Title page
Contents
Executive summary 4
1. Introduction 6
2. Data and Methodology 7
2.1. Data 7
2.2. Selected metrics 9
3. Findings 11
3.1. A global perspective on the gender gap 11
3.2. Gender gaps across regions, sectors and industries 14
3.3. Gender composition of inventors' teams 28
4. Conclusion 35
References 36
Appendix 39
Table 1. Ranking of the top 20 academic applicants 27
Table 2. Ranking of the top 20 company applicants 29
Table 3. Percentage points change of the share of patents by team composition and continent between 2001-2005 and 2016-2020 32
Table 4. Summary statistics on size of teams by gender composition over time 34
Figure 1. Three indicators of women contribution to patenting 12
Figure 2. Forecast of the year of gender parity in patenting worldwide 13
Figure 3. Predicted year of gender parity in patenting for each region using the pace of the last 5 years 15
Figure 4. Women inventor rate (WIR) by region and time periods 16
Figure 5. Women inventor rate by sub-region and period 17
Figure 6. Women inventor rate (WIR) in the top patenting countries, by region (2016-2020) 20
Figure 7. Women inventor rate (WIR) in each industry (2016-2020) 21
Figure 8. Ranking of technology classes according to WIR, by region (2016-2020) 23
Figure 9. Inclusivity index (based on WIR) in the top patenting countries by region (2016-2020) 24
Figure 10. Women inventor rate (WIR) by sector over time 25
Figure 11. Share of patents by gender groups over time 30
Figure 12. Share of patents by inventor's gender composition over time 31
Figure 13. Share of patents from mixed gender teams by applicant's sector over time 34
Figure 14. Share of patents from lone women inventors or women-only teams by applicant's sector over time 35
Table A1. Growth rate of the share of patents by team composition and continent between 2001-2005 and 2016-2020 41
Table A2. Ranking of the top 5 academic applicants per continent 51
Table A3. Ranking of the top 5 company applicants per continent 52
Figure A1. Decision tree for selecting the data source to assign gender 39
Figure A2. Share of patents with women (ATL) as inventors by region and time periods 40
Figure A3. Women's share of patenting (WSP) by region and time periods 40
Figure A4. Share of patents with women as inventors (ATL) by sub-region and period 42
Figure A5. Women's share of patenting (WSP) by sub-region and period 44
Figure A6. Women's share of patents (WSP) in the top patenting countries by region (2016-2020) 46
Figure A7. Share of patents with women as inventors (ATL) in the top patenting countries by region (2016-2020) 46
Figure A8. Share of patents with women inventors (ATL) in each industry (2016-2020) 47
Figure A9. Women's share of patenting (WSP) in each industry (2016-2020) 48
Figure A10. Inclusivity index (based on ATL) in the top patenting countries by region (2016-2020) 49
Figure A11. Inclusivity index (based on WSP) in the top patenting countries by region (2016-2020) 49
Figure A12. Share of patents with women as inventors (ATL) by sector over time 50
Figure A13. Women's share of patents (WSP) by sector over time 50
Figure A14. Three indicators of women contribution to patenting in Africa 53
Figure A15. Three indicators of women contribution to patenting in Asia 53
Figure A16. Three indicators of women contribution to patenting in Europe 54
Figure A17. Three indicators of women contribution to patenting in Latin America and the Caribbean 54
Figure A18. Three indicators of women contribution to patenting in Northern America 55
Figure A19. Three indicators of women contribution to patenting in Oceania 55
Figure A20. Women inventor rate (WIR) in each industry in Africa (2016-2020) 56
Figure A21. Women inventor rate (WIR) in each industry in Asia (2016-2020) 57
Figure A22. Women inventor rate (WIR) in each industry in Europe (2016-2020) 58
Figure A23. Women inventor rate (WIR) in each industry in Latin America and the Caribbean (2016-2020) 59
Figure A24. Women inventor rate (WIR) in each industry in Northern America (2016-2020) 60
Figure A25. Women inventor rate (WIR) in each industry in Oceania (2016-2020) 61
Figure A26. Women inventor rate (WIR) in Africa, by sector and over time 62
Figure A27. Women inventor rate (WIR) in Asia, by sector and over time 62
Figure A28. Women inventor rate (WIR) in Europe, by sector and over time 63
Figure A29. Women inventor rate (WIR) in Latin America and the Caribbean, by sector and over time 63
Figure A30. Women inventor rate (WIR) in Northern America, by sector and over time 64
Figure A31. Women inventor rate (WIR) in Oceania, by sector and over time 64
Figure A32. Share of patents by inventor's gender composition over time in Asia 65
Figure A33. Share of patents by inventor's gender composition over time in Africa 65
Figure A34. Share of patents by inventor's gender composition over time in Europe 66
Figure A35. Share of patents by inventor's gender composition over time in Latin America and the Caribbean 66
Figure A36. Share of patents by inventor's gender composition over time in Northern America 67
Figure A37. Share of patents by inventor's gender composition over time in Oceania 67