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2023 Pathways: A new approach for women in entrepreneurship

A woman wearing pink sneakers, blue jeans, a blue jacket a pink scarf and a dark coloured woolen hat, carrying a backpack and holding walking polies and a camera, is facing towards Mount Tongariro and is walking along a path.

All types

Pathways: A new approach for women in entrepreneurship
2023
Ana Stewart and Mark Logan

Key findings:
Social stereotypes about women’s and men’s roles in society create significant barriers to women’s equal participation in entrepreneurship, making women more logistically constrained.
Entrepreneurship is male-gendered, making it more difficult for women to see their ‘fit’ and to find high-profile female role models to inspire them.
Where women do participate, they tend feel less self-confident than their male peers, and often enter crowded, low profit, and highly gendered sectors.
Formal pathways into entrepreneurship are poorly defined, and the informal networks that support them are heavily oriented towards men.
Entrepreneurship education is not present within standard education systems, making an entrepreneurial career less accessible to women given the other barriers they also face.
The entrepreneurial investment sector is very male dominated which, coupled with unconscious bias, leads to very low levels of venture capital funding being directed towards women-led entrepreneurial teams.

Policy implications:
Policy interventions must acknowledge the many different barriers women entrepreneurs face and must deal with them all simultaneously to effect meaningful change.
Entrepreneurship education and support must be made more accessible to women (and other underrepresented) would-be entrepreneurs e.g., offerings must be delivered locally in rural and disadvantaged urban areas through pop-up services.
Support services should be co-designed with target audiences to ensure provision meets needs and overcomes barriers to participation.
Childcare grants should be given to primary carers to support equitable access. Small grants should be made available to develop and test business ideas at different stages.
Diversity must become a key feature of all publicly funded, and private co-funded entrepreneurial support organisations, with equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) training being a mandatory requirement. Mandatory, credit-bearing EDI training must also be delivered in high schools and universities.
Policies to support equitable childrearing practices must be better encouraged, and their take-up better monitored and reported.
Funding should be provided for a centralised, accessible, impartial and fully up-to-date online entrepreneurial ecosystem resource to be created. Information must be searchable by location, stage of business development, type of service offered etc., and must include only vetted, reputable service providers.

  • BibTex Key
  • Authors
  • Tags Global | Journal

    2023 Igniting Capabilities of Women Export Entrepreneurs

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    Igniting Capabilities of Women Export Entrepreneurs
    2023
    Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

    Key findings:
    ‘Female capital’, which describes the gendered nature of social capital, can be a useful framework to understanding the gendered experiences of women entrepreneurs.
    Trust, co-operation, and reciprocity were the core values of the women’s networks (of mostly other women, with male allies also present).
    The women reported possessing (feminine capital in the form of) qualities of audacity and innate inner confidence that enabled them to identify, create and develop entrepreneurial opportunities.
    Gendered structural barriers associated with the masculinisation of entrepreneurship continue to constrain women e.g., negative perceptions of some funders regarding women entrepreneurs.
    Women expressed a strong preference for organic business growth supported by debt finance, bootstrapping or self-funding.

    Policy implications:
    Women’s clear preference for developing double/triple bottom line businesses should be supported and encouraged.
    Diversity amongst and between women entrepreneurs should be recognised and accommodated.
    Information regarding angel and venture capital funding should be made available to ensure women understand how such systems operate, providing them with expanded growth financing options.
    Expanding their businesses into export markets offers women opportunities to empower themselves financially and personally, with significant potential for wider positive impacts.
    Deficiency discourses should be avoided where women entrepreneurs’ behaviour deviates from the unacknowledged male norm e.g., reluctance to utilise angel or venture capital funding etc.
    Policy should be designed to support women in ways meaningful to them (rather than ‘fix’ assumed gendered entrepreneurial deficiencies).

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    • Authors Anna Guenther | Dr Susan Nemec | Jess Chilcott | Professor Christine Woods
    • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal

      Women as Entrepreneurs: Lessons Unlearned?

      A woman's hand is writing on notepaper

      All types

      Women as Entrepreneurs: Lessons Unlearned?
      2022
      Enterprise Research Council

      Key findings:
      The support landscape for women’s entrepreneurship continues to fail to provide women with required flexible, tailored, best-practice, gender-aware support.
      Women entrepreneurs are important, distinct and diverse communities within the wider entrepreneurial population.
      Too many women entrepreneurs continue to report actual, or perceived, difficulties with financial intermediaries and wider business support initiatives.
      Immediate action must be taken to prevent similarly gendered atrophy of women’s businesses post-Covid as was seen during and after the 2008 Global Economic Crisis.

      Policy implications:
      Policies and programmes to encourage and support entrepreneurs must recognise their diversity and embed this within their approaches.
      A national strategy is required to achieve ratios of UK women owned businesses comparable to ‘best-in-class’ countries.
      A clearer route to policy should be developed to translate research evidence into policy action e.g., through an annual Female Entrepreneurship Research and Policy Conference.
      Sustained, substantial government support is needed to develop a robust and accessible women’s entrepreneurship support network, locally, regionally and nationally, across all four nations in the UK.
      A national framework of support must be developed, built around existing, local, focused, trusted, quality providers.
      Gender-disaggregated, annual HM Treasury reporting is essential to ensure that commitments made to provide targeted support result in measurable and impactful outcomes.

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      • Authors
      • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

        The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship: Progress report 2022

        Image of a women sitting at a laptop

        All types

        The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship: Progress report
        2022
        Alison Rose

        Key findings:
        The major barriers for women entrepreneurs continue to be inequitable access to, and awareness of funding, inequitable caring responsibilities, lack of enabling entrepreneurship support ecosystems for women.
        Caring responsibilities: Women entrepreneurs continue to suffer from the inequitable division of caring work, a situation exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. Women entrepreneurs reported spending 6-10 hours more per week on caring work than men entrepreneurs during the pandemic. Women entrepreneurs were 62% less likely than men to report post-pandemic recovery in their businesses. 44% of women entrepreneurs reported the urgent need for additional childcare support (versus 34% for men).
        Enabling entrepreneurship: 68% rise in signatories to HM Treasury’s Investing in Women Code, which requires signatories to a) adopt best practice in supporting female business owners, and b) collect and publish gender disaggregated data to enhance transparency.

        Policy implications:
        Government should consider how best to support the development of targeted support for women entrepreneurs through public/private partnership working, designated policy support, ministerial buy-in and policy promotion, pan-government and public institution support, transparent funding, outcome measurement and reporting.

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        • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

          Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine Women’s Employment Action Plan

          Journal Article

          Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine Women’s Employment Action Plan
          2022
          Ministry for Women, National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women, and New Zealand Government

          Key findings:
          Inequitable access to funding, training, mentoring and networks, inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

          Policy implications:
          Gender lens in policy-making is required to ensure equitable outcomes for women entrepreneurs.
          Intersectional (cumulative) disadvantages need to be explored e.g. provision for non-White, differently abled, refugee etc. entrepreneurs.
          Social procurement policies should be established to support women entrepreneurs’ businesses.

