WIPO is happy to announce a call for papers for a special issue on Women’s Participation in Innovation, Creativity and Intellectual Property. The deadline for submission is 31 March 2026.
Technological progress is the backbone of economic growth, yet women's underrepresentation in innovation represents a challenge to sustainable societal development.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, women’s participation in inventing activities remains below 20 percent. This statistic captures only the surface of a deeper structural problem that demands comprehensive examination of the barriers holding women back from innovation, which manifest throughout educational pathways, career development, and entrepreneurial journeys, creating cumulative disadvantages that compound over time.
The rationale behind increasing participation in innovation, creativity, and intellectual property stems from economic considerations. First, expanding the talent pool becomes critical as research suggests that ideas are becoming harder to find, and societies cannot afford to overlook half the population's innovative potential. Over-reliance on predominantly male talent while underutilizing female capabilities fundamentally limits the diversity, quantity, and quality of breakthrough ideas driving economic progress. Second, women's persistent underrepresentation among inventors signals systemic barriers to entry rather than differences in ability or interest. These constraints undermine economic efficiency. Third, and critically, inventors typically innovate within areas reflecting their lived experiences and observed needs. Consequently, 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.
This publication aims to collect papers that address these issues. Specifically, we welcome submissions, from different disciplines, focusing on the following aspects related to innovation, creativity, and intellectual property:
- Economic policies to improve participation
- Economic analysis of underrepresentation and its consequences
- Evaluation of the economic impact of existing policies to foster participation
- Economic analysis of the barriers to participation
Submission information
- Only full drafts will be considered.
- Submissions must be between 2000 to 4000 words.
- Submissions can be an extract or a section of larger research projects.
- Each submission must include an abstract (150 to 200 words).
- Submissions must be non-technical and use figures instead of regression tables whenever possible.
- We accept submissions of full papers (longer than 4000 words and/or more technical and/or with regression tables) on the condition that after acceptance authors will adjust them to respect our criteria
- Late submissions will not be considered.
- If you have any questions regarding the submission, please contact us at this address: Chief.Economist@wipo.int and cc: IPandWomen@wipo.int referring in the subject line to: Special Issue on Women’s Participation in Innovation, Creativity and Intellectual Property.
Deadline: 31 March 2026
If the above button fails, please send the submission via email.