Of more than 900 Nobel Prize laureates, 866 have been men, while only 56 have been women. Only 16 Nobel prize winners have been Black.

Last month, Ms. had the opportunity to speak with one of these women: Dr. Andrea Ghez, who won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Physics. As only the fourth woman (all of them white) to win the award for physics, Ghez understands the Nobel also confers on recipients the responsibility of serving as an international role model for girls contemplating careers in science and for women scientists.