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          • Authors
          • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

            The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs: How targeted support for women-led business can unlock sustainable economic growth

            Journal Article

            The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs: How targeted support for women-led business can unlock sustainable economic growth
            2022
            Mastercard

            Key findings:
            Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to funding and business training; negative gender stereotypes; the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.
            (Aotearoa specific):
            There exists a lack of affordable childcare, which disproportionately affects women

            Policy implications:
            Gender lens in policy-making is required to ensure equitable outcomes for women entrepreneurs.
            Explore the effects of policy in action (are policy intentions resulting in equitable results outcomes?).
            Explore why almost four times as many women as men are ‘pushed’ into (necessity) entrepreneurship.
            More funding required for good quality, locally-based childcare.

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            • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

              Women, Business and the Law 2022

              a big bookshelf

              Journal Article

              Women, Business and the Law 2022
              2022
              World Bank Group

              Key findings:
              Inequitable access to finance and training, negative gendered stereotypes, gendered sectoral segregation e.g., health and social care versus construction, inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

              Policy implications:
              Implement and enforce gender equality laws.
              Support greater legal equality for women.
              Developed economies should focus on systemic and structural barriers that result in ongoing inequalities for women.

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              • Authors
              • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                Women entrepreneurs: Catalyzing growth, innovation, and equality

                Journal Article

                Women entrepreneurs: Catalyzing growth, innovation, and equality
                2022
                Citi GPS

                Key findings:
                Inequitable access to finance (especially Venture Capital), international markets, mentoring, networks, training, cumulative disadvantage for some women e.g., non-Whites, differently abled, refugee women, gendered sectoral segregation e.g., health and social care versus construction, inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                Policy implications:
                Legislate for gender equality;
                Tackle systemic and structural barriers/biases that lead to inequitable outcomes for women.
                Collect gender disaggregated, internationally comparable data on women entrepreneurs.
                Introduce gender-aware procurement policies and practices.
                Invest in accessible, gender-aware business training support for women.
                Facilitate public policy, private sector, and legislative collaborations to support women’s entrepreneurship.

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                • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                  Pacific women and men in business

                  Journal Article

                  Pacific women and men in business
                  2021
                  Ministry for Women Manatū Wāhine, and Ministry for Pacific Peoples Te Manatū mō Ngā Iwi o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa

                  Key findings:
                  There is a lack of visible Pacific Peoples entrepreneurial role models.
                  Pacific entrepreneurs in Aotearoa lack of access to culturally appropriate (safe and aware) business training and growth finance.

                  Policy implications:
                  Enhance support for Pacific Peoples’ entrepreneurial growth activities.
                  Provide growth readiness training and access to growth finance to facilitate scaling-up.

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                  • Authors
                  • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                    Raising Capital in Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from women entrepreneurs

                    OGGB Auckland city view

                    Journal Article

                    Raising Capital in Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from women entrepreneurs
                    2021
                    Dr Janine Swail, University of Auckland

                    Key findings:
                    Women entrepreneurs suffer from: the lack of diversity (age, gender, ethnicity etc.) in the finance sector; negative gendered stereotypes, gender bias and gender-based discrimination; the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                    Policy implications:
                    Improve women entrepreneurs’ knowledge and perception of Angel/VC funding.
                    Address gender stereotypes and bias in the Angel/VC domain.
                    Support access to, and development of, funding networks for women entrepreneurs.
                    Challenge and address inequitable gender role expectations.

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                    • Authors
                    • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                      2021 A Guide to Fostering Women’s Entrepreneurship: Five key actions towards a digital, green and resilient Europe

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                      A Guide to Fostering Women’s Entrepreneurship: Five key actions towards a digital, green and resilient Europe
                      2021
                      European Commission

                      Key findings:
                      Women entrepreneurs are an underutilised of economic growth, job creation, and social well-being.
                      Supporting more women into entrepreneurship would improve gender equality, and provide diverse potential solutions and innovations for the green transition and recovery from the pandemic.
                      Women are under-represented in science and technology (particularly digital technology) – a situation fueled by gender bias and lack of visible role models.
                      Women entrepreneurs suffer from the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.
                      The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected women’s businesses more than men’s due to their general location in more vulnerable sectors e.g. hospitality, retail and leisure.
                      More support is needed to encourage women into entrepreneurship – business support and training, gender-specific equality-focused policy interventions, equitable access to finance, visibility of female role models, availability of mentors etc.

                      Policy implications:
                      Challenge gendered stereotypes of entrepreneurship.
                      Develop life-long entrepreneurial learning offerings in schools, Universities and communities covering topics such as: finance, growth/investment readiness, network development, ICT and digital technologies.
                      Adopt gender-sensitive, multi-agency, pan-regional approaches to promoting and developing women’s entrepreneurship.
                      Ensure collection of gender-disaggregated, comparable data across regions to build robust, evidence-based policy interventions.
                      Enhanced visibility of female role models.

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                      • Authors
                      • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                        Ngā wāhine kaipakihi: He tirohanga | Māori women in business: Insights

                        Journal Article

                        Ngā wāhine kaipakihi: He tirohanga | Māori women in business: Insights
                        2020
                        Ministry for Women Manatū Wāhine

                        Key findings:
                        There are increasing numbers of Māori women in business across all regions of Aotearoa New Zealand – both urban and regional.
                        Many wāhine Māori businesses operate in ‘non-traditional’ markets e.g., agriculture, forestry and fishing, professional, scientific and technical services, and construction, as well as in more ‘traditional’ sectors e.g., healthcare and social service.
                        The majority of surveyed businesses had proven their market resilience and sustainability by operating for 6+ years.
                        Wāhine Māori employ others, and contribute to the wellbeing of their whānau, communities and the wider economy.
                        Wāhine Māori businesses currently suffer from limited visibility (including role models).
                        There is limited specialist financial support available to wāhine Māori wanting to establish a business.
                        Supporting more wāhine Māori businesses to thrive would help future-proof and grow the social and economic wellbeing of whānau and their communities.

                        Policy implications:
                        Targeted, specialist funding and other incentives should be developed to help grow the number of wāhine Māori businesses in Aotearoa.
                        Opportunities to invest in wāhine Māori businesses both now, and in the future, should be developed.
                        Steps should be taken to enhance the visibility of wāhine Māori businesses both as active contributors to social and economic wellbeing, and also as role models.
                        Innovative childcare funding should be developed for wāhine Māori (and other women) whose businesses operate outside the standard working hours that most childcare is available.

