Women and IP: innovation and science in Argentina
By Raquel Flanzbaum and Mariel Chichisola.
Women do not hold places of relevance in science and innovation in the same proportion as men. This is well known and widely discussed, and it is difficult to change this situation. The ongoing debate about the ability of legislative change to produce social transformation is interesting. Is it new legislation that pushes social change, or is it the other way around?
The current legal situation in Argentina in relation to the involvement of women in the IP system is as follows:
- Article 3 of the National Science, Technology and Innovation System Financing Law(1) states that investment in science, technology and innovation must be increased for several reasons. Among these are the preservation of “the real and effective equality of the participation of women and the LGTBI+ population at all levels and areas of the scientific-technological system”.
- A rule issued by the Register of Companies of Buenos Aires in August 2020 determined that one-third of the positions to be filled in the administrative and supervisory bodies (ie, directors and trustees) in certain types of corporations must be held by women. However, the courts have held this provision to be unconstitutional in certain circumstances.
- The Argentinian labour law provides that male employees are entitled to paternity leave for only two days after the birth of their child. Despite several proposals for amendment, no actual changes have been made so far.
Women represent half of those who start scientific careers.(2) However, as they get older and become mothers, this number drops markedly in leadership positions. Things are quite similar in private activity: women occupy only 16% of the positions in the boards in the main companies in Argentina.(3)
In the world of IP legal services in particular, things have progressed, although not at the desired speed. The presence of female partners in IP firms 20-30 years ago was almost invariably because they were relatives of the owners. Nowadays, women are considered for partnership alongside men, with the necessary flexibility for marriage and/or maternity beyond the limited leave periods recognised by the labour law. Women have thus gradually filled strategic positions, such as managing partners or heads of litigation or prosecution departments.
Science, innovation and intellectual property need diversity. To achieve this, it is imperative that a woman’s career be the same as that of a man, with the same predictability and certainty, regardless of her role as a mother. Perhaps the biggest challenge is to ensure that candidates are selected and employees are promoted for their knowledge, technical skills and experience, not for their gender.
Those involved in intellectual property in Argentina should be alert to the fact that they can make a contribution towards inclusion and diversity. To this end, employers in IP firms may wish to emphasise inclusion and diversity when publishing job searches and use a “blind hiring” system to guarantee equal opportunities for all candidates.
In Argentina, fewer women than men hold positions of relevance in the world of innovation, science and intellectual property. The gap still exists and the inequality of opportunities and professional development between the genders is still there for all to see. However, legislative change can facilitate social transformation, and vice versa. While women have progressed in innovation, science and technology, there is much that those in the IP world can do to further drive this change.
For further information please contact Mariel Chichisola or Raquel Flanzbaum.
Endnotes
(1) No. 27,614. The law was passed in February 2021 and its main purpose is:
the progressive and sustained increase of the national budget allocated to science and technology, due to its strategic capacity for economic, social and environmental development.
(2) According to the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research, the main body that promotes science and technology in Argentina under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
(3) According to a study by the consulting firm KPMG.
