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Lost Marie Curies: Parental Impact on the Probability of Becoming an Inventor

Author

Listed:
  • Karin Hoisl

    (Business School, University of Mannheim, 68131 Mannheim, Germany; Department of Strategy and Innovation, Copenhagen Business School, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark; Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, 80539 Munich, Germany)

  • Hans Christian Kongsted

    (Department of Strategy and Innovation, Copenhagen Business School, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark)

  • Myriam Mariani

    (Department of Management and Technology, Bocconi University, 20136 Milan, Italy; ICRIOS (Invernizzi Center for Research on Innovation, Organization, Strategy and Entrepreneurship), Bocconi University, 20136 Milan, Italy)

Abstract
This research investigates the role of parents in explaining the surprisingly low presence of women among inventors despite their increase among graduates from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. With Danish registry data on the population born between 1966 and 1985 and an experimental setting crafted on siblings’ gender composition, we find that the transmission of inventorship from parents to children disfavors daughters if they have a (second-born) brother. We complement this analysis with evidence about the role of parental factors at different stages of children’s education. Overall, our results confirm that parental role models matter for children’s education, especially at early stages and, through this, increase the probability of a child’s becoming an inventor. However, the direct transmission of inventorship that favors boys much more than girls seems to be affected by gendered expectations developed by parents about daughters’ and sons’ returns from inventorship. Our study contributes to explaining who becomes an inventor and why by adding an important boundary condition to the literature: Parents are intermediaries who, based on their own interpretation of external information about inventive jobs, contribute to create or limit opportunities for their children.

Suggested Citation

  • Karin Hoisl & Hans Christian Kongsted & Myriam Mariani, 2023. "Lost Marie Curies: Parental Impact on the Probability of Becoming an Inventor," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(3), pages 1714-1738, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:69:y:2023:i:3:p:1714-1738
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.4432
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    References listed on IDEAS

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