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                        • Tags Aotearoa reports | Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                          The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship

                          Journal Article

                          The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship
                          2019
                          Alison Rose

                          Key findings:
                          Women entrepreneurs need better, more equitable access to funding at all stages from start-up to growth.
                          Women launch businesses with, on average, 53% less capital than men.
                          Only 1% of all venture funding goes to businesses founded by all-female teams, inhibiting scale up.
                          Enhanced family support is required to mitigate the inequities associated with the gender imbalance in unpaid domestic labour and caring roles for entrepreneurial women.
                          Women are typically more risk-aware than men and are more cautious about starting or scaling a business.
                          Women are (incorrectly) less likely to believe they possess entrepreneurial skills.
                          Women are far less likely than men to know other entrepreneurs or to have access to sponsors, mentors or professional support networks.

                          Policy implications:
                          Develop and mandate best practice, gender aware funding approaches for financial institutions, incorporating transparent, gender disaggregated reporting.
                          Develop and deploy new investment vehicles to encourage and support investment in women-owned businesses by financial institutions, high net worth individuals and investment institutions.
                          Investigate necessary adaptations to existing finance mechanisms to support entrepreneurs with caring responsibilities.
                          Tackle the access inequities of the urban/rural divide.
                          Support community-based public/private partnership (PPP) initiatives to provide entrepreneurship, financial literacy and self-belief training, alongside mentoring, coaching and networking, to aspiring entrepreneurs, delivered in schools to both youth and adult learners.
                          Expand availability of, and gender-aware access to, business networking and mentoring events and activities, particularly regionally.
                          Support PPP development of a digital ‘one-stop shop’ information and resources portal for aspiring and established entrepreneurs.

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                          • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                            2019 Women’s entrepreneurship report: Education and finance for successful entrepreneurship in Africa

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                            Women’s entrepreneurship report: Education and finance for successful entrepreneurship in Africa
                            2019
                            UN Economic Commission for Africa

                            Key findings:
                            Opportunity entrepreneurship produces more profit and more employment than necessity entrepreneurship.
                            Secondary education and above is positively correlated with opportunity entrepreneurship.
                            Education positively correlates with engagement with formal financial institutions, which encourages both business growth and formal (rather than informal) entrepreneurial activity.
                            Women’s businesses with access to formal lending exhibited higher levels of product and process innovation.
                            Entrepreneurial skills development training is transformational for supporting vulnerable women out of poverty.

                            Policy implications:
                            Ensure equitable access to education for girls and women.
                            Improve availability of and access to informal entrepreneurial education, especially for women denied the chance to complete their formal education.
                            Provide targeted training in business management, leadership, digital technologies, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
                            Challenge gendered stereotypes (including gendered sectoral segregation).
                            Deploy digital technologies to support financial empowerment (especially saving and engagement with formal financial institutions).
                            Provide equitable access to insurance products for vulnerable women entrepreneurs to help insulate them and their businesses against economic or other shocks.

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                            • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                              2019 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/2019 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report

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                              Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/2019 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report
                              2019
                              Elam, A.,  Brush, C., Greene, P., Baumer, B., Dean, M., Heavlow, R.

                              Key findings:
                              Women are over-represented in low barrier-to-entry, low profit sectors, reflecting the widespread structural barriers they face.
                              Women are hugely underrepresented in (high value) sectors including: ICT, communications technology, agriculture and mining.
                              Women with higher levels of education (graduate education) tend to be less likely to pursue entrepreneurship.
                              Women’s engagement in entrepreneurship is affected by issues including: cultural factors, availability of financing, human capital, markets, infrastructure supports, access to high quality networks, and the availability of suitably skilled employees.

                              Policy implications:
                              Challenge masculine stereotypes of entrepreneurship.
                              Support development of profitable women’s businesses and enhance their visibility in high-value sectors.
                              Challenge gendered sectoral segregation.
                              Ensure policy interventions reflect the challenges (esp. structural barriers) faced by women.
                              Reject ‘male as norm’ interpretations of data that position women as ‘deficient’ or ‘lacking’.

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                              • Tags Global report | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                2017 Tackling the Gender Gap: What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Thrive

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                                Tackling the Gender Gap: What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Thrive
                                2017
                                Shaheen, J.

                                Key findings:
                                Few role models, and a lack of mentors, contribute to the perception that entrepreneurship is a male-only endeavor; the gender pay gap undermines the ability of women to be successful entrepreneurs.
                                Unequal access to startup funding and financing streams leaves women with fewer credit options and a small portion of venture capital.

                                Policy implications:
                                Legislate for transparent, equitable pay.
                                Increase girls’ exposure to ICT and science-based education to increase numbers of women in (high value) STEM careers.
                                Challenge traditional gender stereotyping and enhance the visibility of non-traditional role models.
                                Increase women’s access to small loans and grants.
                                Make small business support and training more relevant for the digital age (and for online trading).
                                Provide high quality business mentoring to women.
                                Ensure the availability of local, high quality, low-cost childcare.
                                Incentivise start-ups to locate in deprived areas through student loan forgiveness schemes.
                                Tackle (un)conscious bias in recruitment, promotion etc. through training and regular review.

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                                • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                  2017 Advancing women’s empowerment: Growing women’s entrepreneurship through ICT in Southeast Asia

                                  woman on laptop

                                  Journal Article

                                  Advancing women’s empowerment: Growing women’s entrepreneurship through ICT in Southeast Asia
                                  2017
                                  The Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Dalberg

                                  Key findings:
                                  Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to finance; networks; start-up support/training; mentoring; negative gendered stereotypes; and the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                  Policy implications:
                                  Reduce gender-based barriers to women’s entrepreneurship and increase rewards.
                                  Increase training for, and access to, ICT to decrease gendered barriers and increase income.
                                  Develop multi-stakeholder/collaborative support provision (policy makers, philanthropists, private sector organisations, etc.).

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                                  • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                    2017 Strengthening women’s entrepreneurship in ASEAN: Towards increasing women’s participation in economic activity

                                    Journal Article

                                    Strengthening women’s entrepreneurship in ASEAN: Towards increasing women’s participation in economic activity
                                    2017
                                    OECD

                                    Key findings:
                                    Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to finance; domestic and international markets; networks, and start-up support/training; negative gendered stereotypes; lack of opportunities to enter high-value sectors; lack of support through public procurement; inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare; and a lack of visible role models

                                    Policy implications:
                                    Develop gender sensitive and responsive policies and strategies.
                                    Improve women’s access to flexible, affordable finance; access to markets; ICT training; start-up and business management training; improved networks and networking opportunities.
                                    Improve visibility of successful/impactful women entrepreneur role models.
                                    Develop mechanisms for women entrepreneurs to feed-into policy development.
                                    Address gendered disparities in the workplace (including entrepreneurship).
                                    Deal with gender-based traditional/cultural/legal barriers e.g., women not being able to own assets and land.
                                    Enhance gender diversity in public procurement policies and practices.

