GenderGapsInnovation · Gender Gaps in Innovation: From Entrepreneurship to Academic Science

Innovation is widely recognized as a key driver of economic growth. However, large gender disparities persist in crucial components of the innovation ecosystem: entrepreneurship and academic science. In the EU, for instance, women represent only 34% of entrepreneurs. Globally, female-owned businesses tend to be smaller, less profitable, and face challenges raising external funding. This disparity also extends to academic innovation, where women remain underrepresented and are less likely to receive credit for their research. Moreover, critical research areas, such as health issues that predominantly affect women, remain under-studied. Given the implications for economic growth and societal wellbeing, the overarching goal of this research is to understand the determinants of the gender gaps in entrepreneurship and science as well as their consequences for innovation.To address these knowledge gaps, during my MSCA fellowship at Tilburg University, my research objectives will (1) explore potential determinants of the gender gap in entrepreneurship; (2) investigate interventions and policies that can address these gaps; and (3) understand the consequences of the lack of gender diversity in innovative activities, especially in academic science, on the production of ideas and how ideas by women are perceived. To achieve these objectives, I will conduct three interconnected studies. In the first study, I will use Dutch microdata to assess the role of motherhood and the impacts of maternity leave policies on female-owned businesses. Second, I build upon an experiment in Ghana to evaluate how access to online networking can close the gender gap in business performance. Finally, I will investigate how increasing gender diversity at universities can impact research topics and the recognition of female-authored work. Together, these investigations delve into gender disparities in entrepreneurship and refine our understanding of how diversity fosters innovation.