"Women innovate everywhere, driving advances in science, creative industries, digital entrepreneurship, tradition-based products and services, and green technologies. Yet despite the breadth of their contributions, women remain significantly underrepresented in formal IP systems." – World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

In recognition of International Women's Day (and March being International Women's Month), we take a moment to celebrate the achievements of women driving innovation across all sectors. For those of us working in intellectual property, this occasion provides an opportunity to examine how women contribute and are represented in the field, whilst also acknowledging the work that remains.

Earlier this month the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) published a timely report titled "Female participation in inventorship", which examined patent application data from 1997 to 2024. This article considers the findings of the UKIPO report and other recent research data analyzing the progress of gender parity in innovation and intellectual property in recent years. 

The Current Landscape: Progress, but at a Glacial Pace

The UKIPO report (which can be read in full here) shows that female inventors remain significantly underrepresented in patent applications filed in the United Kingdom. As the UKIPO does not request gender information on applications, the report provides estimates of an inventor's sex using the WIPO World Gender Name Dictionary (WGND) 2.0.) The data analysis sets out name matches based on an inferred sex at 95% confidence versus all matches (confidence at 50% and above). Notably, there is a significant disparity when looking at these two data sets. Part of the difficulty in analyzing the data, as acknowledged by the IPO, is the increase in unisex or gender-neutral names, which may explain the increase of applications where gender is "unknown". 

Some of the key findings from the data include:

• In 1997, between 3.9% and 4.8% of inventors on patent applications were female.  By 2024, the number of female inventors had risen to between 7.8% and 10.9% (the differentiation representing confidence levels).
• Individual female inventors and all female inventor teams together made up just 3.5% of patent applications published in 2024, down from a recorded peak of 3.9% in 2014. Unfortunately, these figures have not increased significantly in 20 years as all female teams and individual female inventors and all female teams accounted for 3.4% of all teams in 2004. However, as referred to above, in parallel there has been an increase in the number of applications where gender is "unknown", this may account for a portion of female inventors being overlooked.
• One encouraging trend is the rise of mixed inventor teams (those comprising both female and male inventors). Mixed teams have risen steadily from 5.2% of patent applications in 1997 to around 18.6% in 2024. All male teams and individual males have dropped from a high of 76.6% in 1997 to 64.4% in 2024, coinciding with a rise in mixed inventor teams. Individual male applications, in particular, have declined significantly from a high of around 49% in 1997 to around 27% in 2024.
• The composition of mixed inventor teams has remained constant, with the ratio of male inventors consistently higher than the ratio of female inventors.
• International female inventors (i.e. patent applications listing inventors living abroad) show a slightly higher average annual increase in the share of female inventors compared to UK-based inventors. This is seen in patent applications published in 2024, where the proportion of internationally based female inventors reached 12.2% for all matches, compared to 9.3% for UK-based inventors.
• When looking at published patent applications by inventor team type, the proportion of individual female inventors and all-female inventor teams is lower for internationally based teams compared to UK-based inventor teams. All-female inventor teams and individual female inventors account for 2.1% of published patent applications (1997 to 2024), where all inventors are internationally based.
• Female inventors make up 21.4% of private patent applications - where the application has been prepared without the use of a registered patent agent or attorney. This shows that female inventors have a greater tendency than other team types to follow this route.

While improvements are there, they are modest. The statistics are over an almost 30-year period, during which time female employment rates in the UK increased from around 65% to 78%. Considering these figures in aggregate with wider societal changes and norms, the statistics highlight a noticeable lag.

The findings of the UKIPO report aren't entirely surprising considering data published by the World Intellectual Property Organization last year, which revealed that only 13% of inventors listed on patent applications over the past 20 years were women, with recent figures indicating that only 9% of all patents globally can be attributed to women. 

STEM

According to the Women In STEM Network's 2025 analysis, women represent around 27% of the core STEM workforce in the United Kingdom, compared to 52% of the total UK workforce. This is an improvement compared with a decade ago, but progress is slow, particularly in engineering and technology fields.  

One of the most striking findings from the UKIPO report concerns the variation across technology sectors. Female inventors are more likely to be named in fields including "Other consumer goods", "Furniture, games" and "Medical technology". The "Other consumer goods" category encompasses everyday consumer products ranging from clothing and personal-care equipment to textiles and musical instruments. Whereas in digital sectors such as software, AI, cloud computing, semiconductors, and quantum technology, the picture is more concerning, with women comprising only about 16% of new inventors in these combined fields. 

