Current and former SSN grants and projects

For the past two decades, successive Australian governments have sought to increase the participation of women in STEM-related fields. One reason for this is the advancement of social equality; another reason is the popular theory that STEM-based- innovation is and will be a primary driver of future economic growth. Rigorous intellectual property law (particularly patent law), supports this strategy by facilitating the commercialisation of innovative ideas. A patent provides the inventor(s) with an opportunity to monetise their work, and (in exchange) the technology disclosed can be used by the public to further scientific progress. One measure of female participation in STEM, is participation as an inventor in the patents system. There is some evidence that Australian patent applications with female inventors have increased over the last 30 years. However, while applications have increased, it is unclear whether women are as successful as men in having their patent application proceed to grant. This project seeks to discover whether women receive less favourable outcomes than men when applying for an Australian patent. It aims to attach a probable gender (female, male or unclear) to Australian patent applications filed between 2000 and 2014. This project will examine whether gender is related to a range of outcomes including rates of rejection, claim revision, citation rates and field of technology.

The Team: Dr Vicki Huang (lead CI, pictured), Dr Sue Finch

A collaboration between Business & Law and Statistics