The participation of women has increased steadily in recent decades, but patent applications remain male-dominated. According to the European Patent Office, one reason for this is the prevailing economic structure. Only in one area are women more represented.
Female inventors are still in the minority in Europe. Less than a seventh of the people involved in an application to the European Patent Office (EPO) between 2010 and 2019 are women, according to a study by the Munich authority. Germany is at the end of the scale with a rate of 10.0 percent, Europe-wide it is 13.2 percent. Behind Germany are only Austria (8.0) and Liechtenstein (9.6 percent).
To realize the full potential of women inventors, more needs to be done to fill the gaps, said EPO President Antonio Campinos. The progress was at a low level, said EPA economist Ilja Rudyk. At the end of the 1970s, the rate was only two percent across Europe. In his opinion, the fact that Germany lags behind the European average is also due to its economic structure: “One reason is that inventions in mechanical and electrical engineering dominate here, in which women are underrepresented.”
In Spain and Portugal, for example, where around a quarter of patent inventors are women, chemistry and pharmacy are predominant. The proportion of female inventors is highest in these areas. A consolation for Germany: In absolute figures, the country has the most inventors in Europe – but that is due to the strength of the economy and the high number of patent applications from Germany in general. There is a north-south divide within Germany: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (16.5 percent) and Hamburg (16.4) have the highest proportion of female inventors, Baden-Württemberg (7.5) and Bavaria (8.0) the most slightest.
Rudyk also explains this with the company structure: mechanical engineering, the automotive industry and IT are most strongly represented in the south. In addition, most of the patents come from the two southern federal states. According to the study, it is also striking that women are even more frequently represented in patents registered by universities and research institutes. The longer they have been in the profession, the smaller their share, said Rudyk. This suggests that women face increasing barriers at every career level in math and science (STEM) occupations, the study says.