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                                    • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                      2017 Women unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential

                                      Journal Article

                                      Women unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential
                                      2017
                                      PwC and The Crowdfunding Center

                                      Key findings:
                                      Women entrepreneurs suffer from inequitable access to funding (also lack of visibility/awareness of the issue), negative gendered stereotypes, limited awareness of crowdfunding as a potential source of more equitable external business finance, and a lack of training re. crowdfunding.
                                      There exists a lack of diversity in finance sector alongside a lack of (unconscious) bias training within finance sector, both of which disadvantage women entrepreneurs.

                                      Policy implications:
                                      Promote crowd-funding platforms to increase gender equality in seed funding acquisition.
                                      Provide training in crowdfunding e.g., through Business Support providers and Business Schools.
                                      Instigate gender (unconscious) bias awareness training for traditional financial institutions.
                                      Promote visibility of female role models and success stories.

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                                      • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                        2017 Policy brief on women’s entrepreneurship

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                                        Policy brief on women’s entrepreneurship
                                        2017
                                        OECD

                                        Key findings:
                                        Women are under-represented in entrepreneurship compared with men.
                                        Women’s businesses tend to be crowded into sectors with low barriers-to-entry and low profit margins.
                                        Women more often pursue entrepreneurship for gendered reasons i.e., to manage family/caring responsibilities, due to the glass ceiling and lack of upward career progression.
                                        Women face multiple, often simultaneous barriers to entrepreneurial careers including: lack of training in entrepreneurial skills, gendered social and cultural attitudes that discourage entrepreneurial careers for women, greater difficulty (relative to men) accessing start-up financing, smaller and less effective entrepreneurial networks, and policy frameworks that discourage women’s entrepreneurship.
                                        Access to entrepreneurial training and grants are useful in combatting barriers faced by women, but are not wide-reaching enough at present.
                                        Lack of visibility of successful female entrepreneurial role models hampers engagement.
                                        Gendered educational systems still steer girls towards traditionally female subjects and away from high-value, high-prestige subjects e.g., STEM.

                                        Policy implications:
                                        Ensure government policies (e.g., family, social and tax policies) do not discriminate against women or create barriers to entrepreneurship.
                                        Tackle gendered subject choices for girls and boys in educational settings.
                                        Use public procurement as a tool to support women’s businesses.
                                        Improve access to start-up and growth finance for women entrepreneurs.
                                        Make entrepreneurship training, including growth readiness training available through dedicated incubator and accelerator programmes.
                                        Policies must recognise the heterogeneity of women.
                                        Challenge gendered stereotypes at every level.

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                                        • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                          2015 Putting all our ideas to work: Women and entrepreneurship

                                          Journal Article

                                          Putting all our ideas to work: Women and entrepreneurship
                                          2015
                                          BIAC and Deloitte

                                          Key findings:
                                          Women’s businesses tend to be located in (gendered) sectors which are less attractive to investors e.g., retail, education, healthcare.
                                          Structural barriers mean that women’s businesses start with less capital, grow less quickly, and employ fewer people than men’s.
                                          When women seek external funding, they request far less than their male counterparts.
                                          Women tend to start businesses later in life than men.
                                          Women entrepreneurs are often highly educated (degree level).
                                          Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to finance; negative gendered stereotypes; unconscious bias; male-dominated funding organisations (particularly VC); inequitable entrepreneurial ecosystems.

                                          Policy implications:
                                          Facilitate and normalise women’s access to STEM subjects and entrepreneurship training.
                                          Enhance business environments – ease of access to information, training, resources/support systems, finance.
                                          Support flexible working policies to ensure employed women can continue working as they build their businesses.
                                          Provide affordable, local childcare.
                                          Support development and enhancement of women’s networks.
                                          Invest in enhanced ICT infrastructure e.g., high-speed internet availability, even in rural areas.
                                          Ensure application of a gender lens in policy making to tackle inequalities for women entrepreneurs.

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                                          • Authors
                                          • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                            Publications

                                            Women as Entrepreneurs: Lessons Unlearned?

                                            A woman's hand is writing on notepaper

                                            All types

                                            Women as Entrepreneurs: Lessons Unlearned?
                                            2022
                                            Enterprise Research Council

                                            Key findings:
                                            The support landscape for women’s entrepreneurship continues to fail to provide women with required flexible, tailored, best-practice, gender-aware support.
                                            Women entrepreneurs are important, distinct and diverse communities within the wider entrepreneurial population.
                                            Too many women entrepreneurs continue to report actual, or perceived, difficulties with financial intermediaries and wider business support initiatives.
                                            Immediate action must be taken to prevent similarly gendered atrophy of women’s businesses post-Covid as was seen during and after the 2008 Global Economic Crisis.

                                            Policy implications:
                                            Policies and programmes to encourage and support entrepreneurs must recognise their diversity and embed this within their approaches.
                                            A national strategy is required to achieve ratios of UK women owned businesses comparable to ‘best-in-class’ countries.
                                            A clearer route to policy should be developed to translate research evidence into policy action e.g., through an annual Female Entrepreneurship Research and Policy Conference.
                                            Sustained, substantial government support is needed to develop a robust and accessible women’s entrepreneurship support network, locally, regionally and nationally, across all four nations in the UK.
                                            A national framework of support must be developed, built around existing, local, focused, trusted, quality providers.
                                            Gender-disaggregated, annual HM Treasury reporting is essential to ensure that commitments made to provide targeted support result in measurable and impactful outcomes.

                                            • BibTex Key
                                            • Authors
                                            • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                              The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship: Progress report 2022

                                              Image of a women sitting at a laptop

                                              All types

                                              The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship: Progress report
                                              2022
                                              Alison Rose

                                              Key findings:
                                              The major barriers for women entrepreneurs continue to be inequitable access to, and awareness of funding, inequitable caring responsibilities, lack of enabling entrepreneurship support ecosystems for women.
                                              Caring responsibilities: Women entrepreneurs continue to suffer from the inequitable division of caring work, a situation exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. Women entrepreneurs reported spending 6-10 hours more per week on caring work than men entrepreneurs during the pandemic. Women entrepreneurs were 62% less likely than men to report post-pandemic recovery in their businesses. 44% of women entrepreneurs reported the urgent need for additional childcare support (versus 34% for men).
                                              Enabling entrepreneurship: 68% rise in signatories to HM Treasury’s Investing in Women Code, which requires signatories to a) adopt best practice in supporting female business owners, and b) collect and publish gender disaggregated data to enhance transparency.

                                              Policy implications:
                                              Government should consider how best to support the development of targeted support for women entrepreneurs through public/private partnership working, designated policy support, ministerial buy-in and policy promotion, pan-government and public institution support, transparent funding, outcome measurement and reporting.

                                              • BibTex Key
                                              • Authors
                                              • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine Women’s Employment Action Plan

                                                Journal Article

                                                Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine Women’s Employment Action Plan
                                                2022
                                                Ministry for Women, National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women, and New Zealand Government

                                                Key findings:
                                                Inequitable access to funding, training, mentoring and networks, inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                Policy implications:
                                                Gender lens in policy-making is required to ensure equitable outcomes for women entrepreneurs.
                                                Intersectional (cumulative) disadvantages need to be explored e.g. provision for non-White, differently abled, refugee etc. entrepreneurs.
                                                Social procurement policies should be established to support women entrepreneurs’ businesses.

