How can strategies for gender equality contribute to growth in clusters?Ann-Christin Nyberg, PhD-Student at the division of Gender and Innovation, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden Abstract for the conference TCI-09: Learning Clusters, Jyväskylä, Finland The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems VINNOVA supports a development of regional innovation systems that take gender issues into account through its programme VINNVÄXT. This provided a unique opportunity to study gender in relation to innovative work. Hence, a study of the initiatives that had received funding from VINNVÄXT, the so called VINNVÄXT-winners, was initiated. A part of this study builds on interviews with focus groups that consisted primarily of the management groups of the VINNVÄXT-winners. The focus groups were asked to describe their respective innovation systems from a gender perspective and to reflect on related problems, if any. The innovation systems turned out to most often be male dominated in general as well as on managerial and directional levels. The focus groups identified a number of problems related to this gender imbalance and described them in terms of opportunities to improve the innovation systems. They pointed out that gender stereotypes hide individual originality in both men and women and that gender awareness can reveal a broader range of options for future development and hence be beneficial for innovation and sustainable growth. To not take into account 50 % of the population was also seen as an irrational waste of resources in today's global competition. In the global competition about the most talented people communication about organizations and the organizations in practice must appeal not only to men but also to women. When traditional markets become mature and declining unexploited markets - which often is where women are found - become interesting to exploit. As society is changing towards increased equality it becomes irrational to build the technologies of the future on unequal gender stereotypes of the past. To conclude gender inequality can bee seen as a part of the innovation system that lags behind, an inefficiency of the system and its processes. Gender inequality can hence be addressed as a problem that can be solved through innovation. This is a kind of experimental work that some of the WINNVÄXT-winners are doing. Emneord: Gender, Growth, Innovation, Opportunities