Promoting Innovation

384 Pages·2012·2.82 MB·English

vinnova RepoRt
vR 2012:08
Promoting innovation
Policies, Practices and Procedures
SuSanne andeRSSon, KaRin BeRglund,
ewa gunnaRSSon & eliSaBeth Sundin (edS.)
Title: Promoting Innovation - Policies, practices and procedures
Author: Susanne Andersson, Karin Berglund, Ewa Gunnarsson & Elisabeth Sundin (Eds.)
Series: VInnoVA Report VR 2012:08
ISBN: 978-91-86517-71-7
ISSN: 1650-3104
Published: november 2012
Publisher: VInnoVA–Verket för Innovationssystem/Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation System
VINNOVA Case No: 2009-02191
VINNOVA - strengthening Sweden´s innovativeness
VINNOVA is Sweden’s innovation agency. Our mission is to promote sustainable
growth by improving the conditions for innovation, as well as funding needs-driven
research.
VINNOVA’s vision is for Sweden to be a world-leading country in research and
innovation, an attractive place in which to invest and conduct business. We promote
collaborations between companies, universities, research institutes and the public sector.
We do this by stimulating a greater use of research, by making long-term investment
in strong research and innovation milieus and by developing catalytic meeting places.
VINNOVA’s activities also focus on strengthening international cooperation. In order to
increase our impact, we are also dedicated to interacting with other research financiers
and innovation-promoting organisations. Every year VINNOVA invests about SEK 2
billion in various initiatives.
VINNOVA is a Swedish government agency working under the Ministry of
Enterprise, Energy and Communications and acts as the national contact agency for
the EU Framework Programme for R&D. We are also the Swedish government’s
expert agency within the field of innovation policy. VINNOVA was founded in January
2001. About 200 people work here and we have offices in Stockholm and Brussels. Our
Director General is Charlotte Brogren.
The VINNOVA Report series includes publications and reports, often by external
authors, from programmes and projects that have received funding from VINNOVA.
Includes also editorials related to VINNOVAs mission, by independent authors.
VINNOVA´s publications are published at www.VINNOVA.se
Promoting Innovation
Policies, Practices and Procedures

Susanne Andersson

Karin Berglund

Ewa Gunnarsson

Elisabeth Sundin

Eds.

Foreword – The kaleidoscope effect
This anthology uses a gender perspective to analyse constraining structures in innova-
tion systems. Focusing on mainstream policies as well as regional and organisational
practices, it presents procedures, methods and methodologies to develop gender-
aware, innovative organisations.
Fostering innovation requires ability to question what is taken for granted and per-
ceived as the natural order. Challenging this order often requires a critical mind where
a gender perspective can be useful. The experience of integrating a gender perspective
can be likened to turning a kaleidoscope; the resulting shift in perspective causes new
images and highlights new opportunities.
This anthology is the result of more than ten years’ research and development work
funded by VINNOVA and aimed at establishing a research field in gender and innova-
tion. Ten years ago, there were few researchers and limited research focusing on this
area. Today, the picture is different and this anthology presents the analyses of 31
researchers on how gender is a constraining structure within innovation systems. There
is little doubt that integrating a gender perspective helps promoting innovation.

VINNOVA in November 2012

Charlotte Brogren Klara Adolphson
Director General Head of Organization and Management Department
Manufacturing and Working Life Division

