Gender and Diversity Index for a fair, competitive, resilient and sustainable Europe

Project Information

GENDEX

Grant agreement ID: 101105161

DOI

10.3030/101105161

Project closed

EC signature date 20 December 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 28 February 2025

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 700 000,00

EU contribution

€ 700 000,00

Coordinated by

IDC ITALIA SRL
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GENDEX (Gender and Diversity Index for a fair, competitive, resilient and sustainable Europe)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

GENDEX aims to create a comprehensive and actionable index for the European innovation landscape, addressing significant gender disparities in leadership positions and investment sectors across the Deep Tech ecosystem.

By providing detailed data on gender diversity and its impact on financial and operational performance, GENDEX seeks to empower start-ups, scale-ups, corporates, investors, and policymakers to make informed decisions that enhance diversity and inclusion within their organizations and investments. The project involves developing and implementing the Gender & Diversity Index, utilizing existing data, conducting new research, and engaging with a wide range of stakeholders. This includes synthesizing available information on gender diversity, identifying gaps, and collecting new data through surveys and interviews.
Additionally, GENDEX will create tools such as an interactive dashboard and a self-assessment widget to facilitate easy access and practical application of the index. Experts will be engaged for validation, and findings will be disseminated through targeted communication strategies.

Ultimately, the project seeks to close the gender gap, enhance the availability of diverse talent, and support the growth and success of underfunded women-led companies, thereby fostering a more inclusive and prosperous European economy.

The key actions of GENDEX include:
• Develop a pilot innovation gender & diversity index based on agreed definitions and indicators that can be applied to start-ups/ SMEs and to innovation investment actors in the EU.
• Identify relevant sources of reliable and robust data.
• Develop methodologies and conduct data collection in order to fill data gaps.
• Implement and produce a first pilot gender & diversity index using available data from different sources as well as additional data collection as appropriate.
• Provide recommendations for further development and implementation of an innovation gender and diversity index and additional measures needed to improve data availability and benchmarking, such as voluntary reporting standards by start-ups, scale-ups and investment funds.
• Disseminate and promote the results of the project to investors, policy makers and the wider innovation ecosystem.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In addressing gender and diversity across EU investment, start-up and scale-up communities it has been necessary to provide an outline of existing research, reports and methodologies for the purpose of guiding the framework for GENDEX, assessment of key indicators, data sources and methodologies.
An overview of the definition of diversity and application within the context of GENDEX, as well as review of existing global literature and recommendation for an assessment framework and indicators has been conducted.

A description of the key indicators and metrics that will form the basis of the developed index has been developed and will provide the overview of the index itself as well as provide individual tables on the identified indicators and composite metrics, their data sources and the description of the data itself.

A public report on the selection of the data and data sources which provides validation and a transparent description of the foundations behind GENDEX serving as a reference document for future users and builders of the GENDEX index has been developed.
For the primary research activities to support the desk research, a survey of 150 personas in the target group plus 20 in-depth interviews with female founders and investors has been conducted.
The final Validated Scorecard with all data has been developed, to identify gaps and enable action to be taken by actors across the European innovation and entrepreneurship landscape.

As part of the scope, a report based on Index has been developed aiming to identify gender diversity and inclusion gaps in the European innovation and entrepreneurship landscape, specifically in Deep Tech areas of interest for the European Innovation Council (EIC). The themes analysed span from talent pool availability to access to capital, intellectual property ownership, representation in the workplace and overall business performance.

The data relates to indicators selected in the Validated Index Scorecard, which provided a framework for measuring the flow of women from the early stages of the tech founder funnel through to IPO. This framework has been validated by a group of twelve renowned experts, including policy makers, investors, corporate leaders and EIC board members.

The report offers key conclusions that are drawn from the analysis of the index, to provide actionable insights and recommendations for key stakeholders across the European Innovation ecosystem, from investors to policy makers.
An interactive dashboard, based on the GENDEX Index is accessible from the GENDEX website www.eurogendex.org and allows users to visualize the data and allow for comparisons contributing to better understanding of diversity and inclusion gaps. The GENDEX pulse, also available from the website can be used as a tool for companies to do a self-assessment from the gender and diversity points of view.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The first ever Gender and Diversity Index covering all EU plus UK and allowing for gap identification and thorough analysis of the situation in EU with respect to different indicators covering gender and a wide array of diversity factors. The project will provide more standard-based data sets as well as primary research ensuring unique insight into Gender and Diversity gaps allowing for evidence-based decision support for stakeholders, so that investment in startups currently based on assumptions or tradition can change leading to better performance.

GENDEX Diversity Defined