Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policies and Gender Equity

Abstract

Background. Gender inequality hinders economic growth by lowering the pool of potential talents for production, through distorted access of one gender to education, employment, entrepreneurship, and creation of innovation. Research on policies on entrepreneurship, innovation and gender is of great importance for deciding on the best policy mix to diminish losses of welfare due to gender inequality.Research aims. The aim of this paper is to examine how the policies towards innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe address the issue of gender equality. The question we put is whether entrepreneurship-targeting and innovation-targeting policies are gender-oriented, gender-neutral, or gender-indirect-discriminating.Methodology. Our focus is on the intersection of the areas of innovations, entrepreneurship, and gender. We analyse models of innovation systems: National Innovation Systems, Tripple Helix, and Quadruple Helix Models and discuss if they address gender equality in innovations.Key findings. We claim that a gender perspective is missing in policies towards innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovation policies in Europe target mostly male-dominated industries. The paper concludes that science-based policies on entrepreneurship and innovation should incorporate gender equality as their structural feature.

The profile of the innovative entrepreneur in Mexico

“…On the other hand, the literature tends to point out opposite results in the sense that there is no significant difference between gender in the pursuit of innovative new ventures (Cowden and Tang, 2017) or that men have a more general entrepreneurial attitude than the woman (Sastre-Castillo et al, 2015). This latter pattern is due to women's underrepresentation in productive and innovation activities; barriers in access to education, employment and entrepreneurship for women; and lack of gender perspective in policies towards innovation and entrepreneurship (Liberda and Zajkowska, 2017).…”

Teaching Entrepreneurship and Gender Based Assessment of Entrepreneurial Competences

“…The gender component is of great interest. Polish authors B. Liberd and O. Zaikovska [15] point out the lack of representation of the gender aspect in European policies regarding entrepreneurship. The research based on Hungarian material show that more young women tend to start their own business, as they more often encounter difficulties in finding a job [18].…”