Communications of the ACM
Women's Participation in Information Technology Patenting, 2012 Update
Credit: NCWIT
The National Center for Women & Information Technology recently released its updated report on female information technology (IT) patenting, which examines how female participation in IT patenting has evolved over the past 30 years. The report found that from 1980-2010, 6.1 percent of all U.S.-invented patents were invented by female inventors. However, about 65 percent of all patents were produced by teams of one or two men during the same period, according to the report.
Although the total percentage of women participating in IT patents is still relatively low, it has been rising. Women held just 2 percent of all IT patents in 1980, but that percentage increased to 6 percent in 2005 and 8 percent in 2010, despite the fact that women's participation in IT occupations has fallen since the 1990s.
The report also notes that patenting patterns vary depending on the organization. For example, 20 percent to 30 percent of the patents produced by several companies named at least one female inventor, while for some companies less than 5 percent of their patents named a female inventor. The report suggests that individual organizational environments can influence female patenting patterns.
From National Center for Women & Information Technology
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Abstracts Copyright © 2012 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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