                                                • BibTex Key
                                                • Authors
                                                • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                  The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs: How targeted support for women-led business can unlock sustainable economic growth

                                                  Journal Article

                                                  The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs: How targeted support for women-led business can unlock sustainable economic growth
                                                  2022
                                                  Mastercard

                                                  Key findings:
                                                  Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to funding and business training; negative gender stereotypes; the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.
                                                  (Aotearoa specific):
                                                  There exists a lack of affordable childcare, which disproportionately affects women

                                                  Policy implications:
                                                  Gender lens in policy-making is required to ensure equitable outcomes for women entrepreneurs.
                                                  Explore the effects of policy in action (are policy intentions resulting in equitable results outcomes?).
                                                  Explore why almost four times as many women as men are ‘pushed’ into (necessity) entrepreneurship.
                                                  More funding required for good quality, locally-based childcare.

                                                  • BibTex Key
                                                  • Authors
                                                  • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                    Women, Business and the Law 2022

                                                    a big bookshelf

                                                    Journal Article

                                                    Women, Business and the Law 2022
                                                    2022
                                                    World Bank Group

                                                    Key findings:
                                                    Inequitable access to finance and training, negative gendered stereotypes, gendered sectoral segregation e.g., health and social care versus construction, inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                    Policy implications:
                                                    Implement and enforce gender equality laws.
                                                    Support greater legal equality for women.
                                                    Developed economies should focus on systemic and structural barriers that result in ongoing inequalities for women.

                                                    • BibTex Key
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                                                    • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                      Women entrepreneurs: Catalyzing growth, innovation, and equality

                                                      Journal Article

                                                      Women entrepreneurs: Catalyzing growth, innovation, and equality
                                                      2022
                                                      Citi GPS

                                                      Key findings:
                                                      Inequitable access to finance (especially Venture Capital), international markets, mentoring, networks, training, cumulative disadvantage for some women e.g., non-Whites, differently abled, refugee women, gendered sectoral segregation e.g., health and social care versus construction, inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                      Policy implications:
                                                      Legislate for gender equality;
                                                      Tackle systemic and structural barriers/biases that lead to inequitable outcomes for women.
                                                      Collect gender disaggregated, internationally comparable data on women entrepreneurs.
                                                      Introduce gender-aware procurement policies and practices.
                                                      Invest in accessible, gender-aware business training support for women.
                                                      Facilitate public policy, private sector, and legislative collaborations to support women’s entrepreneurship.

                                                      • BibTex Key
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                                                      • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                        Pacific women and men in business

                                                        Journal Article

                                                        Pacific women and men in business
                                                        2021
                                                        Ministry for Women Manatū Wāhine, and Ministry for Pacific Peoples Te Manatū mō Ngā Iwi o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa

                                                        Key findings:
                                                        There is a lack of visible Pacific Peoples entrepreneurial role models.
                                                        Pacific entrepreneurs in Aotearoa lack of access to culturally appropriate (safe and aware) business training and growth finance.

                                                        Policy implications:
                                                        Enhance support for Pacific Peoples’ entrepreneurial growth activities.
                                                        Provide growth readiness training and access to growth finance to facilitate scaling-up.

                                                        • BibTex Key
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                                                        • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                          Raising Capital in Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from women entrepreneurs

                                                          OGGB Auckland city view

                                                          Journal Article

                                                          Raising Capital in Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from women entrepreneurs
                                                          2021
                                                          Dr Janine Swail, University of Auckland

                                                          Key findings:
                                                          Women entrepreneurs suffer from: the lack of diversity (age, gender, ethnicity etc.) in the finance sector; negative gendered stereotypes, gender bias and gender-based discrimination; the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                          Policy implications:
                                                          Improve women entrepreneurs’ knowledge and perception of Angel/VC funding.
                                                          Address gender stereotypes and bias in the Angel/VC domain.
                                                          Support access to, and development of, funding networks for women entrepreneurs.
                                                          Challenge and address inequitable gender role expectations.

                                                          • BibTex Key
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                                                          • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                            2021 A Guide to Fostering Women’s Entrepreneurship: Five key actions towards a digital, green and resilient Europe

                                                            All types

                                                            A Guide to Fostering Women’s Entrepreneurship: Five key actions towards a digital, green and resilient Europe
                                                            2021
                                                            European Commission

                                                            Key findings:
                                                            Women entrepreneurs are an underutilised of economic growth, job creation, and social well-being.
                                                            Supporting more women into entrepreneurship would improve gender equality, and provide diverse potential solutions and innovations for the green transition and recovery from the pandemic.
                                                            Women are under-represented in science and technology (particularly digital technology) – a situation fueled by gender bias and lack of visible role models.
                                                            Women entrepreneurs suffer from the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.
                                                            The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected women’s businesses more than men’s due to their general location in more vulnerable sectors e.g. hospitality, retail and leisure.
                                                            More support is needed to encourage women into entrepreneurship – business support and training, gender-specific equality-focused policy interventions, equitable access to finance, visibility of female role models, availability of mentors etc.

                                                            Policy implications:
                                                            Challenge gendered stereotypes of entrepreneurship.
                                                            Develop life-long entrepreneurial learning offerings in schools, Universities and communities covering topics such as: finance, growth/investment readiness, network development, ICT and digital technologies.
                                                            Adopt gender-sensitive, multi-agency, pan-regional approaches to promoting and developing women’s entrepreneurship.
                                                            Ensure collection of gender-disaggregated, comparable data across regions to build robust, evidence-based policy interventions.
                                                            Enhanced visibility of female role models.

                                                            • BibTex Key
                                                            • Authors
                                                            • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                              Ngā wāhine kaipakihi: He tirohanga | Māori women in business: Insights

                                                              Journal Article

                                                              Ngā wāhine kaipakihi: He tirohanga | Māori women in business: Insights
                                                              2020
                                                              Ministry for Women Manatū Wāhine

                                                              Key findings:
                                                              There are increasing numbers of Māori women in business across all regions of Aotearoa New Zealand – both urban and regional.
                                                              Many wāhine Māori businesses operate in ‘non-traditional’ markets e.g., agriculture, forestry and fishing, professional, scientific and technical services, and construction, as well as in more ‘traditional’ sectors e.g., healthcare and social service.
                                                              The majority of surveyed businesses had proven their market resilience and sustainability by operating for 6+ years.
                                                              Wāhine Māori employ others, and contribute to the wellbeing of their whānau, communities and the wider economy.
                                                              Wāhine Māori businesses currently suffer from limited visibility (including role models).
                                                              There is limited specialist financial support available to wāhine Māori wanting to establish a business.
                                                              Supporting more wāhine Māori businesses to thrive would help future-proof and grow the social and economic wellbeing of whānau and their communities.

