The study shows progress in equality, but also confirms that gender inequalities remain structural, especially in key areas such as financing, knowledge transfer, or access to leadership positions.
During the presentation of the report, Minister Diana Morant argued that “an innovation system that includes all of its talent is fairer and more effective,” emphasizing that the country’s scientific and technological development depends on fully harnessing all available capabilities.
What the report reveals
The analysis confirms a dual trend: the innovation system is moving toward equality, but still carries structural barriers that limit the full participation of women in certain areas.
Among the main findings are:
Gaps in financing and leadership persist
Although female participation has increased in research and science, the gaps widen during key stages of the innovation system such as:
- access to financing,
- knowledge transfer,
- or leadership positions.
This indicates that the problem lies not only in training or access to the system, but in the dynamics that determine who leads projects and who accesses resources.
Innovation is not just about developing technology
The report insists on a relevant idea: innovation is not limited to patents or technological advances.
It also includes:
- the improvement of public services,
- the transformation of organizations,
- and the generation of social impact.
From this perspective, many contributions to the innovation ecosystem—where women have a prominent presence—are not always recognized within traditional innovation indicators.
Access is not the only problem
According to the data presented, in many public calls, women submit fewer projects, but their success rate is similar or even higher when they participate.
This points to a recurring phenomenon in the scientific and entrepreneurial ecosystem: the challenge lies not so much in the final evaluation, but in the prior conditions that influence who decides to apply.
Brújula Added Value: What the ecosystem must learn for 2026
The ‘Women and Innovation’ report is the starting point, but for those operating in the transfer market, the real utility lies in understanding the dynamics that are already transforming other leading ecosystems.
1. The ‘Resilience Premium’ in Deep Tech
Recent data from impact funds in Europe (such as the EIC) suggest that spin-offs with mixed founding teams show a 20% higher survival rate after 5 years compared to homogeneous teams.
- Action Plan: When evaluating transfer projects, do not only look for the robustness of the patent; evaluate the diversity of the promoting team as an indicator of lower investment risk.
2. The “Pitch” Bias and Knowledge Transfer
Behavioral studies in technology transfer demonstrate that evaluators tend to ask “prevention” questions to women (about risks and losses) and “promotion” questions to men (about potential and gains). This biases who obtains the license or capital.
- Key data: Projects that receive promotion questions raise up to 7 times more capital.
- Action Plan: Standardize the questions to ensure that each project is evaluated by its scalability and not by its ability to avoid errors.
3. The Rise of “Invisible Innovation”
The report points out that innovating is not just about patenting. In countries like Sweden or the Netherlands, “Social Impact Transfer” (SIT) metrics are already being implemented.
- The new information: Women lead 65% of social and organizational innovation projects, sectors that often fall outside of business R&D statistics.
- Action Plan: To capture recovery funds or next-generation public tenders, it is critical to start auditing and assigning economic value to these “soft” innovations that are often led by female talent.
4. The Effect of IP (Intellectual Property) Networks
The gap is not one of capacity, but of citation networks. Patents led by women tend to be cited less frequently initially, which slows down their ‘value enhancement’ in the market.
- Strategic data: A proactive analysis of citation networks can reveal ‘hidden gems’ in university repositories: patents of high technical quality that are undervalued by the market simply due to their initial lack of visibility.
