Written by Cristina Saenz and Audra Skukauskaitė out of College of Community Innovation and Education, University of Central Florida, the paper focuses specifically on engaging Latina students in the innovation ecosystem while emphasizing the importance of including the varied perspectives and diverse skill sets of all students. 

A presentation and analysis of evidence of student inventors from colleges and universities across the United States who applied to a prestigious national prize. 

Abstract We use administrative records on the population of individuals who applied for or were granted a patent between 1996 and 2014 to characterize the lives of more than 1.2 million inventors in the United States. We show that children of low-income parents are much less likely to become inventors than their higher-income counterparts (as are minorities and women). Decompositions using third grade and older test scores indicate that this income-innovation gap can largely be accounted for by differences in human capital acquisition while children are growing up.

On September 14, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) hosted the inaugural meeting of the National Council for Expanding American Innovation (NCEAI). The goal of the NCEAI is to help the USPTO develop a national strategy to build a more demographically, geographically, and economically inclusive innovation ecosystem. To assist in the development of this strategy, the USPTO sought input from the public.