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682 SOHAR ET AL.

are they doing it, and what data are they col- transfer and commercialization affect women’s
lecting? Are they collecting this data by participation in patenting and start-ups? What
discipline? initiatives exist to intentionally raise aware-
b. What was the impetus for the pioneering ness of and to engage women in the technology
institutions to collect data? Who are they? transfer process?
What specific characteristics do these institu-
tions have in common? Promoting Women’s Involvement in Patenting
and Commercialization
Data Analysis to Identify Trends and/or Gender As Milli et al. (8) suggested, there is a need for
Bias additional tools and resources to better understand
Further, substantive data gathered by those insti- and measure female participation in the innovation
tutions should also be further analyzed to establish economy. This study is an initial analysis of such
the degree of involvement in the patenting and com- systems and tools, and it is hoped that — by raising
mercialization process by women and to assess the awareness on a national level — more data will be
variables that impact participation rates in innovation made available for institutions to utilize and create
based on gender. Areas for further research include: strategies and mechanisms to help address the issue of
gender disparity and increase the inclusion of women
a. At participating institutions, what percent of in the innovation lifecycle, particularly at the uni-
total disclosures/patents included women? versity disclosure and patenting level. If universities
What does that percent look like across the become more informed about their gender metrics
institutions that participated in the survey? in IP development, they can better address imbal-
b. Do institutions that track gender in relation to ances. Programs and outreach efforts can be targeted
patenting and commercialization also track to help improve metrics, and culture changes can be
gender in relation to research funding? Is there explored/addressed and opportunities provided. The
a correlation in the percentage of women with AUTM/WIC has ongoing initiatives to help address
research funding and the percentage of women these challenges and continue to grow the knowl-
involved in patenting and commercialization? edge base to provide strategies and resources. For
c. What is the entrepreneurial climate for institu- example, the WIC/MSC has begun the second phase
tions that are collecting data? What are indi- of the research outlined in this study: supplemental
cators for promoting entrepreneurship in questions specifically related to commercialization
faculty? What incentive structures are there for tracking by gender added to the 2016 AUTM survey.
faculty at these institutions? This data will be addressed in future investigations
d. Do institutional structures for technology as a follow-up to this research.

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