                                                              Policy implications:
                                                              Targeted, specialist funding and other incentives should be developed to help grow the number of wāhine Māori businesses in Aotearoa.
                                                              Opportunities to invest in wāhine Māori businesses both now, and in the future, should be developed.
                                                              Steps should be taken to enhance the visibility of wāhine Māori businesses both as active contributors to social and economic wellbeing, and also as role models.
                                                              Innovative childcare funding should be developed for wāhine Māori (and other women) whose businesses operate outside the standard working hours that most childcare is available.

                                                              • BibTex Key
                                                              • Authors
                                                              • Tags Aotearoa reports | Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship

                                                                Journal Article

                                                                The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship
                                                                2019
                                                                Alison Rose

                                                                Key findings:
                                                                Women entrepreneurs need better, more equitable access to funding at all stages from start-up to growth.
                                                                Women launch businesses with, on average, 53% less capital than men.
                                                                Only 1% of all venture funding goes to businesses founded by all-female teams, inhibiting scale up.
                                                                Enhanced family support is required to mitigate the inequities associated with the gender imbalance in unpaid domestic labour and caring roles for entrepreneurial women.
                                                                Women are typically more risk-aware than men and are more cautious about starting or scaling a business.
                                                                Women are (incorrectly) less likely to believe they possess entrepreneurial skills.
                                                                Women are far less likely than men to know other entrepreneurs or to have access to sponsors, mentors or professional support networks.

                                                                Policy implications:
                                                                Develop and mandate best practice, gender aware funding approaches for financial institutions, incorporating transparent, gender disaggregated reporting.
                                                                Develop and deploy new investment vehicles to encourage and support investment in women-owned businesses by financial institutions, high net worth individuals and investment institutions.
                                                                Investigate necessary adaptations to existing finance mechanisms to support entrepreneurs with caring responsibilities.
                                                                Tackle the access inequities of the urban/rural divide.
                                                                Support community-based public/private partnership (PPP) initiatives to provide entrepreneurship, financial literacy and self-belief training, alongside mentoring, coaching and networking, to aspiring entrepreneurs, delivered in schools to both youth and adult learners.
                                                                Expand availability of, and gender-aware access to, business networking and mentoring events and activities, particularly regionally.
                                                                Support PPP development of a digital ‘one-stop shop’ information and resources portal for aspiring and established entrepreneurs.

                                                                • BibTex Key
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                                                                • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                  2019 Women’s entrepreneurship report: Education and finance for successful entrepreneurship in Africa

                                                                  All types

                                                                  Women’s entrepreneurship report: Education and finance for successful entrepreneurship in Africa
                                                                  2019
                                                                  UN Economic Commission for Africa

                                                                  Key findings:
                                                                  Opportunity entrepreneurship produces more profit and more employment than necessity entrepreneurship.
                                                                  Secondary education and above is positively correlated with opportunity entrepreneurship.
                                                                  Education positively correlates with engagement with formal financial institutions, which encourages both business growth and formal (rather than informal) entrepreneurial activity.
                                                                  Women’s businesses with access to formal lending exhibited higher levels of product and process innovation.
                                                                  Entrepreneurial skills development training is transformational for supporting vulnerable women out of poverty.

                                                                  Policy implications:
                                                                  Ensure equitable access to education for girls and women.
                                                                  Improve availability of and access to informal entrepreneurial education, especially for women denied the chance to complete their formal education.
                                                                  Provide targeted training in business management, leadership, digital technologies, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
                                                                  Challenge gendered stereotypes (including gendered sectoral segregation).
                                                                  Deploy digital technologies to support financial empowerment (especially saving and engagement with formal financial institutions).
                                                                  Provide equitable access to insurance products for vulnerable women entrepreneurs to help insulate them and their businesses against economic or other shocks.

                                                                  • BibTex Key
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                                                                  • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                    2019 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/2019 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report

                                                                    All types

                                                                    Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/2019 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report
                                                                    2019
                                                                    Elam, A.,  Brush, C., Greene, P., Baumer, B., Dean, M., Heavlow, R.

                                                                    Key findings:
                                                                    Women are over-represented in low barrier-to-entry, low profit sectors, reflecting the widespread structural barriers they face.
                                                                    Women are hugely underrepresented in (high value) sectors including: ICT, communications technology, agriculture and mining.
                                                                    Women with higher levels of education (graduate education) tend to be less likely to pursue entrepreneurship.
                                                                    Women’s engagement in entrepreneurship is affected by issues including: cultural factors, availability of financing, human capital, markets, infrastructure supports, access to high quality networks, and the availability of suitably skilled employees.

                                                                    Policy implications:
                                                                    Challenge masculine stereotypes of entrepreneurship.
                                                                    Support development of profitable women’s businesses and enhance their visibility in high-value sectors.
                                                                    Challenge gendered sectoral segregation.
                                                                    Ensure policy interventions reflect the challenges (esp. structural barriers) faced by women.
                                                                    Reject ‘male as norm’ interpretations of data that position women as ‘deficient’ or ‘lacking’.

                                                                    • BibTex Key
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                                                                    • Tags Global report | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                      2017 Tackling the Gender Gap: What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Thrive

                                                                      All types

                                                                      Tackling the Gender Gap: What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Thrive
                                                                      2017
                                                                      Shaheen, J.

                                                                      Key findings:
                                                                      Few role models, and a lack of mentors, contribute to the perception that entrepreneurship is a male-only endeavor; the gender pay gap undermines the ability of women to be successful entrepreneurs.
                                                                      Unequal access to startup funding and financing streams leaves women with fewer credit options and a small portion of venture capital.

                                                                      Policy implications:
                                                                      Legislate for transparent, equitable pay.
                                                                      Increase girls’ exposure to ICT and science-based education to increase numbers of women in (high value) STEM careers.
                                                                      Challenge traditional gender stereotyping and enhance the visibility of non-traditional role models.
                                                                      Increase women’s access to small loans and grants.
                                                                      Make small business support and training more relevant for the digital age (and for online trading).
                                                                      Provide high quality business mentoring to women.
                                                                      Ensure the availability of local, high quality, low-cost childcare.
                                                                      Incentivise start-ups to locate in deprived areas through student loan forgiveness schemes.
                                                                      Tackle (un)conscious bias in recruitment, promotion etc. through training and regular review.

                                                                      • BibTex Key
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                                                                      • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                        2017 Advancing women’s empowerment: Growing women’s entrepreneurship through ICT in Southeast Asia

                                                                        woman on laptop

                                                                        Journal Article

                                                                        Advancing women’s empowerment: Growing women’s entrepreneurship through ICT in Southeast Asia
                                                                        2017
                                                                        The Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Dalberg

                                                                        Key findings:
                                                                        Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to finance; networks; start-up support/training; mentoring; negative gendered stereotypes; and the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                                        Policy implications:
                                                                        Reduce gender-based barriers to women’s entrepreneurship and increase rewards.
                                                                        Increase training for, and access to, ICT to decrease gendered barriers and increase income.
                                                                        Develop multi-stakeholder/collaborative support provision (policy makers, philanthropists, private sector organisations, etc.).

