Faculty as Catalysts for Training New Inventors: Differential Outcomes for Male and Female PhD Students

Mercedes Delgado, Fiona E. Murray

Publikation: KonferencebidragPaperForskningpeer review

Abstract

STEM PhDs are a critical source of human capital in the innovation economy. We examine whether STEM PhDs engage in patenting as students, becoming new inventors (file their first patent) during doctoral training at leading U.S. universities. Overall, we find that 4% of STEM PhDs become new inventors while training. However, for advisees of faculty who are themselves top (prolific) inventors, this rises to 23%. Indeed, top inventor faculty train over 45% of new inventor PhDs by co-patenting with their advisees. Given concerns over gender inclusion, we also explore whether new inventors are equally distributed by gender. We find that in our sample, the share of female new inventors in patents is 9 percentage points lower than the share of female STEM PhDs. Various mechanisms explain this gap. First, female PhDs are less likely to be trained by top inventor faculty advisors than male PhDs (and more likely to be trained by the smaller number of female top inventors). Second, female PhDs (with either top inventor or other faculty advisors) have a lower probability of becoming a new inventor relative to male counterparts. Importantly, we find that male and female top inventors have similar rates of transforming their female advisees into new inventors at about 8 percentage points lower than for male advisees.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
Publikationsdato2022
Antal sider38
StatusUdgivet - 2022
BegivenhedDRUID22 Conference - Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Danmark
Varighed: 13 jun. 202215 jun. 2022
Konferencens nummer: 43
https://conference.druid.dk/Druid/index.xhtml?confId=64

Konference

KonferenceDRUID22 Conference
Nummer43
LokationCopenhagen Business School
Land/OmrådeDanmark
ByFrederiksberg
Periode13/06/202215/06/2022
Internetadresse

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