largely unspoken outside specialized circles.

Nettie Stevens 

Nettie Maria Stevens was a pioneering American geneticist whose work at the turn of the 20th century elucidated one of biology’s fundamental questions: how is gender determined?

At a time when the mechanisms of heredity were still mysterious, Stevens focused her research on the mealworm beetle. Through painstaking microscopy, she discovered that male sperm cells contained two different kinds of chromosomes — X and Y — while female eggs carried only the X chromosome. This finding revealed that the father’s sperm, not the mother’s egg, determined the offspring’s sex.

Despite her groundbreaking work, Stevens’ discovery was overshadowed by her male contemporaries. Thomas Hunt Morgan, who later won the Nobel Prize, was widely credited for discoveries about sex chromosomes, while Stevens’ name was largely forgotten for decades.

Stevens began her scientific career later than most, earning her degree in her mid-thirties, yet she published 38 scientific papers before her untimely death at 51. Her rigorous approach laid the groundwork for modern genetics, even if recognition eluded her in life.

Lise Meitner 

Lise Meitner, an Austrian physicist, played a crucial role in discovering nuclear fission, the process that underpins both nuclear energy and atomic bombs.

Working alongside chemist Otto Hahn, Meitner helped uncover that bombarding uranium atoms with neutrons caused the nucleus to split. Yet, when the Nobel Prize was awarded for this discovery, only Hahn received it. Meitner’s theoretical explanation of the process was ignored, a glaring omission from scientific history.

Forced to flee Nazi Germany because of her Jewish heritage, Meitner continued her work in Sweden, corresponding with colleagues to elucidate the mechanism of fission. Despite the upheaval and exile, she made groundbreaking contributions that shaped 20th-century physics.

Her exclusion from the Nobel honor is a stark example of the gender and political biases of her era. Today, Meitner’s legacy is recognized as foundational to nuclear physics.

Ada Lovelace 

Ada Lovelace, daughter of the poet Lord Byron, is often hailed as the world’s first computer programmer. In the 19th century, when the idea of a computer was unfathomable, she grasped the potential of Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.

Lovelace wrote detailed notes describing how the machine could be programmed to perform calculations, generate music, and even create graphics — visions that extended beyond mere number crunching. Her foresight into computer science was unprecedented.

Despite her profound insights, Lovelace’s work was not recognized in her lifetime. The social constraints of the Victorian era and the novelty of the field kept her contributions in obscurity for over a century.

Her legacy today underscores how visionary women’s work can be ignored or forgotten due to societal biases.

Alice Ball 

Alice Augusta Ball’s story is one of brilliance and tragedy intertwined. Born in 1892 in Seattle, Washington, Ball was a pioneering African American chemist at a time when both racial and gender discrimination severely limited opportunities for women like her.

Her most notable contribution was the development of the “Ball Method,” the first effective injectable treatment for leprosy (Hansen’s disease). Before Ball’s work, the use of chaulmoogra oil—derived from the seeds of a tropical tree—was the only treatment, but it was painful and ineffective due to its inability to dissolve in water and be absorbed properly by patients.

At the University of Hawaii, Ball isolated and chemically modified the active ingredients to create a water-soluble injectable form, revolutionizing leprosy treatment worldwide. This breakthrough improved countless lives and was the medical standard for decades. That quote from the University of Hawai’i's tribute:

“Alice Ball was a woman far ahead of her time, doing advanced chemical research as a Black woman in a white man’s field.”

Tragically, Ball died at just 24, only months after publishing her results. For years, her work was mistakenly attributed to her supervisor, Arthur L. Dean. It was only much later that historians uncovered her critical role, and she received posthumous recognition.

Alice Ball’s legacy now stands as a testament to how talent and dedication can transcend adversity yet also highlights how societal biases can obscure deserving contributions.

Maria Anna Mozart 

Maria Anna Mozart, often affectionately called “Nannerl” by family and friends, was born in 1751 into a musically gifted family in Salzburg, Austria. As the elder sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, she was not only his sibling but his first music teacher, companion, and partner in childhood performances that captivated European aristocracy.

From an early age, Nannerl demonstrated extraordinary talent. She was praised by nobles and audiences alike for her virtuosic piano performances and musical compositions. Her father Leopold Mozart, himself a renowned composer and pedagogue, invested heavily in nurturing her talent. The young siblings toured Europe together, dazzling courts in Vienna, Paris, and Munich.

However, despite her prodigious abilities, Maria Anna's career was dramatically constrained by the rigid gender norms of 18th-century Europe. As she reached marriageable age, societal expectations demanded she retreat from public life and embrace domesticity. Unlike her brother, whose genius was celebrated and promoted, Nannerl’s compositions were rarely published, and her public performances ceased.

The gendered limitations of her time meant that much of her potential as a composer and performer was lost to history. While Wolfgang’s legacy soared, Maria Anna’s was consigned to the margins. She lived out her later years away from the spotlight, dedicating herself to family and private music-making.

Modern scholarship has begun to reclaim her place, recognizing that Maria Anna Mozart was not merely the sister of a genius but a gifted musician in her own right whose story reflects the countless women artists silenced by history. That is precisely the purpose of this article: to bring her back to the stage. Under her own name. With her own voice. With her own applause. Especially with her own lost notes.

As I come to the end of my writing, throughout history, countless women have stood in the shadows of their male counterparts, their groundbreaking contributions to science, art, and culture overlooked, minimized, or outright erased. These women—brilliant minds and pioneers in their own right—shaped not only the eras in which they lived but also laid the foundation for the progress we benefit from today. Their stories serve as a powerful reminder that the true measure of achievement lies not in who claims the credit first, but in the lasting impact of their work, regardless of gender. Recognizing and honoring these forgotten voices is not just an act of justice; it is essential to rewriting history in a way that celebrates all its architects. I have only mentioned a few of these women, yet even the number we know of is already vast As we bring their legacies into the light, we challenge the biases that have long obscured women’s accomplishments and inspire future generations to break barriers without fear of erasure. Because true progress demands that brilliance be acknowledged wherever it shines, and equality be the standard, not the exception.

History is not a complete story. Each generation adds a new paragraph to that story. Let us write this story with everyone's voice.