Abstract

The chapter gives an overview of the methodological guidelines and recommendations used in the practice of public statistics for gender described in the following areas: science, technology, and innovation activities. Analysis was carried out on the limitations and possibilities of using patent information for the study of gender relations in the context of technological creativity. The chapter also refers to the more important partial research undertaken as part of a large research programme on productivity of scientific and technical men and women. The current development of measuring the effects of scientific, scientific-technical, and innovative activity in terms of the roles ascribed to women and men in society, and that could have a significant impact on the course and nature of that activity, does not aid in its present form in obtaining answers to the question of whether the social roles and relationships men and women affect their creativity and innovation. The transition from the economy of capital, labour and allocation to an economics of innovation and intangible resources has necessitated the development of new methodologies, techniques and tools for data collection and methods of quantification of phenomena and processes related to innovative activity.

Key words: gender, creativity, measurement methods, innovative activities

Introduction

The development of policy and public statistics in the field of science, technology and innovation is a derivative of significant changes in the factors governing economic development. Innovation (technical, process, social) has finally become important characteristics through which we can currently explain the reasons for different levels of economic development. And the concepts of the “knowledge-based economy,” “information economy,” “creative economy” or “intellectual capital” have permanently entered the catalogue of main categories of economic study. In economic policy they are growing to paradigms for building competitive advantages.

The transition from the economy of capital, labour and allocation to an economics of innovation and intangible resources has necessitated the development of new methodologies, techniques and tools for data collection and methods of quantification of phenomena and processes related to innovative activity. Innovation as a factor of development arises from a complex structure: