Is the Position of Power More Relevant than Gender for Commercialization of Research? An Explorative Longitudinal Study over 21 Years

The existing gender gap regarding commercialization of research is a limiting factor for the knowledge economy. The aim of this study is to explore the long-time development of the proportion of women researcher’s involvement in the process of university spin-out (USO) foundations in a longitudinal study over 21 years at the Uppsala University in Sweden, using the perspective of the position of power. It was found that the proportion of women researchers among the USO-founders increased at the same pace as the increase in the proportion of women among full professors at the University and the gender gap was significantly reduced during the last 7 years studied. Furthermore, during the last 7 years studied, 2.7% of the women full professors at the University participated in USO creations compared to 2.6% of their male counterparts. These findings challenge the perception that women in general have a lower entrepreneurial propensity and strongly indicate that the position of power has a significant impact. Furthermore, the prosperity of women researchers to get involved in commercialization efforts in this Scandinavian study seems to be much higher than those previously reported from the Anglo-Saxen context which is discussed from the perspective of other influential factors. Since the study is limited to only one university recommendations for further studies to validate, the findings are given as well as policy recommendations.