black inventors

HBCU female academic entrepreneurs

Introduction

HBCU female academic entrepreneurs can help increase diversity among women entrepreneurs in high tech. There is a concentrated number of potential women entrepreneurs of diverse races among faculty in the United States’ Historically Black Colleges and Universities (known as HBCUs and are called ‘Black Colleges’ herein). This study describes the potential for developing university technology transfer in these Black Colleges as a strategy for increasing diversity among women entrepreneurs in high growth, high tech fields using female academic entrepreneurs.

Emerging research HBCU Howard University research lab

Emerging research institutions include HBCUs

Currently, Black Colleges lag behind their peer non-Black Colleges in technology transfer because historically they have been under, served and were originally established largely as teaching and blue-collar trade schools. Although Black female STEM faculty comprised less than 2% of the US faculty, they are 22% at HBCUs (Mack, 2011).

This study used a novel theoretical framework to compare technology transfer programs at 24 Black Colleges with doctoral programs and five non-Black Colleges. The correlation analysis confirmed hypotheses about the relationships between tech transfer resource inputs and outputs. The analysis showed that larger technology transfer support and licensing staff correlated with more invention disclosures and startup formations. However, legal support investments showed no correlation with the number of licensing agreements. Additionally, neither legal support investments nor the number of patent applications filed correlated with faculty size per program.

Findings

Faculty size per program positively influences the number of licensing agreements. Both faculty size and total research expenditures also increase total licensing agreements. The data does not support the hypothesis that non-tenured faculty negatively affect licensing agreements or start-up formations. Faculty quality includes measures such as publications, honors, and awards.

Gross licensing income shows no correlation with faculty publication volume or the percentage of faculty receiving honors and awards. Invention disclosures, patent applications, and faculty honors also show no connection to faculty with research grants. However, licensing revenue and publication citations do correlate positively with faculty who hold research grants. Additionally, institutions with more female faculty researchers tend to report more faculty honors, higher licensing income, and more start-ups.

These findings informed the development of a model intellectual property (IP) policy for Black Colleges. These policies aim to strengthen technology transfer and academic entrepreneurship. HBCU female academic entrepreneurs can help diversify high-growth, high-tech fields.

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Appropriation of artisans’ intellectual property: Piracy disguised as giving back?

Creative Industries

Creative industries are industries focused on the creation, exploitation and appropriation of artisans’ intellectual property, including art, fashion design, and related creative services, such as advertisement and sales.  During a trip to Burkina Faso in West Africa, Keri Fosse was taught by an African woman how to wrap African artisan fashion accessory craftsnewborns with fabric in a manner that creates a strong bond and frees the mother’s hands for other tasks.

Craft culture

Burkina Faso has a craft culture and is known for its woven cotton and the textile art of Bogolan.  Bogolan is a technique original to and involves the tradition of dyeing threads with bright colors, washing it skillfully, using coated and shiny Bazin, and using indigo from Benin. After this trip, Fosse and her husband developed a shirt which copies the African lady’s, Lalabu’s, technique.

They developed a product called Soothe Shirt; and created a business called Lalabu. Lalabu is also the name of the African woman that the Fosses met. They have been successful. The Fosses have stated that they got the idea from Lalabu, but redesigned it for production. The couple advertises that they “giving back” by giving 2% percent of each purchase to help female African entrepreneurs through microfinancing.

Intellectual property piracy

The Fosses claim that when African women repay their micro-loans, the women reinvest the money into the loan fund. This study argues that such practices do not reflect socially responsible entrepreneurship. Instead, they represent intellectual property piracy. The following sections discuss the relevant legal and theoretical foundations, along with current best practices. However, these practices often lack shared ownership. While Americans may commonly appropriate artisans’ intellectual property within the U.S., their appropriation of cultural crafts from other countries demands closer scrutiny and accountability.

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Black American Frugal Innovators in a circular economy

Introduction
black frugal innovations George Washington Carver

Black frugal innovator George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute HBCU

This article advocates that Black American frugal innovators were slaves and freed slaves. They embraced circular economy principles. Frugal innovation occurs when the rich make use of innovations developed in poor countries. There is purportedly a current rivalry between India and China in the frugal innovation arena. This research advocates that the concept of frugal innovation did not originate in Asia or India.

The practice of the rich taking the poor’s innovations is not new. In particular, Black American slaves and freed slaves developed a number of inventions in poverty conditions. It is imperative that frugal innovation research be more historically accurate. This research reduces the marginalization of contributions developed by poor innovators. This increases the more widespread embrace of circular economy principles. If a poor innovator resides in a rich country, then that innovator should not be excluded from the frugal innovator category. To sum up, Black innovators; use of frugality to innovate is pertinent.

North American, Indian and Asian poor

Arguably, Black American inventors during slavery and the reconstruction period post-slavery were indeed frugal innovators. Further, these frugal innovators also embraced circular economy principles. The current scholarship emphasizes frugal innovations originating in India and Asia. These are not the only races of people that are frugal innovators. This current notion is harmful. Perhaps much can be gained in achieving the mainstream implementation of circular economy principles if more diverse populations of frugal innovators were identified. Research on other populations that are frugal out of necessity is necessary. These populations need to be equally marketed and promoted.

In addition to recognizing the frugal innovations that are being developed in rural developing countries, it is important to recognize the contributions of Black frugal innovators. Doing so may help inspire young people to follow this path. Carrying this torch from generation to generation may bolster the sustainability of the frugal innovation movement. Read more here…

See also HBCUs as emerging research institutions in university technology transfer

and HBCU budget resource planning for university technology transfer