Thara Caba – IAPS

The journey to becoming a Nobel laureate is often seen as the pinnacle of success in the sciences. However, behind these prestigious achievements lies a story of unequal access to opportunity, which affects who gets to reach such heights. The article “Access to Opportunity in the Sciences: Evidence from the Nobel Laureates” by Paul Novosad, Sam Asher, Catriona Farquharson, and Eni Iljazi sheds light on how socioeconomic background influences who becomes a Nobel laureate, revealing a landscape of challenges and slow progress towards equal access.

The study dives into the childhood socioeconomic status (SES) of Nobel laureates, focusing on the period from 1901 to 2023. It finds that most laureates come from elite backgrounds, with an average father’s income at the 87th percentile and education at the 90th percentile. The data paints a picture where around 50-60% of laureates hail from the top 5% of households, emphasizing how socioeconomic status can act as a gatekeeper to opportunities in science.

The analysis shows that the range of socioeconomic backgrounds among Nobel laureates has expanded over the last century. In 1900, laureates were largely from families at the 92nd income percentile, whereas today’s laureates come from families closer to the 85th percentile. While this shift suggests progress, the study notes that the pace is slow—it could take centuries before the backgrounds of Nobel winners align with the general population.

Gender Disparities: A Steeper Climb for Women

The study highlights that female Nobel laureates tend to come from even more elite families than their male counterparts. On average, female winners come from families at the 91st income percentile, compared to the 87th for men. This suggests that, despite progress, women still face additional barriers to success in science that require higher levels of family support to overcome.

Geographic Inequalities: The Role of Place

One of the study’s most striking findings is the role of geography in shaping opportunities. U.S.-born laureates, for example, come from slightly less elite backgrounds compared to those born in Europe, suggesting a more equal access to opportunity within the United States. The study also explores how cities with greater intergenerational mobility—places where children have better chances of surpassing their parents’ socioeconomic status—tend to produce more Nobel laureates.

The study correlates regions with high upward mobility (where children from low-income families have better opportunities to succeed) with a higher production of Nobel laureates. Surprisingly, regions where high-income status is less stable (meaning children from wealthy families might not maintain their status) also produce more Nobel laureates. This suggests that regions with more dynamic economic mobility might foster a better environment for scientific talent to thrive, regardless of background.

Perhaps the most concerning finding is the global disparity in scientific opportunity. When comparing the SES of Nobel laureates from different countries, the study finds that the average global income rank of a laureate’s family remains around the 95th percentile. This figure has barely changed over the past 120 years, indicating that while some regions have improved access, global inequality in scientific opportunity persists.

Conclusion: A Call to Action

The study by Novosad and his colleagues offers a sobering reminder of the many untapped talents around the world who could contribute to scientific progress. As the researchers suggest, expanding access to scientific opportunities could not only lead to a fairer system but also accelerate human progress by harnessing a broader range of talent. Addressing these inequalities is essential, not just for the sake of fairness, but for the continued advancement of science.

BobbyBroccoli didn’t start his YouTube journey intending to become the go-to source for scientific controversies. In fact, his early videos focused on something entirely different: video game design. Like many YouTubers, his channel evolved over time as his interests changed, eventually leading him to where he is today—a content creator with a passion for unpacking the most bizarre and shocking stories in the world of science.

The Early Days: From Comics to Video Games

BobbyBroccoli’s channel began in his early teenage years, serving as a platform to promote his comic strip. It wasn’t until high school that he shifted his focus to video game design content, inspired by the types of videos he consumed at the time. “I gave that a shot for a few years,” he recalls, but the audience engagement didn’t quite match the effort he was putting in.

Everything changed when BobbyBroccoli started his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics. Gradually, he began integrating scientific topics into his content. His early science-related videos, covering topics like Bill Nye the Science Guy and the technology behind the Nintendo 3DS screen, were just the beginning of a more focused approach. It wasn’t until his time in graduate school, however, that BobbyBroccoli found his true niche: scientific controversies.

