Working Paper: NBER ID: w17888
Authors: Jennifer Hunt; Jean-Philippe Garant; Hannah Herman; David J. Munroe
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 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; closing it would increase U.S. GDP per capita by 2.7%.
Keywords: patenting; gender gap; innovation; science and engineering; economic growth
JEL Codes: J7; O31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Educational attainment in science and engineering degrees (I23) | Women's patenting rates (J16) |
| Differences in patenting rates among degree holders (O39) | Gender gap in commercialized patents (J16) |
| Underrepresentation in engineering and jobs involving development and design (O29) | Gender gap in patenting rates for women with science or engineering degrees (J16) |
| Closing the patenting shortfall of female holders of science and engineering degrees (I24) | Increase in GDP per capita (O49) |
| Job characteristics (M54) | Women's patenting rates (J16) |