Purpose

Recent years have seen increased participation by women in Science and Technology activities, but parity with men remains a distant goal. This paper provides a framework for improving knowledge on the dynamics of women’s contributions to innovation, as measured through their contributions as inventors.

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis was conducted using data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database, covering over 40 years from 1976 to 2019. The study provides a breakdown of women’s inventiveness/innovation by technology area, which permits analysis of whether female inventors tend to work individually or as part of a team, as well as analysis of the effects of international networks.

Findings

Specific data have been analyzed around innovative activity by women in Spain, providing new insights on gender gaps. Key findings include those recent increases in inventions by women (as measured through patents) have occurred mostly via participation in internationally connected mixed-gender teams. Furthermore, the inventive creativity of women is found to be sector-biased and framed mainly in the chemical sector.

Originality/value

There are no similar contributions using USPTO data for Spanish inventions. This is an original paper that emphasizes the potential of collaborative networks as key driving mechanisms for the reduction of gender gaps and for the larger integration of women into innovation activities, with potential implications for stakeholders at both firm and governmental levels.

中文翻译：

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谁发明了什么？西班牙妇女参与专利活动

目的

近年来，女性更多地参与科技活动，但与男性平等仍然是一个遥远的目标。本文提供了一个框架，以提高对女性对创新贡献动态的了解，通过她们作为发明者的贡献来衡量。

设计/方法/方法

分析是使用美国专利商标局 (USPTO) 数据库中的数据进行的，数据涵盖 1976 年至 2019 年的 40 多年。该研究提供了按技术领域划分的女性创造力/创新细分，从而可以分析女性发明者是否倾向于单独或作为团队的一部分工作，以及分析国际网络的影响。

发现

围绕西班牙女性的创新活动分析了具体数据，为性别差距提供了新的见解。主要发现包括最近女性发明的增加（通过专利来衡量）主要是通过参与国际联系的混合性别团队来实现的。此外，女性的创造性创造力被认为是有部门偏见的，主要是在化学领域。

原创性/价值

使用美国专利商标局的数据对西班牙的发明没有类似的贡献。这是一篇原创论文，强调协作网络作为缩小性别差距和让女性更广泛地参与创新活动的关键驱动机制的潜力，对公司和政府层面的利益相关者具有潜在影响。