Promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in University Spinout Companies - A case for Action

Too few women researchers are leading spinout companies. There has not been enough attention focused on the progression of women researchers at all career stages on the entrepreneurial pathway from research to spinout leadership. Whilst challenges relating to women's research career progression are well understood, the STEM community and the Higher Education (HE) sector as a whole are not as well informed about women entrepreneurial career progression pathways to spinout. Research shows that founders and co-founders of university spinout companies are predominantly men. For example, the Enterprise Research Centre (2014) survey of a sample of 350 active UK spinouts found that women were the main founders in only 8.3% of cases. The disproportionately low numbers of women founders are not limited to UK spinouts. Research carried out by Elsevier (2017) comparing the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia, shows that although there has been an increase in the global share of women among inventors listed in patent applications from 11% (between 1996-2000) to 14% (between 2011-2015), they remain significantly under-represented among all the countries included in the study. Encouraging and understanding women's engagement in spinout companies is of strategic importance to the UK's new Industrial Strategy which aims to increase investment in science, research and innovation and to support new businesses and growth. Therefore, there is a compelling case for better understanding barriers as well as enabling factors that exists for women scientists, engineers and mathematician in key stages of the spinout process and entrepreneurial activities to commercialise research and innovation.
This project vision is to achieve a step change in institutional capabilities to increase the participation of women researchers in STEM disciplines in university spinouts and to mainstream gender in the ecosystem which drives innovation. Our project aims to achieve a step change in institutional capabilities to increase the participation of women scientists, engineers and mathematicians in spinouts through the development of a series of interventions to build their innovative and entrepreneurial skills designed to translate their inventions into spinout companies. The project will last 24 months and be articulated into two stages. Stage one will focus on research to understand the causes of women's under-representation in spinouts, and individuals' self-perception of innovation, drawing from existing methods. The second stage of the project will develop practical solutions for institutions to create inclusive opportunities and overcome the barriers for women who take the journey from research to spinout.

Findings from our research and best practice will be shared with EPSRC and the wider community at institutional, sector, department and individual levels. Adaption and delivery of entrepreneurial leadership development will enable women to initiate and lead spinouts, grow innovation, entrepreneurial ambitions, confidence and competencies in women scientists engineers and mathematicians. Our findings will be inspired by role models, career stories and mentoring arrangements with successful women spinout CEOs and Board members.

Impact summary
Transformation and impact are key elements of our research plan. Implementation of findings will be ongoing, embedded and sustainable to raise awareness, generate public debate and disseminate key project outputs. In order to achieve our ambitious vision and maximum impact, this project will involve a range of stakeholders both from the academic STEM community, industry and policy makers and engage them in a process of knowledge co-creation to achieve sustainable change. A project Advisory Board will be set up to include the following partners who have confirmed their support and interest in being involved in this project: Dr Katy Gearing, Head of Industry Engagement at the Royal Society; Dr Lesley Thompson, Vice President Academic and Government Strategic Alliance at Elsevier; Ahmed Goga, Director of Strategy and Programmes at OxLEP; and Professor David Gavaghan, Chair of UoO Computer Science Equality and Diversity Committee and Director of EPSRC-funded Doctoral Training Programme, Dr Michele Babour CEO of Pertinax Pharma (spinout), and Dr Olivia Champion CEO of BioSystems Thecnology (spinout), Dr Sue O'Hare, Operation Manager European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre, Harwell Campus Dictot and a representative from Enterprise Educator UK.
Our pathway to impact strategy is articulated in the following strands:
Communication and dissemination of project aims and outputs: On-going throughout, tools such as project web-pages and activities such as roundatable discussions/workshops and networking with industry will be key to outreach and generating public debate.
Instrumental impact on the STEM community in HE: Training interventions developed as part of this project are aimed at developing institutional capability through change of practices, nurturing the entrepreneurial skills of women scientists engineers and mathematicians. The interventions will be piloted in the grant host institutions and rolled out to other institutions. The resources developed will be freely available to Higher Education institutions. Other key project activities that will help to achieve greater participation of women in the spinout process as well as cultural change include: the development of a mentoring programme in collaboration with industry; increased visibility of role models. It is also anticipated that some of the findings and outputs from this project could contribute to the development of equality guidance for the proposed Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF).
Impact on the national and regional economy: The team will work closely with local policy makers, including OxLEP and the City Council, to ensure that boosting the participation of women scientists, engineers and mathematicians in the local innovation eco-system becomes an objective of regional innovation strategies. This will provide a template that can be adopted in other regions of the UK to harness the talent of women researchers and achieve greater economic growth.
International impact: Involving ITCILO Gender Academy offers a platform to disseminate the project outputs and engage with the international STEM community.