(WOMENSENEWS)–No women received Nobel prizes this week when the 2002 winners were presented with their awards in Sweden and Norway.
Nine Swedish women writers and academics issued a public criticism of the Nobel prizes on Tuesday, calling them “sexist,” according to an article in the tabloid Aftonbladet and an Associated Press report.
The 13 Nobel winners–who were recognized for their work in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, economics and peace–were all men. Since the awards were instituted in 1901, 3 percent of the prizes have been awarded to women, according to the nine critics.
“But next year we will rejoice with the rest of the world. If all Nobel Prize winners this year are men ‘by chance,’ next year we may have only female prize winners, also ‘just by chance’. We are looking forward to that,” the women wrote in the Aftonbladet article.
