Data has shown that women are less represented in the fields of technology and entrepreneurship than their male counterparts. But what can be done about this?

Washington University is currently accepting applications by female faculty members of research institutions in the United States to participate in Equalize 2020, a program that includes a national pitch competition and a symposium of speakers discussing women’s representation in tech innovations.

Participants that are selected through the pitch competition will be paired with mentors to polish their inventions and get connections with companies that are interested in commercializing their work. The application for the pitch competition is due on Friday, Nov. 15 and the symposium, which is open to the public, will be held between June 24-25, 2020.

“Washington University is a leader in thinking about how women participate in technology commercialization. There is no university that can stand up a pitch competition that is at the right space with 6-8 women in their sphere,” Dr. Nichole Mercier, assistant vice chancellor and managing director of the Office of Technology Management, which is organizing Equalize 2020, said.

Dr. Karen Gheesling Mullis, vice president of R&D (research and development) project management at WUGEN, a biotech start-up in St. Louis, got involved in organizing Equalize 2020 last spring and strongly believes in empowering women to believe that they are capable of success.

“Making sure that you are supporting women that are coming forward, making every effort to work with them and support them,” Mullis said. “[Women] don’t see their inventions as being commercializable…That’s very much what we wanted to dispel and [we want to] support the women so that they can be very successful.”

To raise the representation of women in the field of technology, there are three angles Equalize 2020 plans to approach: the invitation to participate, the education and the network.

“We thought that those three elements… are all things that we can tackle,” Mercier said. “Often times women…don’t get that invitation to participate…Education [is] the language of commercialization that they need to know to be articulate, to feel confident and going out approaching people outside of their typical sphere…[Women’s] networks tend to not reach into the same spaces as their male counterparts reach.”

Although the competition is selective, Mercier encouraged all those interested in the program to apply.

“I do think I have heard from some women where they think, ‘Well, maybe I am not ready for this,’ and, ‘Maybe my science isn’t ready for this.’” Mercier said. “That challenge is something we all have to work on, to overcome, with one another. So I would say that’s probably a continuing barrier that we are just going to face until we really do get enough women to say, ‘No. You know what, I did this and I’m gonna encourage somebody else to do it.’”

The Equalize 2020 organizers also do not want to discourage those who are not selected.

“We are going to find a way to keep them engaged,” Mercier said. “Certainly it’s how we deliver the message, but it’s also what opportunities can we provide for these women to be at Equalize, and maybe they are not pitching, but there are these really great opportunities.”

Mullis noted that her experience with WUGEN reveals how Equalize 2020 can contribute to both the St. Louis community as well as the nation.

“WUGEN is a good example. The technology with which WUGEN was founded came out of Washington University,” Mullis said. “This will fuel additional women not just in St. Louis but across the country that have technology within a university that they feel is ready to be commercialized. And so any one of them goes on to be successful.”

Mercier feels encouraged by the support for the program that she has received from various sources.

“There’s a lot of investors and corporations who are committed to this and who are reaching out to us and saying, ‘I want to be part of this,’” Mercier said. “So that’s been really encouraging to us to see all of the support and…people on both coasts, where the investor communities sit and a lot more technology commercialization happens, saying, ‘This is amazing. We need to do this,’ and, ‘Maybe we can think about having this on the west coast or on the east coast.’ So we are really doing something different.”

Further, Mercier noted that Equalize 2020 is “more than just a pitch competition.” Although the competition is geared towards academic faculty members of universities, the conversation about empowering female entrepreneurs involves everyone.

“It’s a conversation around ‘How do we change it?’” Mercier said. “The conversation really is, could be undergrad students, could be postdoc-heavy as well. Because when you see the next generation of academic investigators, the more you know, the more you understand about the barriers, the better we all are, and [that’s] sort of changing the next generation.”

Mullis also shared her hope for the future of young, aspirational female entrepreneurs.

“There are women that have made this journey,” Mullis said. “You may be the only woman in the room or the only minority in the room. But you have a place in that room. You’ve earned your place in that room. So own that and live into it.”