Why are women underrepresented amongst patentees?

Jennifer Hunt, Jean-Philippe Garant, Hannah Herman and David J. Munroe

Research Policy, 2013, vol. 42, issue 4, 831-843

Abstract: We investigate women's underrepresentation among holders of commercialized patents: only 5.5% of holders of such patents are female. Using the National Survey of College Graduates 2003, we find only 7% of the gap in patenting rates is accounted for by women's lower probability of holding any science or engineering degree, because women with such a degree are scarcely more likely to patent than women without. Differences among those without a science or engineering degree account for 15%, while 78% is accounted for by differences among those with a science or engineering degree. For the latter group, we find that women's underrepresentation in engineering and in jobs involving development and design explain much of the gap.

Keywords: Innovation; Patenting; Women; Science and engineering workforce (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (35)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:respol:v:42:y:2013:i:4:p:831-843

DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2012.11.004

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