Accelerating Inventorship: Improving the Representation of Women in Patenting

By ibmblogsJanuary 9, 2023

In recent decades, access to education for women and underrepresented minorities worldwide has improved – but gender gaps remain when it comes to representation of women in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

Recent studies have demonstrated that social and economic factors can systematically track girls and women away from STEM throughout their education, thus limiting their future access and opportunities.

Around the world, organizations are taking action to address this challenge. In 2015, The United Nations (UN) introduced 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, all focused on creating a better future for the world’s population. Goal 5 is focused on gender equality.

With just seven years remaining to fulfill the UN mandates, much work remains to be done in this area. The gender disparity gap is particularly stark in the tech industry, especially in the areas of patenting and inventorship.

IBM is taking steps to empower women in STEM

IBM believes we must ensure that women and girls have equal rights and educational opportunities for the benefit of society and the economy. As such, IBM is taking important steps to drive progress in closing the gender gap.

Earlier this year, IBM pledged to skill 30 million people worldwide by 2030 – particularly those from underrepresentated populations including women – with the technical skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow: things like cybersecurity, AI, quantum computing, and data analysis.

To drive progress on this commitment, IBM is continuing to invest in important programs to build a more diverse STEM workforce which includes greater female representation. For example, IBM SkillsBuild provides a free, digital program that prepares people for in-demand, entry level IT and non-IT roles in many industries.

While there are many aspects to providing women with access to STEM roles, one of the most important areas to tackle in this journey is in inventorship and patenting.

IBM Case Study: Removing roadblocks for women in patenting and inventorship

Patenting of IBM’s scientific and innovation significantly contributes to the global economy. Each year, IBM generates approximately $1 billion in income from the licensing and sale of intellectual property, and has been topping the US patent list for the last 29 years.

By promoting gender equality in STEM, IBM seeks to attain a new competitive edge in patenting and inventorship. Unfortunately, underrepresentation of women in STEM fields today means fewer women are charting a path to inventorship and patenting.

The question is, what steps can be taken to eliminate the negative factors that hinder women from achieving equality in this area?

To find out, IBM partnered with IVADO and their partner Makila-AI to analyze granted patents filed by IBM from a gender perspective. Using the power of machine learning, we conducted descriptive and predictive analysis to reveal unconscious bias in IBM patents and to map the extent to which these patenting activities include women.

The full details are described in a newly released IBM White Paper, where a notable finding was that female participation largely took place in mixed teams, while males largely favored homogeneous groups. Fortunately, the research also showed that this trend is slowly reversing in favour of mixed groups.

Gender equality in STEM is possible

With continued collaboration between governments, business, and academia, we can take action now to actively promote STEM careers for women, and reduce the cost and complexity of the patenting process.

Together, we can help women envision themselves as STEM researchers and inventors. You can read our 10 key recommendations here.