A common perception is that there is a gender gap in industries that deal with math and science, typically because women lack the skills necessary to enter the fields. However, a new study is suggesting that females may actually be selling themselves short, only believing that they do not have the characteristics necessary to get into the field.

According to findings from the 2011 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, women from the U.S. in the 16 to 25 age bracket are creative, interested in math and science and prefer to work with either groups or mentors. All of these characteristics are needed to become inventors. However, the report finds that despite having all of these qualities, the majority of women still don't view themselves as inventive.

Within the survey, the researchers were able to gauge what kinds of inventions females would be interested in. Approximately 49 percent of women wanted to pursue an invention that would help others, compared to 38 percent of men. Additionally, 58 percent of females would make an invention in the health science or consumer product industries their main goal.