The largest disparity is observed in the "Civil engineering" technology field, which presents notably lower proportions of individual female inventors, all-female teams and mixed teams compared to male inventor teams. The data shows that only 1.4% of patent applications in civil engineering come from female inventors or all-female teams, compared to 96.8% from male inventors or all-male teams. This aligns with broader workforce data showing that women make up only 10.6% of the engineering workforce in the UK. 

Although there has been a steady increase in students enrolling in core STEM subjects across higher education—with female students increasing from 22.8% in 2014-15 to 27.8% in 2023-24—research has shown that representation drops at different stages in women's careers, referred to as the "leaky pipeline". Another concerning figure referenced in the UKIPO report taken from a 2023 study found that over 70% of projects funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council had no female representation, and fewer than 15% were led by women.

The European Context

There are grounds for optimism when assessing the picture in Europe. Statistics from the Women in Stem Network shows that across Europe more broadly, women account for nearly 35% of STEM researchers, with strong representation in biology and medicine. However, there is continued underrepresentation in engineering, which mirrors the position in the UK. Crucially, European countries with robust childcare systems and equal pay policies, such as the Nordic nations, tend to retain more women in technical careers, highlighting the importance of commitment from policymakers and industry.

A Realistic Path Forward

Based on the UKIPO's forecasting, parity among UK patent applications could theoretically be observed in 2051, though this is based on optimistic assumptions. Linear projections suggest that female inventorship may still be well below parity by 2061, potentially reaching only between 11.6% and 16.6%. With that said, the data highlights areas which, if given proper attention, could boost progress. 

Countries with supportive policies, transparent pay, and strong networks see higher participation and retention of women in STEM. The Women In STEM Network also emphasises that mentorship, sponsorship, and internship programmes remain critical for increasing representation.

One particularly promising avenue for change lies within academic institutions. Notably, 30% of new inventors listed on university patents are PhD students, often co-patenting with their faculty advisors. In the UK, academic applications represented around 22% of all patent applications in 2024. While female individuals and all female teams within academic institutions represented around just 1% of all patent applications, male individuals and all male teams from academic institutions also made up just 1% of applications. Mixed inventor teams from academic institutions are considerably higher at around 11%, and mixed inventor teams also made up 31.3% of all academic patent applications since 1997. This shows that there is significant contribution from female inventors at this level. 

The EUIPO's upcoming Strategic Plan 2030 presents an opportunity to tackle these disparities head-on, aiming to fundamentally transform the IP ecosystem to be more inclusive and empowering for women. Furthermore, the EUIPO is taking steps to address these challenges, such as participating in initiatives such as Girls Go Stem, which supports schoolgirls aged 14-19 to develop their digital and leadership skills. 

Conclusion: Cautious Optimism and Collective Responsibility

These reports remind us that progress in achieving gender parity in intellectual property and STEM is real, but frustratingly slow. The doubling of female inventor representation in UK patent applications over the past 27 years demonstrates that change is possible. Intellectual property is clearly a powerful enabler of innovation and creativity across the economy, drawing on talent from all parts of society. Encouraging more women and girls to study and build careers in STEM fields helps to support this effort. The rise of mixed inventor teams, the strong performance of academic collaborations, and the existence of successful policy interventions in certain jurisdictions all point to what is achievable. 

For IP professionals, these findings present both a challenge and an opportunity: to recognise the barriers that exist, to support initiatives that address them, and to champion the diverse talent that drives innovation.

A Timely Call for Research

Recognising both the urgency and complexity of these issues, WIPO has announced a call for papers for a special issue on Women's Participation in Innovation, Creativity and Intellectual Property, with the deadline for submission on 31 March 2026. This publication aims to collect papers addressing the economic policies to improve participation, economic analysis of underrepresentation and its consequences, and evaluation of the economic impact of existing policies to foster participation. 

As WIPO notes, underrepresentation creates significant technological gaps in addressing issues disproportionately relevant to certain groups, highlighting the critical economic necessity for varied perspectives in driving comprehensive innovation that serves entire populations. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working in this field are encouraged to contribute to this important body of work.

The UKIPO has also outlined recommendations for future research, including evaluating the economic impact and growth potential of female inventorship, understanding representation in critical technologies, and linking inventorship data to the STEM pipeline to understand the influence over time.