Today we continue our focus on the upcoming World Intellectual Property Day on April 26 this year. Sponsored by the World Intellectual Property Organization or WIPO, this year’s theme is the empowerment of women to innovate and create.
As we previously wrote, there is a sizable gap between the numbers of males and females applying for patents, although it varies by field of specialty. As we look around, there are hopeful signs that this gap will continue to narrow.
Encouragement of girls and young women to study and embrace STEM topics (science, technology, engineering and math) seems to be paying off.
Kid inventors
Gifts and Decorative Accessories magazine reported earlier this month about a contest for “kid inventors” sponsored by “STEM toy manufacturer” littleBits and Lucasfilm that invited kids to invent their own droids using the littleBits Droid Inventor Kit. The kit was designed to stimulate “creativity and invention” and it won the Toy Industry Association’s Creative Toy of the Year.
Significantly, of over 300 submissions, more than half were from girls.
Inspiring young women in STEM
A recent article in Student Science, part of the Society for Science and the Public, highlighted eight young women who were finalists of Broadcom MASTERS 2017, described as “the nation’s most prestigious STEM competition for middle school students.”
When asked about their advice for “other aspiring female scientists and engineers,” these bright young women had inspirational things to say. For example:
- “I don’t want to accept the men to women gap in STEM fields, but rather hope to work towards encouraging more girls to be part of the community, and hopefully see a huge change by the time I am part of a STEM workforce.”
- “To inspire other girls in STEM, I would tell them to look around. They have the capability to make breakthrough discoveries or invent something revolutionary.”
- “To be a young woman in STEM is to be important. It’s to be prominent. It’s having the power to change the world, to help a suffering person, to amend a person’s life.”
- “Never before in history have we as women had this much clout in the direction humans will take to advance forward. Bright young girls have so much potential to inspire ideas and lead the way in scientific breakthroughs and discoveries of the world around us.”
We could not have said it better! At our law firm, we support and applaud up-and-coming young female scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs and look forward to their contributions to society, knowledge, commerce, and innovation.
