那些有潛力成為美國(guó)下一個(gè)愛因斯坦的學(xué)生,，在小學(xué)期間就能看出端倪，然而他們當(dāng)中大多數(shù)人長(zhǎng)大后沒有成為發(fā)明家,。問題出在哪里,？均等機(jī)會(huì)項(xiàng)目（Equality of Opportunity Project）的研究人員根據(jù)對(duì)專利、稅收記錄和考試分?jǐn)?shù)的調(diào)查,，來判斷哪些學(xué)生長(zhǎng)大后成為了美國(guó)的發(fā)明家，哪些學(xué)生沒有,。結(jié)果顯示,，人生早期的限制就能決定這個(gè)美國(guó)人能否為社會(huì)貢獻(xiàn)出具有變革性的思想,。

哈佛大學(xué)博士生、這次研究的第一作者亞力克斯·貝爾表示：“我有點(diǎn)震驚，在某人小學(xué)三年級(jí)的時(shí)候,，根據(jù)其科學(xué)和數(shù)學(xué)的考試成績(jī),，你就能很大程度上判定這個(gè)人能否成為發(fā)明家?！?

不過，即使是分?jǐn)?shù)最高的學(xué)生,，長(zhǎng)大后成為發(fā)明家的概率也不高，除非他們是白種人,，有著上流社會(huì)的背景,。收入位列前1%的家庭中孩子成為發(fā)明家的概率,，是中低收入家庭中孩子的10倍。白人小孩成為發(fā)明家的概率,，是黑人小孩的3倍,。而女性持有的專利數(shù)，在美國(guó)只占總專利數(shù)的18%,。

要縮減這些差異,，重點(diǎn)在于改變學(xué)生的環(huán)境,，解決缺乏創(chuàng)新氛圍的問題,。與發(fā)明家親密接觸，會(huì)增加孩子們長(zhǎng)大后成為專利所有人的概率,，尤其是在他們父母或社群其他成年人所處的領(lǐng)域,。貝爾表示：“你無法成為你沒見過的那種人,。擁有一位某種程度上與你相似的導(dǎo)師或行為榜樣，這很重要,?！?

例如,，假設(shè)在一個(gè)世界里,，女孩看見女發(fā)明家的頻率和男孩看見男發(fā)明家的頻率類似,。意識(shí)到了這個(gè)問題，就相當(dāng)于在挽留這些流失的愛因斯坦上邁出了第一步,。貝爾表示：“這不只是一些人的生活脫離了我們所討論的軌跡,。這件事對(duì)全社會(huì)而言都很重要,。”（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

本文的另一個(gè)版本登載于《財(cái)富》2018年1月1日刊,，標(biāo)題為“創(chuàng)造發(fā)明家”。

譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

Students with the potential to be America’s next Einstein can be identified in elementary school, yet most won’t grow up to be innovators. So where’s the disconnect? Researchers from the Equality of Opportunity Project examined patents, tax records, and test scores to determine which kids grow up to become inventors in the United States—and which ones do not. According to the findings, limitations that begin early in life help dictate whether a given American will contribute transformational ideas to society.

“I was a little shocked that you could know so much just by third grade about who’s going to become an inventor based on science and math test scores,” says Alex Bell, a doctoral student at Harvard and lead author of the study.

But even top-scoring students weren’t much more likely to grow up to be innovators unless they were boys from white, upper-class backgrounds. Children from the top 1% of household incomes were 10 times as likely to become inventors when they grew up as their middle- and low-income peers. White children were three times as likely as black children, and girls go on to hold just 18% of patents in the U.S.

Decreasing these disparities hinges on changing a student’s environment and correcting a lack of exposure to innovation. Proximity to inventors made children more likely to grow up to become patent holders, specifically in the same fields as their parents or other adults in their communities. “You can’t be what you can’t see,” Bell says. “Having a mentor or a role model that’s in some sense similar to you is important.”

Imagine a world where, for example, girls saw women inventors as often as boys see men inventors. Recognizing the problem, then, is the first step to retaining these lost Einsteins. “This is not just the lives of the people who fall out of the pipeline that we’re talking about,” Bell says. “This is something very important to all of society.”

A version of this article appears in the Jan. 1, 2018 issue of Fortune with the headline “Inventing the Inventors.”