                                                                        • BibTex Key
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                                                                        • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                          2017 Strengthening women’s entrepreneurship in ASEAN: Towards increasing women’s participation in economic activity

                                                                          Journal Article

                                                                          Strengthening women’s entrepreneurship in ASEAN: Towards increasing women’s participation in economic activity
                                                                          2017
                                                                          OECD

                                                                          Key findings:
                                                                          Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to finance; domestic and international markets; networks, and start-up support/training; negative gendered stereotypes; lack of opportunities to enter high-value sectors; lack of support through public procurement; inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare; and a lack of visible role models

                                                                          Policy implications:
                                                                          Develop gender sensitive and responsive policies and strategies.
                                                                          Improve women’s access to flexible, affordable finance; access to markets; ICT training; start-up and business management training; improved networks and networking opportunities.
                                                                          Improve visibility of successful/impactful women entrepreneur role models.
                                                                          Develop mechanisms for women entrepreneurs to feed-into policy development.
                                                                          Address gendered disparities in the workplace (including entrepreneurship).
                                                                          Deal with gender-based traditional/cultural/legal barriers e.g., women not being able to own assets and land.
                                                                          Enhance gender diversity in public procurement policies and practices.

                                                                          • BibTex Key
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                                                                          • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                            2017 Women unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential

                                                                            Journal Article

                                                                            Women unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential
                                                                            2017
                                                                            PwC and The Crowdfunding Center

                                                                            Key findings:
                                                                            Women entrepreneurs suffer from inequitable access to funding (also lack of visibility/awareness of the issue), negative gendered stereotypes, limited awareness of crowdfunding as a potential source of more equitable external business finance, and a lack of training re. crowdfunding.
                                                                            There exists a lack of diversity in finance sector alongside a lack of (unconscious) bias training within finance sector, both of which disadvantage women entrepreneurs.

                                                                            Policy implications:
                                                                            Promote crowd-funding platforms to increase gender equality in seed funding acquisition.
                                                                            Provide training in crowdfunding e.g., through Business Support providers and Business Schools.
                                                                            Instigate gender (unconscious) bias awareness training for traditional financial institutions.
                                                                            Promote visibility of female role models and success stories.

                                                                            • BibTex Key
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                                                                            • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                              2017 Policy brief on women’s entrepreneurship

                                                                              All types

                                                                              Policy brief on women’s entrepreneurship
                                                                              2017
                                                                              OECD

                                                                              Key findings:
                                                                              Women are under-represented in entrepreneurship compared with men.
                                                                              Women’s businesses tend to be crowded into sectors with low barriers-to-entry and low profit margins.
                                                                              Women more often pursue entrepreneurship for gendered reasons i.e., to manage family/caring responsibilities, due to the glass ceiling and lack of upward career progression.
                                                                              Women face multiple, often simultaneous barriers to entrepreneurial careers including: lack of training in entrepreneurial skills, gendered social and cultural attitudes that discourage entrepreneurial careers for women, greater difficulty (relative to men) accessing start-up financing, smaller and less effective entrepreneurial networks, and policy frameworks that discourage women’s entrepreneurship.
                                                                              Access to entrepreneurial training and grants are useful in combatting barriers faced by women, but are not wide-reaching enough at present.
                                                                              Lack of visibility of successful female entrepreneurial role models hampers engagement.
                                                                              Gendered educational systems still steer girls towards traditionally female subjects and away from high-value, high-prestige subjects e.g., STEM.

                                                                              Policy implications:
                                                                              Ensure government policies (e.g., family, social and tax policies) do not discriminate against women or create barriers to entrepreneurship.
                                                                              Tackle gendered subject choices for girls and boys in educational settings.
                                                                              Use public procurement as a tool to support women’s businesses.
                                                                              Improve access to start-up and growth finance for women entrepreneurs.
                                                                              Make entrepreneurship training, including growth readiness training available through dedicated incubator and accelerator programmes.
                                                                              Policies must recognise the heterogeneity of women.
                                                                              Challenge gendered stereotypes at every level.

                                                                              • BibTex Key
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                                                                              • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                2015 Putting all our ideas to work: Women and entrepreneurship

                                                                                Journal Article

                                                                                Putting all our ideas to work: Women and entrepreneurship
                                                                                2015
                                                                                BIAC and Deloitte

                                                                                Key findings:
                                                                                Women’s businesses tend to be located in (gendered) sectors which are less attractive to investors e.g., retail, education, healthcare.
                                                                                Structural barriers mean that women’s businesses start with less capital, grow less quickly, and employ fewer people than men’s.
                                                                                When women seek external funding, they request far less than their male counterparts.
                                                                                Women tend to start businesses later in life than men.
                                                                                Women entrepreneurs are often highly educated (degree level).
                                                                                Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to finance; negative gendered stereotypes; unconscious bias; male-dominated funding organisations (particularly VC); inequitable entrepreneurial ecosystems.

                                                                                Policy implications:
                                                                                Facilitate and normalise women’s access to STEM subjects and entrepreneurship training.
                                                                                Enhance business environments – ease of access to information, training, resources/support systems, finance.
                                                                                Support flexible working policies to ensure employed women can continue working as they build their businesses.
                                                                                Provide affordable, local childcare.
                                                                                Support development and enhancement of women’s networks.
                                                                                Invest in enhanced ICT infrastructure e.g., high-speed internet availability, even in rural areas.
                                                                                Ensure application of a gender lens in policy making to tackle inequalities for women entrepreneurs.

                                                                                • BibTex Key
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                                                                                • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                  Publications

                                                                                  2023 Igniting Capabilities of Women Export Entrepreneurs

                                                                                  All types

                                                                                  Igniting Capabilities of Women Export Entrepreneurs
                                                                                  2023
                                                                                  Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

                                                                                  Key findings:
                                                                                  ‘Female capital’, which describes the gendered nature of social capital, can be a useful framework to understanding the gendered experiences of women entrepreneurs.
                                                                                  Trust, co-operation, and reciprocity were the core values of the women’s networks (of mostly other women, with male allies also present).
                                                                                  The women reported possessing (feminine capital in the form of) qualities of audacity and innate inner confidence that enabled them to identify, create and develop entrepreneurial opportunities.
                                                                                  Gendered structural barriers associated with the masculinisation of entrepreneurship continue to constrain women e.g., negative perceptions of some funders regarding women entrepreneurs.
                                                                                  Women expressed a strong preference for organic business growth supported by debt finance, bootstrapping or self-funding.

