By Isabel Fernandez Mateo, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School
In the world of science and technology, we like to believe that the best ideas rise to the top. That innovation is a meritocracy. That inventors, driven by the promise of progress and profit, will naturally seek out the most promising research, regardless of who wrote it.
But what if that is not the case?
New research suggests that gender bias may be quietly shaping the future of innovation. A study I co-authored with Michaël Bikard and Ronak Mogra – Standing on the Shoulders of (Male) Giants: Gender Inequality and the Technological Impact of Scientific Ideas – recently published in Administrative Science Quarterly, found that scientific papers authored by women are significantly less likely to be cited in patents than those authored by men. In other words, when inventors look for ideas to build on, they are more likely to pick ones that come from men .
This is not just an academic issue. Patent citations are a key sign that a scientific idea is being used to develop new technologies. If women’s work is being overlooked, it means their ideas are less likely to shape the tools, treatments, and technologies of tomorrow.
We started by analysing more than 10 million scientific papers published between 1980 and 2020. Across fields and decades, the pattern was clear: women’s research was cited less often in patents. Even after accounting for things like the prestige of the journal, the author’s experience, and the commercial relevance of the work, the gap remained.
To dig deeper, we looked at what we call “paper twins”, cases where different teams of scientists independently published essentially the same discovery around the same time. These rare instances gave us a unique opportunity to compare how inventors responded to nearly identical ideas. The result? The papers led by men were cited more often in patents than their female-led counterparts.
We also ran an experiment. We showed 400 doctorial degree holders a scientific abstract and randomly assigned either a male or female name to the author. Participants spent more time reading the abstract when they thought it was written by a man. They also rated it as more important.
This suggests that the problem goes beyond visibility or access. It is also about perception. Even among highly educated readers, there seems to be an implicit bias that leads them to value men’s ideas more.
That has serious consequences, not just for the careers of individual scientists, but for the direction of innovation itself. If inventors are less likely to engage with research authored by women, valuable ideas may be missed. And because women scientists are more likely to focus on issues that disproportionately affect women, such as certain health conditions, this disparity could mean fewer innovations in areas that urgently need attention.
Yet, despite these barriers, many women have made extraordinary contributions to science and technology, proving that when their ideas are recognized and taken seriously, they can change the world.
Katalin Karikó, a Hungarian-born biochemist, played a central role in the development of mRNA vaccine technology. Her pioneering work laid the foundation for the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. For years, her research was overlooked and underfunded. Today, it is credited with helping to save millions of lives. Her story is a powerful reminder that transformative scientific ideas can be undervalued until circumstances demand their recognition.
Frances Arnold, a Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, pioneered the use of directed evolution to engineer enzymes with new and improved functions. Her work has had wide-ranging applications, from biofuels to pharmaceuticals, and has helped bridge the gap between academic discovery and industrial innovation.
Jennifer Doudna, another Nobel laureate in Chemistry, co-discovered CRISPR Cas9, a gene editing technology that has revolutionised biotechnology. Her research has not only transformed basic science but is now being used in drug development and holds promise for treating genetic diseases.
Tu Youyou, a Chinese pharmaceutical chemist, discovered artemisinin, a powerful anti-malarial drug that has saved millions of lives. Her work, which earned her the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, is a reminder that scientific brilliance can emerge from outside the outside the dominant institutions of science..
And Grace Hopper, a pioneer in computer science, is credited with inventing the first compiler and played a key role in developing COBOL, a programming language still used in business and government systems today. Her legacy continues to shape the digital infrastructure we rely on.
These women are proof that when their ideas are recognised and built upon, the impact can be profound. But they are also exceptions in a system that too often overlooks the contributions of women in science.
So what can be done?
For starters, inventors and research and development teams need to take a hard look at how they search for and evaluate scientific research. Are they relying too heavily on familiar names and networks? Are they unintentionally filtering out work from underrepresented groups?
Academic institutions also have a role to play. They should consider how norms around authorship and communication may affect whose work gets noticed. And funding agencies and policymakers should support efforts to make the innovation pipeline more inclusive, from lab bench to patent office.
The idea that innovation is a level playing field is a powerful one. But it is not always true. If we want to build a future that reflects the full range of human insight and creativity, we need to make sure we are not overlooking half the ideas on the table.
Because the next big breakthrough might already be out there, just waiting for someone to take it seriously.
Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, Adecco Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship; Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School
Isabel Fernandez-Mateo holds the Adecco Chair at London Business School. As Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, she has taught in various degree programmes at London Business School, including the required core Strategic Management course for the full time MBA and Executive MBAs, as well as two electives: “Building your Career Strategy” and “People Analytics.” She also teaches in the PhD programme. An expert on how relationships influence career outcomes – particularly in hiring, job transitions, and career advancement, Professor Fernandez-Mateo also studies gender diversity in the executive labor market. In her recent work, she examines the organizational and social barriers that prevent women’s access to positions of leadership. Her work has been published in leading academic journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Management Science, and Organization Science. She is currently Department Editor of Management Science (Organizations Section).