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Project launch: "WE!" makes the achievements of innovative women in regional innovation ecosystems visible - 08/01/2021

As part of an interdisciplinary research network of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences, ifi is putting the spotlight on the achievements of innovative women in the Ruhr and Münster regions in the project "WE! Westphalian Women Inventors".

In science and practice, there is a clear gap in making innovative women visible. For example, society is dominated by images of male experts, scientists or even entrepreneurs. However, innovative women can be found in a wide variety of positions: e.g. as a researcher, as a founder, as a specialist in business or even as an initiator in social fields.

The aim of the joint project launched on August 1, 2021, "WE! Westphalian Women Inventors" is therefore both to understand the innovation context in the Ruhr region and Münsterland and to research the role of inventive women as drivers of innovation and make them visible by means of adequate communication measures. In this way, other women are to be encouraged to follow similar innovative paths.

For this purpose, the project team, consisting of employees of ifi as well as the Department of Economics and Information Technology and the Institute for Journalism and Public Relations of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences, is developing a "toolbox" of analysis and communication measures with the help of which the visibility of innovative women can also be strengthened in other economic regions.

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under FKZ 01FP21061.