Inventing and Black Lives Matter
TLDR: What can we do if we want to increase diversity amongst US innovators? Stop enacting policies and violence against Black communities.
I began my teaching career at Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy. Sarah was a Chicago resident and is recognized as the second Black women to receive as US patent in 1885. Her invention was a two-in-one piece of furniture: the cabinet bed. The furniture store she owned sold this and other products to customers who didn’t have room in their small apartments for traditional furniture. This invention solved a problem people in her community faced and enabled her to make a living from her own intellectual property. At its best, inventing is about improving both lives and livelihoods. Sarah exemplified that.
The neighborhood voted to name the new school, in a predominantly Black neighborhood, after her in 2012. This choice symbolizes a legacy of invention and innovation as well as their aspirations for their children.
As an educator, I’m reflecting on the current state of innovation for Black people across the United States. What have we done to better support the development of Black innovators and what must? Empirical evidence to points the way.
Our first stop is the patent literature. Inventors with sufficient access to capital and an eye on commercializing seek a temporary monopoly on their invention through patent protection in exchange for publicly sharing how their inventions work.
The USPTO does not collect demographic information so we there is no way to identify Black inventors from these documents alone. One recent approach administered a survey to top patent holders and R&D 100 recognized innovators in the United States and found Black people represent 0.3% of this group (Nager, Hart, Ezell, & Atkinson, 2016). White Students were twice as likely to receive a U.S. patent compared to their Black peers in a population of students who attended New York City Public Schools (Bell, Chetty, Jaravel, Petkova, & Van Reenen, 2017). The data are clear that Black people are underrepresented as patented inventors.
More reliable data exists if we look earlier in the innovation pathway. One needs to develop some level of pre-requisite skills and knowledge before generating a new and useful idea and applying for a patent. Today’s inventions, especially the most economically beneficial, rely on skills in STEM fields. The National Science Foundation reports on diversity in STEM Education pathways and the workforce (National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 2019). Black people represent about 13% of the U.S. population though only 7% of the STEM workforce. Black people earn just 4% of engineering bachelor’s degrees and 9% of science degrees.
How did these disparities come to be?
We have empirical data for that, too! Dr. Lisa Cook, a preeminent scholar and professor of economics at MSU, has done groundbreaking work matching patent data sets from 1843–1930 with additional surveys and data to identify Black inventors in this time period. Dr. Cook found that structural factors, such as the enactment segregation laws in this time period which restricted access to the social capital needed to patent, are negatively correlated with patenting activity for Black people (Cook, 2011) as are violent events against black people such as lynching and race-related riots (but the same is not true for White people) (Cook, 2014). The key finding from the Lost Einstein’s report is that exposure to innovation and innovators has a causal impact on whether or not children will become patented inventors (Bell et al., 2017). The evidence gets even strong when you look at the innovation happening in academia today. Graduate students who are underrepresented by race in their subfield are more likely to produce innovative work and less likely for their innovations to propel them into scientific careers improving their livelihoods and the lives of others (Hofstra et al., 2020). Taken together, it is clear that decades of state violence have significantly decreased the number of Black inventors and innovators. Furthermore, these effects only compound over time.
What can we learn from this evidence?
- We won’t increase or even maintain the share of Black inventors and innovators if we don’t value Black lives. Period.
- Despite the barriers we put in their way, many Black inventors still found and continue to find a way to be successful innovators.
- Black inventors always existed in large numbers but they are severely underrepresented in the patent system due to the cumulative effects of structural racism.
What can we do if we want to increase diversity amongst US innovators?
- Stop enacting policies and violence against Black communities.
- (lots of other great educational things we can do, but that’s secondary right now)
The national STEM strategic plan calls for a goal to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM (Committee on STEM Education, 2018). The report outlines a strategy to focus on STEM skills and educational programming but this will not move the needle on its own. Young people are smart and understand the context they live in. It’s OK to choose not to play a game when you know the deck is stacked against you.
As I’ve watched events unfold over the past week: from the murder of George Floyd, to the protests calling for justice, and the federal response to double down on law and order, my heart breaks. The first graduating class from Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy was due to walk across stages this month with a college degree and all the gusto and optimism needed to invent a bright future for themselves and society. Instead, they enter this world. I’m still optimistic that they will, indeed, invent the future, but not because we did the necessary work to provide them the opportunities they deserve. I want the community’s aspirations to come true so I need to do my part.
Black Lives Matter.
References
Bell, A. M., Chetty, R., Jaravel, X., Petkova, N., & Van Reenen, J. (2017). Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation (Working Paper №24062). https://doi.org/10.3386/w24062
Committee on STEM Education. (2018). Charting a Course for Success: America’s Strategy for STEM Education. Retrieved from National Science and Technology Council website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/STEM-Education-Strategic-Plan-2018.pdf
Cook, L. D. (2011). Inventing social capital: Evidence from African American inventors, 1843–1930. Explorations in Economic History, 48(4), 507–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2011.05.003
Cook, L. D. (2014). Violence and economic activity: Evidence from African American patents, 1870 to 1940. Journal of Economic Growth, 19(2), 221–257.
Hofstra, B., Kulkarni, V. V., Munoz-Najar Galvez, S., He, B., Jurafsky, D., & McFarland, D. A. (2020). The Diversity–Innovation Paradox in Science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201915378. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1915378117
Nager, A., Hart, D., Ezell, S., & Atkinson, R. (2016). The Demographics of Innovation in the United States. Retrieved from Information Technology & Innovation Foundation website: http://www2.itif.org/2016-demographics-of-innovation.pdf
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. (2019). Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering (No. Special Report 19–304). Retrieved from National Science Foundation website: www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/
