Why Diversity in Innovation is Important

Several months ago, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an article titled, “The Importance of Equity in Innovation”, which discusses how diversity in inventor “backgrounds and geographic locations” is essential to maintaining the U.S.’s economy and position as a global leader in technology.?The article specifically states, “We need more women, veterans, and those from other underrepresented groups to invent, establish businesses, and pursue careers in the field of IP.”[1]

?But why??Why is diversity in innovation important??Let’s look quickly at the automotive industry.?

Despite knowing since the early 1980s that men’s and women’s bodies perform differently in car crashes, the automotive industry continues, until today, to primarily use crash test dummies based on the body of a 1970s male in the 50th percentile.?A female test dummy was introduced in 2003.?However, the female version is based on a woman in the 5th percentile of the 1970s standard and also serves as a representative of a 12-13-year-old child.?

?The automotive industry has made tremendous advances in the last 50 years.?We have self-driving and self-parking cars; cars equipped with automatic braking and blind spot detection. Yet there have been no advances in crash testing.?According to a 2019 study by the University of Virginia, seat belt-wearing women are still 73% more likely to be seriously injured in a frontal car crash than any seat belt-wearing male occupant. [2]

Dr. Astrid Linder, Research Director of Traffic Safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute, spearheads European efforts to address the differences between male and female occupants.?Dr. Linder’s invention, EvaRID (female dummy) has helped reveal the physiological differences between males and females and how the body responds in vehicular collisions.[3]?Her research proved that when products are developed based on a male norm, “we miss the conditions of half the population.”[4]??Dr. Linder has also been instrumental in helping to create virtual test dummies that represent a wider variety of occupants.?Dr. Linder’s research focuses on creating male and female models that “make it possible to identify the vehicle occupant safety systems which provide the best safety features for both females and males.”[5]?Her research has helped car manufacturers Volvo and Toyota to incorporate cutting-edge safety measures into their vehicles.?

?Just think of how many lives could have been saved if early researchers had considered that males and females are different and that women and children are not just smaller versions of the average male.?Furthermore, think of the impact it would have had on the American car industry.?

?This is just one example of how, by adding diversity to our teams and our approach to solving problems, we can broaden our scope and incorporate a wider variety of possibilities into our solutions. Diversity of thinking and experience is essential to advancing technology.?Inventors must not only think outside of the box but look at the box from various perspectives.

[1] The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2022) The Importance of Equity in Innovation?

[2]K.Barry (2019) A Crash Test Bias Puts Female Drivers at Risk, Consumer Reports

[3] Tekdeeps (2021), This is how this female dummy wants to change it

[4] Virtual (2021) Astrid Linder Named Gender Star of the Year 2020

[5] A. Linder & M. Y. Svensson (2019) Road safety: the average male as a norm in vehicle occupant crash safety assessment, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 44:2, 140-153, DOI: 10.1080/03080188.2019.1603870