The gender innovation and research productivity gap in Europe

Considering that the economic dimension of sustainable development relies on innovation, the under-representation of women in science and technology in the European Union is of special concern. Statistical analysis of patents shows that the low percentage of female researchers (an input indicator) within the EU Member St ates is accompanied by an even lower percentage of female inventors (an output indicator). We use a simple mathematical model to shed light on th e relationships betw een these findings. The model has one parameter which repres ents the working conditions, e.g., the distribution of resources by gender. Th e model allows an estimation of the development of the input-output gap as we ll as the research productivity gap if the share of female researchers is increased without adequate resources. In this case, a productivity loss for the economy is to be expected.