Women, men and creativity in business sector – comparative studies of leading EU and ECE countries

The main focus of the paper is innovativeness and creativity in gender perspective. The question asked is about the relation between gender, research and innovation. The paper is based on the data from European Patent Office (EPO) for years 1999-2013 concerning creative activities by women and men in business sector. For the purpose of the analysis, leading countries have been selected in terms of patent activities, which were then divided into two groups – 10 leading countries from the EU, and three leading countries from the transition economies. The main objective of the paper is to compare the dynamics of three variables: R&D expenditures, number of women and men employed as R&D personnel or researchers in business enterprise sector, number of women and men recognized in EPO database as inventors of patents that are employed in business sector

Gender wage gap : occupation and industries analysis for Poland

Remuneration is a measure of the purchasing power of the population that shows how wealthy the given society is. Analysis of remuneration received by different groups provides information about inequalities between and within the analyzed groups. One of the groups whose pay is lower than the average are women. In this article the attempt to indicate reasons for such inequality is undertaken. In the research presented in the article the main objective is to verify the significance of occupations and industries in shaping the gender wage gap in contemporary Poland. The research was based on data from the Polish Earning Survey, which was conducted by Sedlak & Sedlak for a single year, 2018. The results obtained show that the gender wage gap in Poland is explained in 36% by occupations and 15% by industry in which women are employed, which proves the significance of location factors in shaping gender wage gap

Innovation, innovativeness and gender : approaching innovative gender

This paper deals with the attempt to search for the sources of creativity in the broad sense in solving problems. These creative solutions become innovations. The ability to develop innovation depends on the multi-dimensional predispositions to solve problems – those found in people, inspired by the market, organised or spontaneous, as well as facilitated or hampered by the state. Yet, the aforementioned factors should be supplemented with one more – gender. In the chapter attention is paid to the multi-dimensional differences stemming from gender, which should be perceived as a positive element, because they are the source of synergy resulting from collaboration among research or business teams in the process of innovation. The chapter introduces the concept of 'innovative gender' and its institutional framework. The methodological inspiration is the model known in the literature as the Innovation Genome, the conceptualization of which constitutes a major part of the study

The dimensions of the digital economy and society

The chapter looks at the problem of proper understanding and defining the digital economy and society which is becoming a main competitiveness factor for developed countries. A precise understanding of digitalization allows the creation of more effective innovation policies which support higher productivity growth. First, the authors analyse the creation and evolution of the term in literature with focus on a number of publications in different research areas and the main keywords. Next, the authors define areas where digitalization makes the radical change, what brings the core determinants of the digital economy, e.g., digital platforms, information and communication technology and IT sector, and virtual data usage on a big scale using computer networks. This brings the authors to the conclusion that the digital economy phenomenon should be analysed in four dimensions: technological, regulatory, social and economic

Institutional surrounding of innovative activity : based on opinions of women and men engaged in the process of innovation

Tło badań. Innowacje są jednym za źródeł wzrostu gospodarczego i rozwoju w długim okresie czasu. Dlatego też istotne jest rozważenie, które czynniki kształtują, wpływają na i promują działania innowacyjne. Cel badań. Głównym celem artykułu jest rozpoznanie różnic w opiniach kobiet i mężczyzn zatrudnionych w innowacyjnych przedsiębiorstwach na temat rozwiązań promujących działania innowacyjne, które powinny zostać wzięte pod uwagę przy projektowaniu polityki państwa. Metodologia. Aby osiągnąć ten cel, przeprowadzono ankietę dotyczącą kontekstu instytucjonalnego procesu innowacji wśród osób związanych z działalnością badawczą w przedsiębiorstwach, które otrzymały publiczne wsparcie finansowe swojej działalności innowacyjnej. W celu pogrupowania różnych rozwiązań instytucjonalnych wpływających na kobiety i mężczyzn wykorzystano analizę skupień. Kluczowe wnioski. Wyniki badania pokazują, że rozwiązania instytucjonalne promujące działania innowacyjne nie są neutralne ze względu na płeć, wskazując, że występują zarówno podobieństwa, jak i różnice w opiniach badanych kobiet i mężczyzn, jak i w opiniach dotyczących rozwiązań promujących działalność innowacyjną wśród kobiet lub mężczyzn. Środowisko pracy jest postrzegane jako najsilniejsza determinanta procesu innowacji. Jednak połączenie polityki innowacji i publicznych działań na rzecz równości płci również ma znaczenie w rozwoju innowacji.Background. Innovations are one of the sources of economic growth and long-term development. Therefore it is important to consider which factors form, influence, and promote innovative activities. Research aims. The main objective of the article is to identify the differences in opinions between men and women employed in innovative enterprises regarding solutions promoting innovative activities, which should be taken into account, while public policy is designed. Methodology. In order to reach this objective, a survey concerning the institutional context of the process of innovation was conducted among research personnel in companies that received public financial support for their innovative activities. In order to group different institutional solutions influencing women and men, the cluster analysis was used. Key findings. The results of the study show that institutional solutions promoting innovative activities are not gender neutral, indicating that there are both similarities and differences in women's and men's opinions, as well as in opinions regarding the solutions promoting innovative activities by women and men. The work environment is perceived as the most powerful determinant of the process of innovation. However, a combination of innovation policy and public actions for equality also plays a role in the development of innovations

New approach to create more effective teams in the innovation process in enterprises

The subject-related literature provided information about the skills, education, and formal competencies required to join teams working on the innovation process. According to findings presented in this article, the previous studies have investigated insufficiently the gender-related issues in the decisions of managers who involve specialists in the innovation process. Thus, the purpose of this research was to identify, examine, and describe differences in the participation of men and women in the innovation process, considering their personal characteristics, attitudes, and behaviours. The research covered 1,164 innovative companies - beneficiaries of the European Union Cohesion Policy of 2007-2013. The survey was distributed independently to women and men participating in innovative activities in the researched companies. Two independent responses were received from each company; thus, two independent data samples were created. Both data composition and preliminary analysis adhere to the requirements of Principal Component Analysis. The results allow for the new design proposal to increase the effectiveness of teams working on innovation-focused tasks. In addition to education and experience, managers can now consider personal characteristics and better select women and men to drive innovation