The annual Lemelson-MIT Invention Index 2011, which gauges Americans’ perceptions about invention and innovation, this year surveyed young men and women ages 16 – 25. Almost three in four young women (71 percent) indicate they are creative, the characteristic they most associate with inventors (63 percent); however, less than one in three (27 percent) describe themselves as inventive. Men also follow this trend; 66 percent say they are creative but only 39 percent describe themselves as inventive.
