Talented kids from low-income families become America's Lost Einsteins

Talented kids

To maximize innovation and growth, all of our brightest youth should have the opportunity to become inventors. But a study we recently conducted, jointly with Neviana Petkova of the U.S. Treasury paints a very different picture. We found that a child’s potential for future innovation seems to have as much to do with the circumstances of his or her family background as it does with his or her talent.

We concluded that there are many “Lost Einsteins” in America – children who had the ability to innovate, but whose socioeconomic class or gender greatly reduced their ability to tap into the social networks and resources necessary to become inventors. Our analysis sheds light on how increasing these young people’s exposure to innovators may be an important way to reduce these disparities and increase the number of inventors

Only 18 per cent of the youngest generation of inventors are female. Although the gender gap narrows somewhat each year, at the current rate of convergence, we won’t see gender balance until next century. Read more

Talented kids and Math

For this reason, societies have a big interest in making sure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to become scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs. It’s not only a matter of fairness. Denying opportunities to talented people can end up hurting everyone.

The project’s latest paper, out Sunday, looks at who becomes an inventor — and who doesn’t. The results are disturbing. They have left me stewing over how many breakthrough innovations we have missed because of extreme inequality. The findings also make me even more frustrated by new tax legislation that will worsen inequality. This Congress is solving economic problems that don’t exist and aggravating those that do.

Not surprisingly, children who excelled in math were far more likely to become inventors. But being a math standout wasn’t enough. Only the top students who also came from high-income families had a decent chance to become an inventor. Read more

Talented kids and wealth

A new study shows that thanks to inequality, the U.S. has potentially missed out on millions of inventors during that time — what the researchers refer to as “lost Einsteins.” Kids born into the richest 1 per cent of society are 10 times more likely to be inventors than those born into the bottom 50 per cent — and “this is having a big effect on innovation,” MIT Sloan professor John Van Reenen said.

Since innovation is largely seen as a means for economic growth, researchers at the Equality of Opportunity Project wanted to see what part childhood wealth plays on future innovation. The research [PDF], completed by Van Reenen alongside Raj Chetty, Xavier Jaravel, Neviana Petkova, and Alex Bell, showed stark results. “The most striking thing was how sharp the relationship was between the wealth of your parents and whether you grew up to be an inventor or not,” John Van Reenen said. Read more

Talented kids from low-income families become America’s Lost Einsteins

Talented kids

Talented kids and Math

Talented kids and wealth

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