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The purpose of the thesis was to examine how a ‘bottom up’ approach can highlight
how gender is done in innovation policy and innovation research. This purpose is
fulfilled by the conclusion that gender is done in a segregating and hierarchical manner
in innovation policy and innovation research when women and areas employing many
women are marginalized in the promotion of innovation systems and clusters. The four
networks have challenged this way of doing gender by proposing a less segregating
and hierarchical tactic, opening up for many different actors at many different areas
promoting many different kinds of innovations. This conclusion calls for further
development of existing theories on how innovation is promoted by joint action
networks. The development includes 1) a new operationalization of ‘innovation’,
‘innovation systems’ and ‘clusters’ to comprise a wider range of actors and areas and
2) a shift from ‘triple helix’ to ‘quattro helix’ as a theoretical model in order to include
the non-profit sector as well. Policy implications to be drawn from the analysis are the
inclusion of a wider range of actors and activities in the innovation policy priority
patterns, reaching beyond segregating and hierarchical notions of gender.
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