Who Receives Research Grants and Patents in America?
Research Grants
Research grants awarded to female Principal Investigators (PIs) = ~ 23%
Institutional recognition favors men.
According to Suzi Iacono, Head of the Office of Integrative Activities of the National Science Foundation (from the March 2017 Conference Reducing the Impact of Bias in the STEM Workforce), women PIs (Principal Investigators) submit approximately 20-25% of the proposals for research grants and awards. Of those submitted, the female grant seekers achieve a funding rate on par with the male grant seekers, and even a few points higher in some years (around 21-24% of proposals are eventually funded).
The gender gap in funding is significantly impacted by the big discrepancy in the percentage of awards sought by women. Researchers identify implicit bias and institutional bias as most probable causes, and suggest a myriad of institutional, policy and practical steps for mitigating this bias.
In April 2019, the New York Times reported on the gender gap in grants, labs and resources for promising female researchers, scientists and Principal Investigators in their article, ‘I Want What My Male Colleague Has, and That Will Cost a Few Million Dollars’ -- Women at the Salk Institute say they faced a culture of marginalization and hostility. The numbers from other elite scientific institutions suggest they’re not alone. The Times article notes the gender-discrimination lawsuit brought by three of the four women among the Salk Institute’s full professors. The article quotes National Academy and MIT scientist Dr. Nancy Hopkins:
Hopkins, who continues to spend much of her time speaking about gender equity, says she’s stunned to see how few women wield real influence in science. “I think it’s hard for us even to recognize how little power women have at the top, where the big money resides, where the real power resides,” she says.
Proposals submitted and funded by female Principal Investigators (PIs) = ~ 23%
Patents
US Patents Awarded to teams with at least one female inventor = 21%
US Patents Awarded to sole female or all-female teams of inventors = 4%
Total of all inventors awarded US Patents = 12%
Source: Progress and Potential: A profile of women inventors on U.S. patents
The “lost Einsteins”
The National Center for Women & Information Technology warns that only 13% of US computing patents had at least one female inventor. The US Patent and Trademark Office released a report (“Progress and Potential: A profile of women inventors on U.S. patents), in February 2019, profiling the overall picture of patent recipients. As of 2016, 21% of US patents overall include at least one female inventor. However, only 4% of issued patents go to inventors in which the sole inventor is a woman, or the inventors are an all-woman group.
The report clarifies that the “growth in women inventorship … is almost entirely due to women’s participation on gender-mixed teams.” The report identifies that woman “made up only 12% of all inventors on patents granted in 2016.”
Female leadership will be key to reversing this trend: While “gains in female participation in science and engineering occupations and entrepreneurship are not leading to broad increases in female patent inventors ... Women inventors are increasingly concentrated in specific technologies and types of patenting organizations, suggesting that women are specializing where female predecessors have patented rather than entering into male-dominated fields or firms.
In other words, filling the pipeline helps, but having women at the top makes the difference. The US Patent & Trademark Office “highlights the untapped potential of women to spur U.S. innovation. Women, like other under-represented groups, are among the ‘lost Einsteins’—people who may contribute valuable inventions had they been exposed to innovation and had greater access to the patent system.
John Van Reenan, one of the study’s co-authors, told CNN, "There are a lot of really talented girls who could've been inventors. We're losing out on a generation of Marie Curies."
CNN reported in March 2019 that “based on current growth, it will take 118 years before the US reaches gender parity among inventors.”
[See also: Why Do Women Inventors Win Fewer Patents? by Yale Insights, April 2018]
What will it take to get women in the Power Percentage of receiving 50% of Awards, Prizes and Recognitions in Science and Technology?