Discovering the Power of Controversy

The shift toward covering controversies was sparked by a lecture where he heard the story of Jan Hendrik Schön, a physicist whose work had been widely celebrated before he was exposed as a fraud. “I looked around and realized no one had done a video on him,” BobbyBroccoli says. That realization led him to create his first series on a scientific controversy—an academic true-crime story that would lay the foundation for his future success. The series was well-received (the first video currently has 3 million views), and BobbyBroccoli’s channel gained momentum, eventually attracting a large following.

But the real breakthrough came when BobbyBroccoli tackled the story of the Bogdanoff twins and their questionable PhD theses. Part 2 was released just months before the twins passed away, BobbyBroccoli’s video went viral, propelling his channel past 100,000 subscribers in the summer of 2022. “In a morbid way, I owe my current success to them,” he reflects.

Blending Science and Storytelling

BobbyBroccoli’s videos, whether it’s Schön’s fraudulent research or the rise and fall of the Canadian tech giant Nortel, focus on the human element of science.

“A three-hour science documentary has to reel people in,” he explains. “In between those salacious ‘true crime’ elements, you can teach an audience about the mundane parts of physics.” For example, while covering Victor Ninov, who faked a discovery related to the periodic table, BobbyBroccoli had to frame the story within the larger context of Cold War-era lab rivalries to make it compelling.

The Role of Innovation in YouTube Content Creation

BobbyBroccoli credits much of his style to Jon Bois, a sports writer and filmmaker who inspired him to use tools like Google Earth to create engaging animations. For BobbyBroccoli, the challenge was turning a subject with limited visual material—such as Jan Hendrik Schön’s research—into something dynamic. “If Jon Bois can make me interested in sports, surely I could do the same for academic true crime,” he jokes.

BobbyBroccoli has since developed his own style, incorporating the 3D modeling software Blender and experimenting with new animation techniques for each project. He has also made tutorials to help others dive into the technical side of animation, though his advice to aspiring creators is simple: “Get a cheap microphone, a free video editor, and write something. Your first project won’t be amazing, but you need to do it at least once to figure out what you’re doing.”

Tackling Big Topics and Keeping It Engaging

For BobbyBroccoli, selecting topics is one of the most time-consuming parts of the creative process. Every topic represents months of research and production, so it has to be something that not only interests him but also captivates his audience. Some stories, like that of Jan Hendrik Schön, are obvious winners. Others, like Victor Ninov’s, require more creative framing to hook viewers. But BobbyBroccoli believes the investment is worth it because, at the end of the day, people love stories about interesting characters in science.

The Dark Side of Science

One of the things that continually surprises BobbyBroccoli is how far people will go to cover up scientific misconduct. His series on Hwang Woo Suk, a South Korean scientist who fabricated stem cell research data, highlighted just how deeply political and ethical issues can become intertwined in the world of science. “The breach of bioethics was appalling,” BobbyBroccoli recalls, particularly noting how authority figures defended Hwang even after the truth came to light.

BobbyBroccoli also reflects on how quickly misinformation can spread and how science can capture public imagination—whether for good or bad. His recent documentary on Cold Fusion revealed the massive scale of media attention it received, with headlines and TV segments covering it almost daily. “I expect we will never see anything quite like it again,” he says, noting how rapidly the internet now debunks shaky science.

Looking Forward

As his channel continues to grow, BobbyBroccoli remains committed to tackling new scientific controversies and finding creative ways to make them accessible to his audience. “It’s ultimately about people doing science,” he says, emphasizing that the human stories are what keep viewers coming back. With each new project, BobbyBroccoli continues to explore the boundary between science and storytelling, and there’s no doubt his audience will be along for the ride.

Subscribe to BobbyBroccoli’s channel here. Recommend to us other science communicators you’d be interested in learning about at jiaps@iaps.info.