Preface
This anthology is the result of an initiative taken in 2009 by Jennie Granat Thorslund
to gather articles about gender and innovation. When I retired that year, she succeeded
me as responsible for VINNOVA’s work with gender and equal opportunities. Before
that, for almost ten years, I had been engaged in forming a research field for gender
and equal opportunities in accordance with VINNOVA’s mission. At the time of my
retirement, VINNOVA had established itself as an important founder of needs-driven
research within the field of gender research for sustainable growth. This is the basis
upon which this anthology rests.
VINNOVA’s main task is to promote sustainable growth in Sweden by funding
needs-driven research and the development of effective innovation systems. In addi-
tion to that, VINNOVA, like most governmental agencies, has a mission in connection
to the political goal concerning equal opportunities. VINNOVA should “work for
gender equality and support gender research within its field of mission”. VINNOVA’s
general mission opens the way to the emergence of new ideas and innovation within
new constellations and therefore fits well with integrating a gender perspective. Tak-
en-for-granted norms and ideals about gender would be a hindrance to new thinking
and the development of innovation; it is therefore necessary to question these.
Very soon after the establishment of VINNOVA in 2001, I was tasked with plan-
ning to fulfil VINNOVA’s responsibility in gender equality and gender research. At
that time, there were few gender researchers interested in innovation and growth and
even fewer, if any, innovation systems researchers with knowledge about gender and
the relevance of a gender perspective for innovations. A call for proposals in gender
and innovation systems would not have interested the required number of applicants
for a valid competition for grants.
In 2004, a call was opened asking for projects about “Gender perspectives on inno-
vation systems and equal opportunities – R&D projects for sustainable growth”. This
call was a first step in raising interest in needs-driven research for sustainable growth
among gender researchers. Twelve projects were funded through this call, most intend-
ing to present methods and models for raising awareness about gender within enter-
prises and organisations. One striking aspect of these projects was the relatively high
number of enterprises taking part; this showed a growing insight among them about
the importance of working with gender and equal opportunities for business. The polit-
ical goal regarding equal opportunities had never included private enterprise and so
previous development projects for equal opportunities had most often covered public
organisations instead. For VINNOVA, enterprises were and still are very important, as
they are one actor within the Triple Helix model of innovation systems.
With this call, a small group of gender researchers with an understanding of
VINNOVA’s mission was formed. The group was strengthened by seminars once or
twice a year where the project members got to know each other and at the same time,
VINNOVA’s goals could be communicated to them. These seminars thus served to
support the development of a new research field. With this portfolio of projects,
VINNOVA could cooperate with other organisations funding research into equal op-
portunities. Amongst other things, a webpage gathering information from four organi-
sations about equal opportunities projects was created. VINNOVA took part in semi-
nars during the political week in Almedalen together with these organisations.
VINNOVA was a “player” in the gender and equal opportunities field but there were
no plans for further calls within the field that we had begun to know as Gender and
Innovation.
In 2008, however, an opportunity turned up. Vinnova had programmes for “strong
milieus” on an innovations systems basis (university, enterprise and the public sector);
the VINNOVA Centres of Excellence and the VINNOVA growth centres. A large
number of initiatives were taken in 2008 aimed at strengthening these centres and I
suggested a call for a “Gender Perspective to Strengthen Strong Milieus” which im-
mediately was approved by management. One important aspect of the call was the
ownership of the projects. Applications were to come from the centre leaders, not from
gender researchers. The centres were expected to grow stronger in their normal tasks,
i.e. developing innovations and growth; not just within equal opportunities as such, but
through deeper gender knowledge. Another important aspect was that these centres
were granted funding for ten years, assuming they passed the recurrent evaluations. A
gender project within these centres which normally lasted for three years could there-
fore have an impact even after the project itself had come to an end.
The intention of the TIGER call was to tie gender researchers to innovation milieus
and raise knowledge on both sides as well as contributing to growth i.e. innovations.
Another 10 projects were started and the knowledge to be gained was now much clos-
er to gender and innovation than during the first call.
In 2010, Jennie Granat Thorslund took over my responsibilities for VINNOVA’s
work with gender and equal opportunities. With her deeper theoretical knowledge of
innovation systems combined with her experience working for equal opportunities, she
took initiatives to move the TIGER projects to the international innovation systems
milieus by participating in the Triple Helix conference in Madrid 2010. The idea of an
anthology about gender and innovation was raised during that conference.
Jennie took a very active part in forming the anthology by serving as one of its
three editors. The two other editors were Ewa Gunnarsson and Elisabeth Sundin. In the
spring of 2011 Jennie suffered a major stroke from which she has not yet recovered
enough to resume her role on the editing committee. Two new members, Susanne
Andersson and Karin Berglund, were thus brought into the editors’ group. Through the
intense, competent work of the editors it now becomes possible to present this anthol-
ogy. VINNOVA has thereby shown itself an important player within the field of gen-
der and innovation and not just in Sweden.

Ulla Göranson
Content
Introduction
Susanne Andersson, Karin Berglund, Jennie Granat Thorslund, Ewa Gunnarsson
and Elisabeth Sundin .......................................................................................9
PART I: Policies for Innovation
Susanne Andersson and Karin Berglund .......................................................... 21
Innovative policies? - Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy from a Gender
Perspective
Karin Berglund and Jennie Granat Thorslund ............................................. 25
A striking Pattern - Co-construction of Innovation, Men and Masculinity in
Sweden’s Innovation Policy
Malin Lindberg............................................................................................. 47
New Subject Positions for Non-Traditional Actors or Business as Usual in
the Strong Region Discourse?
Christine Hudson ......................................................................................... 68
Innovation and Energy Policies - Only a few Women, so what?
Mari Ratinen ................................................................................................ 91
Implementing “a Gender Perspective” in an Innovation Policy Programme -
More Innovation or ambivalence and uncertainty?
Trine Kvidal & Elisabet Ljunggren ............................................................ 111
Part II: Practices for Innovation
Elisabeth Sundin ......................................................................................... 131
Economic Geography in Regional Planning - Homosocial Stories or Allowing
Spaces?
Gunnel Forsberg, Katarina Pettersson & Gerd Lindgren .......................... 135
Gendered Partnerships and Networks in Swedish Innovation Policy
- A Case Study of Multi-level Governance
Mona Hedfeldt & Gun Hedlund ................................................................. 155
Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Gender - The Construction of Projects for
Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Healthcare and Care Sectors
Elisabeth Sundin ......................................................................................... 173
Inward and Outward Learning Processes - Reflections on Research
Methodology and Learning whilst working with a strong Innovation
Network Organisation in an Innovation System
Christina Scholten, Agneta Hansson, Kicki Stridh & Mia Swärdh............. 198
Why so little Resistance? - An Action Research Project at a Technological
Research Institute
Martha Blomqvist & Hans Frennberg ........................................................ 221
Public Servants as Agents for Change in Gender Mainstreaming
– The Complexity of Practice
Anne-Charlott Callerstig ............................................................................ 239
PART III: Procedures for Innovation
Ewa Gunnarsson ......................................................................................... 271
Gender Mainstreaming as a Driving Force of Innovation - Process and
Outcome in a School Setting
Anna Fogelberg Eriksson ........................................................................... 275
Doing Gender in a Local and Regional Context - An Innovative Process of
Mainstreaming Gender Equality
Hans Lundkvist & Hanna Westberg ........................................................... 291
Developing Innovative Organisations - Using Action-orientated Gender Research
Susanne Andersson & Eva Amundsdotter .................................................. 310
Gendered Innovative Design - Critical Reflections stimulated by Personas
Eva Källhammer & Åsa Wikberg Nilsson .................................................. 328
Are Female and Male Entrepreneurs equally Innovative? - Reducing the
Gender Bias of Operationalisations and Industries studied
Johanna Nählinder, Malin Tillmar & Caroline Wigren-Kristoferson ........ 351
Authors Presentation .......................................................................... 373