(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionImportant efforts are being made to study and promote the position of women within the fields of science, research and technological innovation. Examples of this on a European level are: European Commission. Directorate-General for Research (2009) and, on a national level: Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) (2005). In general, the studies done indicate their low presence and representation both at international level and within our country. It is possible, through the ability to innovate and create economic value within technological knowledge, to promote economic growth and make it possible for regions and countries to become more competitive (Basile et al., 2012; Sener & Saridogan, 2011). If we understand the innovative capacity of a country to be the ability to achieve economic growth, social welfare and sustainability, the human factor is the key to achieving these objectives. This means that the underemployment of the talent, knowledge and skills of women is something that should be addressed. The waste of women's talents, knowledge and skills weighs heavily in the science system (Kugele, 2010). As indicated by Fox (2001) women in science have overcome obstacles, both with regard to self-selection within the different fields, as well as through selection by institutions. However, they have not yet been able to achieve complete integration at the highest levels. In Spain, despite the fact that women represent 37.6% of the teaching staff in Spanish Public Universities1, (35.8% in Andalusia) and 39.8% of researchers in higher education, only 16.6% of those holding university chairs are women (16% in Andalusia).Consequently, our first objective in this work is to analyse, from the perspective of gender, the technological contribution of the researchers belonging to the most relevant public research centres in Andalusia2 (amongst these, both the Universities and Centres belonging to the Spanish National Research Council in Andalusia). Secondly, we refer to the quality of the contribution, studying whether or not there may be differences which depend on the gender of the researchers. Based on the analysis of the information which resulted in a total of 498 Andalusian patent applications and the estimation of a counting model, our intention is to provide a response to the following question:Is the quality of the patent higher when the inventor team includes both male and female inventors?The article is structured as follows: The following section (1) reviews the existing literature regarding studies about women's engagement in patenting activity and asks the questions that we seek to answer. There follows a description of the methodology used. The data, model estimate and results are presented in sections 2 to 4. Finally, the most relevant conclusions are commented upon in conclusions.1. Review of the literature and question to be consideredUniversities have increased their obligations towards society over recent decades, by not solely limiting their functions to training or investigation; extending their functions as well as to contribute to the economic growth of the regions in which they are situated. As indicated by Whittington (2011), many agree that the traditional image of the scientist is being replaced by a new model, the scientist-entrepreneur, who creates a balance between institutional responsibilities and academic activities. In this sense, technology transfer is one of the main instruments for the development of this function, as has been demonstrated by the important growth of the commercial activities of these institutions, within which, patents play an significant role (Kleinman & Vallas, 2001; Owen-Smith & Powell, 2004; Azoulay et al., 2007).The economic dimension of sustainable development is based on innovation. The creation of knowledge and innovation must be understood as a process. …