Women entrepeneurs

Equality and emancipation are meaningful words in today’s women lives, however, when it comes to examining true equality in the labour market, good news for women is not so good any more, neither globally nor in Wales.

For Alejandro Suárez, author of the book It’s time to assemble your own business, a major problem that women face is the gender gap in entrepreneurship at a global level. “Women have spent years claiming a place in the labour market, but now it’s time to promote a new social and cultural change in which women are not only eligible to hold a job, but to create it,” he notes.

More than 104 million women in the world were actively engaged in starting and running new business ventures, contributing significantly to entrepreneurship in the 59 countries studied in the report, According to the latest data from the Global Entrepreneurship monitor (GEM).

In spite of this achievement, the vast majority of the economies analysed have more men than women entrepreneurs and, therefore, the gender gap persists globally, according to a multi-year analysis from 2002 to 2010.

The proportion of all entrepreneurs who are women varies considerably among the economies: from 16 per cent in the Republic of Korea to 55 per cent in Ghana – the only economy with more women than men entrepreneurs.

In Wales, the percentage of women entrepreneurs decreased from 58 per cent in 2009 to 43 per cent in 2010, which meant a widening of the gender gap in entrepreneurship by 15 per cent and a drop of female entrepreneurship to 3.6 per cent – a figure which is statistically the same as the UK.

Let’s go back in time, to the year 2004. At that time, the outlook in Wales was completely different for women entrepreneurs. Wales was an example of equality in entrepreneurship in the whole world, having one of the best gender balances, as female entrepreneurship was at three quarters that of the male entrepreneurial activity.

“For a few years we had the Entrepreneurship Plan in Wales and within that there was a special focus on women and minority groups, because, at that time, that was a major policy of the government,” says Christine Atkinson, head of Women’s Entrepreneurship Hub at the University of Glamorgan.

Since the Entrepreneurship Action Plan finished, the upward trend for women entrepreneur has reversed.  Ms Akinson explains:  “With the recession and with changes in the policy, those sorts of support measures have gone. If you take the support structures away, then the trend of women entrepreneurs is falling back again.”

An institutional framework to support women entrepreneurs might be the key to reduce the gender gap, but, why are there fewer women entrepreneurs than men not only in Wales, but across the world? The answer is more complex than it seems to be at first sight.

In her article What Do We Know about the Patterns and Determinants of Female Entrepreneurship across Countries? Maria Minniti, a leading expert in global entrepreneurship, finds a possible answer looking into the subjectivity and possibly biased perceptions.

Particular cultural beliefs could influence women to have less self-confidence, opportunity perception, and, eventually, the prospect of starting a new business as a career choice. This could be a reason that explains why women are more likely to be motivated to set up a business by necessity rather than an opportunity, as well as less likely to believe they have the skills to start and run a new venture, according to the latest GEM report.

Discrimination against women as result of gender beliefs inherent in a culture or society could also reduce women’s likelihood of becoming entrepreneurs. Ms Minniti explains in her article: “Discrimination has been suggested as a possible explanation for the gender gap in entrepreneurship and this is likely to be more significant in poorer countries although the evidence is mixed.”

In other words, societal beliefs – especially in certain male-dominated fields – reflect gender bias, which makes things, such as being accepted by some clients or having good relationships with vendors, more difficult for women entrepreneur.

“Gender bias depends on who you deal with,” says Bianca Cridland, a 24 year-old entrepreneur from Swansea who set up her business Gower Soaps from scratch.

“If someone has a lower opinion of you because you are a woman, you can pick it up from the first impression and you can counter that immediately with the knowledge and skills you have, that’s my strategy,” she adds.

In spite of the stereotypes against women, Ms Cridland argues that being a woman is an advantage when it comes to getting help from other women. “It is an unwritten rule. From my experience, the majority of help I have had come from other women in business. Even if they haven’t been able to help me directly, then they gave me advice or contact details from someone else,” she explains.

Another reason that might have an impact on the entrepreneur gender gap is related to finance. Women may find more difficult than men to access finance to get started in business, according to a study based in the UK and carried out, among others, by Dylan Jones-Evans, Director of Enterprise and Innovation at the University of Wales.

To deal with this issue, the study suggests that support organisations should be created in order to make available start-up finance. Another suggestion includes the need to increase both financial awareness and literacy though entrepreneurship education programmes at university, so potential female entrepreneurs are aware of all financial options open to them.

Professor Ms Akinson points out other factor that must be considered when analysing the gender gap in entrepreneurship. “There is a big issue that women face, which is the whole issue of work-life balance: those women that have caring responsibilities still are trying to pursue business,” she says.

For Georgina Jones, Welsh entrepreneur and co-director of the Cardiff-based company Sing and Inspire, coping with the difficulties related to maternity issues depends on the support network. “I don’t have children, but my business partner has and I can see that, for many people with family, business life is more challenging because they have more commitment than me,” she argues.

Many obstacles for women entrepreneur haven’t gone away and there are still barriers that need to be address. Policymakers, society and women themselves need to work towards the reduction of the gender gap in entrepreneurship.  Just as a century ago thinking about equality and emancipation was a distant goal in women’s minds, the significant increase of women entrepreneurs in Wales and globally is a goal that can be achieved. As Mr Suárez suggests in his book on entrepreneurship, the change is possible, but there is no time to lose.