Female academic entrepreneurship and commercialisation: reviewing the evidence and identifying the challenges

This chapter considers the propensity for women academics to become entrepreneurs and to commercialise their research in comparison to male academics. A review of the academic literature and published reports suggests that women constitute a very small proportion of academic entrepreneurs; this is especially the case in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Women in STEM disciplines have been shown to file proportionately fewer invention disclosures and patents, launch fewer start-up companies, and are less successful in attracting venture capital and angel funding than their male counterparts. This chapter addresses the question: under what circumstances do women try and subsequently either fail or succeed in commercialising their research? By way of theoretical underpinning, three strands of theory are applied: women as entrepreneurs, gender and the technology transfer process, and institutional analysis. The chapter draws on a number of studies to identify commercialisation patterns in the US and Europe.