Sustainable Innovation in Higher Education: The Impact of Gender

Every sector of the economy is keenly aware of the importance of innovation. It is considered vital to securing a competitive advantage, amongst other reasons, because it is an intangible asset that competitors have trouble replicating and it enables companies to boost productivity, improve product quality, and lower production costs.

The study presented below aimed to contribute to the analysis of the level of achievement of students’ innovation competences by considering two sustainable development goals (SDG) of the 2030 United Nations’ Agenda: Gender Equality (SDG 5) and Quality Education (SDG 4).

The scientific article has been written by Raquel Ferreras Garcia, Jordi Sales Zaguirre and Enric Serradell López. The article was published in the scientific journal Sustainability in 2021.

Objectives and Methodology

This article tries to answer how business students perceive their own innovation competences and which innovative competences are best achieved by students, as well as if there are differences in the achievement of these competences depending on the students’ gender.

Data collection involved students enrolled in the Final Bachelor’s Degree Project course in entrepreneurship at UOC, with a self-assessment e-questionnaire distributed for 21 days through the virtual classroom.

Results and conclusions

The results of research show that students have positive perceptions of their innovation competence achievement, making it clear that their university studies have fostered their development.

The results show that female students achieve innovation competences better than their male counterparts overall, especially in the interpersonal and networking dimensions. Male and female students exhibit significant differences in several specific competences, with the latter perceiving greater achievement than the former in most cases.

These are perseverance, change management, initiative, teamwork, written communication, the ability to work in networks, and the ability to cooperate in multidisciplinary, multicultural, and international environments. Thus, the results demonstrate the positive influence of gender on the development of innovation competences, with women being better prepared for innovative environments.

The research underscores the importance of addressing gender disparities in innovation competences and suggests educational implications for fostering innovation skills among students. The study emphasizes the need for continued research to explore and address gaps in understanding innovation competences and the influence of gender in higher education settings.

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