Prior research examining gender disparities in innovation have focused primarily either on the antecedents of female participation in R&D activities or on the challenges and inequalities endured by women during the inventive process. However, there has been limited exploration of the role of gender during the post-invention R&D evaluation and selection process. To fill this void, we investigate the implications of the inventing team gender composition on a firm’s propensity to terminate or discontinue an invention. Empirically, we investigate patent renewals of a sample of US biopharmaceutical firms. By examining the maintenance decisions at different stages of the invention’s lifecycle and exploring potential mechanisms and contingences, we reveal the nuanced relationship between the proportion of women in the inventing team and the likelihood of invention termination. Our study contributes to research on gender dynamics in R&D and innovation and highlights the importance of understanding gender dynamics in innovation evaluation and selection processes.
