Gender

Spin Out report

Women's involvement in technology transfer activities from physics and engineering departments within UK universities

The spinning-out of university-based scientific innovation to businesses represents a significant option for creating wealth from the commercialisation of research. This has formed a crucial part of Government industrial and innovation policy over the last decade. However, as with many areas of science and technology, women are under-represented in technology transfer activities.

General barriers to female entrepreneurship identified in the Government action plan for small business may not apply to women in academia. Rather, women with a SET background could experience particular barriers, different from those that other women face, because they are very much under-represented in these disciplines, particularly at senior levels. Therefore, there may well be unique challenges faced by women in academic SET with regard to their participation in enterprise development through technology transfer activities.

The Institute of Physics commissioned a pilot study to explore the extent of women's involvement in science and technology transfer activities from Physics-related and Engineering departments within UK universities. The report contains the findings of a pilot study that focused on the gaps in knowledge regarding the engagement of women in technology transfer, and examines whether gender is an issue in an attempt to get a more rounded view of why scientists might engage in technology transfer activities at all. The outcomes should be of interest to policy makers, academics, enterprise educators and those concerned with promoting the involvement of women in science, engineering and technology.

The study was conducted by Professor Elizabeth Chell, Mine Karatas-Ozkan, Dr Rosie Read and Laura Wilson.

To obtain an abridged version of the report, email the Diversity Team

^ To the top ^