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Ladies, you're going to love this article … and guys, in this
article you might learn a thing or two about the fairer sex as well.
We'll take a look at the importance of female inventors, including
the ways in which they're different from male inventors and how
they're similar.
First, consider these lopsided statistics about women inventors:
--In 1890, less than 1 percent of U.S. patents were issued to
women.
--There have been over 300 recipients of the Nobel Prize in the
sciences in its 102-year history (one award is presented annually
each for chemistry, physics and medicine). Only 10 recipients --
about 3 percent -- have been women. Marie Curie was the first
woman to win the Nobel Prize in physics.
--In 2002, only 15 percent of the 100,000 utility patents issued
to independent inventors that year were issued to women.
This last stat reflects a dramatic improvement over the last
hundred years. This is based partially on the fact that during parts
of the 1800s, women were not allowed to own property -- including
patents -- once they got married. There were other factors that
contributed to this disparity as well. Fewer women than men went to
college in the 1800s and early 1900s, and women, to this day, face
the stereotype that they are not inventors, even though this is
constantly being proven to not be true.
There is no evidence to suggest that men are better inventors
than women. In fact, just the opposite may be true, as women have a
higher percentage of SUCCESSFUL patents than men do. By success, I
mean that the patent produced a profit for the inventor. Why is
this?
One possible reason, according to Joanne Hayes-Rines, who has
been the editor of Inventors' Digest
magazine since 1987, is that women tend to be better at marketing their
inventions and in working with others. "Women inventors succeed more
at getting their products to market because they're more practical,
they define the need better, and they package it better than men.
They see the big picture better," says Hayes-Rines.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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Whether you agree or disagree with her, there aren't too many
people who have more experience working with inventors than Hayes-Rines,
as she has made herself into an expert on the subject of inventions.
It's hard to tell who in her family knows more about inventions,
because her husband, Bob Rines, is a successful patent attorney and
inventor himself. He founded the Franklin Pierce Law Center and is a
noted expert on the mystery of the Loch Ness monster. He's
well-known for developing the sonar that led to the creation of the
technology used in sonograms and the technology that was used to
discover the Titanic and to hunt for Nessie.
One thing that female inventors have in common with male
inventors is that they both create solutions to problems. Having
worked with inventors for the past five years myself, I've noticed
that people tend to invent products in the industries in which they
work -- their areas of expertise. Among women, nurses invent
products that help them provide better care for their patients,
stay-at-home moms invent products that help them raise their kids
better, and female hair stylists tend to invent products that
pertain to hair. Among men, mechanics invent new tools, carpenters
invent new construction-related products, and coaches invent new
products to help their athletes perform better.
Albert Einstein was impressed with the contributions made by
women inventors, and I think you should be impressed, too.
In next week's column, we showcase three well-known products that
you might not know were invented by women.
[Paul
Niemann]
Paul Niemann is a contributing author to Inventors' Digest
magazine, and he also runs MarketLaunchers.com, helping people in
the marketing of their new product ideas. He can be reached at
niemann7@aol.com.
Last week's
column in LDN:
"We might have lost World War II
if not for this little-known 'invention'"
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"Financial consultants who are awarded
the Retirement Planning Consultant designation have in-depth
knowledge of the financial planning process and are better equipped
to meet the ever-changing demands and more complex retirement needs
of our clients," said Philip Dehner, branch manager of A.G. Edwards
Lincoln office.
In achieving the new designation,
Koehler successfully completed approximately 100 hours of study,
which addressed subjects such as analysis of savings needs for
retirement, design of qualified retirement plans, Social Security,
Medicare and more. A 10-hour supplementary course on the latest A.G.
Edwards tools and techniques, offered through A.G. Edwards
University, is also required.
Koehler
lives in Lincoln and has been with A.G. Edwards since January of
2002.
[News
release] |
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