Addressing The Gender Gap Among Patent Holders Through Invention Education Policies
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Couch_Addressing Gender Gap.pdf
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292.04 KB
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Author(s)
Couch, Stephanie
Estabrooks, Leigh
Skukauskaite, Audra
Date Issued
January 6, 2018
Journal
Technology and Innovation
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
The gender gap among patent holders in the U.S. has been well documented. Some studies illuminating the need for greater diversity have included recommendations for new policies aimed at changing the differential ways men and women take up opportunities to develop as inventors and to obtain U.S. patents. However, limited studies are available to guide the design of programs and establishment of policies that reflect promising practices for teaching young women to invent and patent during their high school years. This article reports findings from the study of the Lemelson-MIT Program's 14-year-old high school InvenTeams initiative and related policy implications for increasing gender diversity among U.S. patent holders through invention education in high school. The initiative has engaged more than 2,200 high school students (34% female) in inventing, with seven of the 229 teams obtaining U.S. patents. The program's records, student surveys, and participant interviews serve as a foundation for the study. Our analyses of the interview transcripts examined what supported and constrained three young women's participation in the year-long, team-based invention process and how the InvenTeam experience influenced their ways of seeing themselves as leaders, inventors, and innovators. Factors that supported their work as inventors included the organization and processes of InvenTeams, various resources and people, and their own personal qualities, values, and beliefs. Factors that constrained their work included time, stereotypes, and lack of prior knowledge, exposure, understanding, and engagement.
Subjects
Invention education
Policy
Women inventors
Gender gap
High school
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.21300/19.4.2018.735
