What is inclusive innovation?

inclusive innovation (noun)

The expansion of participation in the innovation economy to underrepresented groups and those outside traditional centers of business development.

Innovation in the United States is unevenly distributed, both geographically and demographically.

Work by MIT Sloan associate dean of innovation Fiona Murray and Copenhagen Business School’s Mercedes Delgado shows that more than half of patents granted from 2016 to 2020 came from the top 10 patenting areas in the U.S. — places like Silicon Valley and Greater Boston.

And, even as more women earn PhDs in STEM fields, they remain underrepresented in the innovation economy — the ecosystems responsible for turning research and ideas into patents, technologies, and commercial products.

Nationwide, just 17% of new inventors are women. Within U.S. universities, however, that figure is 26%, suggesting that higher education broadens women’s participation in the innovation economy. This matters because investing in women inventors could unlock talent throughout the U.S., expand the pool of ideas, and maximize innovations’ commercial potential.

Murray and Delgado highlight what some universities are doing right and offer guidance for others. That includes helping women in STEM see invention as a real option and taking the mystery out of patenting.

“When the process is made visible,” Murray said, “we see participation go up — for everyone, but especially for women.”

How universities can help more women become inventors