                                                                                  Policy implications:
                                                                                  Women’s clear preference for developing double/triple bottom line businesses should be supported and encouraged.
                                                                                  Diversity amongst and between women entrepreneurs should be recognised and accommodated.
                                                                                  Information regarding angel and venture capital funding should be made available to ensure women understand how such systems operate, providing them with expanded growth financing options.
                                                                                  Expanding their businesses into export markets offers women opportunities to empower themselves financially and personally, with significant potential for wider positive impacts.
                                                                                  Deficiency discourses should be avoided where women entrepreneurs’ behaviour deviates from the unacknowledged male norm e.g., reluctance to utilise angel or venture capital funding etc.
                                                                                  Policy should be designed to support women in ways meaningful to them (rather than ‘fix’ assumed gendered entrepreneurial deficiencies).

                                                                                  • BibTex Key
                                                                                  • Authors Anna Guenther | Dr Susan Nemec | Jess Chilcott | Professor Christine Woods
                                                                                  • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal

                                                                                    Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine Women’s Employment Action Plan

                                                                                    Journal Article

                                                                                    Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine Women’s Employment Action Plan
                                                                                    2022
                                                                                    Ministry for Women, National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women, and New Zealand Government

                                                                                    Key findings:
                                                                                    Inequitable access to funding, training, mentoring and networks, inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                                                    Policy implications:
                                                                                    Gender lens in policy-making is required to ensure equitable outcomes for women entrepreneurs.
                                                                                    Intersectional (cumulative) disadvantages need to be explored e.g. provision for non-White, differently abled, refugee etc. entrepreneurs.
                                                                                    Social procurement policies should be established to support women entrepreneurs’ businesses.

                                                                                    • BibTex Key
                                                                                    • Authors
                                                                                    • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                      Pacific women and men in business

                                                                                      Journal Article

                                                                                      Pacific women and men in business
                                                                                      2021
                                                                                      Ministry for Women Manatū Wāhine, and Ministry for Pacific Peoples Te Manatū mō Ngā Iwi o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa

                                                                                      Key findings:
                                                                                      There is a lack of visible Pacific Peoples entrepreneurial role models.
                                                                                      Pacific entrepreneurs in Aotearoa lack of access to culturally appropriate (safe and aware) business training and growth finance.

                                                                                      Policy implications:
                                                                                      Enhance support for Pacific Peoples’ entrepreneurial growth activities.
                                                                                      Provide growth readiness training and access to growth finance to facilitate scaling-up.

                                                                                      • BibTex Key
                                                                                      • Authors
                                                                                      • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                        Raising Capital in Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from women entrepreneurs

                                                                                        OGGB Auckland city view

                                                                                        Journal Article

                                                                                        Raising Capital in Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from women entrepreneurs
                                                                                        2021
                                                                                        Dr Janine Swail, University of Auckland

                                                                                        Key findings:
                                                                                        Women entrepreneurs suffer from: the lack of diversity (age, gender, ethnicity etc.) in the finance sector; negative gendered stereotypes, gender bias and gender-based discrimination; the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                                                        Policy implications:
                                                                                        Improve women entrepreneurs’ knowledge and perception of Angel/VC funding.
                                                                                        Address gender stereotypes and bias in the Angel/VC domain.
                                                                                        Support access to, and development of, funding networks for women entrepreneurs.
                                                                                        Challenge and address inequitable gender role expectations.

                                                                                        • BibTex Key
                                                                                        • Authors
                                                                                        • Tags Aotearoa reports | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                          Ngā wāhine kaipakihi: He tirohanga | Māori women in business: Insights

                                                                                          Journal Article

                                                                                          Ngā wāhine kaipakihi: He tirohanga | Māori women in business: Insights
                                                                                          2020
                                                                                          Ministry for Women Manatū Wāhine

                                                                                          Key findings:
                                                                                          There are increasing numbers of Māori women in business across all regions of Aotearoa New Zealand – both urban and regional.
                                                                                          Many wāhine Māori businesses operate in ‘non-traditional’ markets e.g., agriculture, forestry and fishing, professional, scientific and technical services, and construction, as well as in more ‘traditional’ sectors e.g., healthcare and social service.
                                                                                          The majority of surveyed businesses had proven their market resilience and sustainability by operating for 6+ years.
                                                                                          Wāhine Māori employ others, and contribute to the wellbeing of their whānau, communities and the wider economy.
                                                                                          Wāhine Māori businesses currently suffer from limited visibility (including role models).
                                                                                          There is limited specialist financial support available to wāhine Māori wanting to establish a business.
                                                                                          Supporting more wāhine Māori businesses to thrive would help future-proof and grow the social and economic wellbeing of whānau and their communities.

                                                                                          Policy implications:
                                                                                          Targeted, specialist funding and other incentives should be developed to help grow the number of wāhine Māori businesses in Aotearoa.
                                                                                          Opportunities to invest in wāhine Māori businesses both now, and in the future, should be developed.
                                                                                          Steps should be taken to enhance the visibility of wāhine Māori businesses both as active contributors to social and economic wellbeing, and also as role models.
                                                                                          Innovative childcare funding should be developed for wāhine Māori (and other women) whose businesses operate outside the standard working hours that most childcare is available.

                                                                                          • BibTex Key
                                                                                          • Authors
                                                                                          • Tags Aotearoa reports | Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                            Publications

                                                                                            2023 Pathways: A new approach for women in entrepreneurship

                                                                                            A woman wearing pink sneakers, blue jeans, a blue jacket a pink scarf and a dark coloured woolen hat, carrying a backpack and holding walking polies and a camera, is facing towards Mount Tongariro and is walking along a path.

                                                                                            All types

                                                                                            Pathways: A new approach for women in entrepreneurship
                                                                                            2023
                                                                                            Ana Stewart and Mark Logan

                                                                                            Key findings:
                                                                                            Social stereotypes about women’s and men’s roles in society create significant barriers to women’s equal participation in entrepreneurship, making women more logistically constrained.
                                                                                            Entrepreneurship is male-gendered, making it more difficult for women to see their ‘fit’ and to find high-profile female role models to inspire them.
                                                                                            Where women do participate, they tend feel less self-confident than their male peers, and often enter crowded, low profit, and highly gendered sectors.
                                                                                            Formal pathways into entrepreneurship are poorly defined, and the informal networks that support them are heavily oriented towards men.
                                                                                            Entrepreneurship education is not present within standard education systems, making an entrepreneurial career less accessible to women given the other barriers they also face.
                                                                                            The entrepreneurial investment sector is very male dominated which, coupled with unconscious bias, leads to very low levels of venture capital funding being directed towards women-led entrepreneurial teams.

                                                                                            Policy implications:
                                                                                            Policy interventions must acknowledge the many different barriers women entrepreneurs face and must deal with them all simultaneously to effect meaningful change.
                                                                                            Entrepreneurship education and support must be made more accessible to women (and other underrepresented) would-be entrepreneurs e.g., offerings must be delivered locally in rural and disadvantaged urban areas through pop-up services.
                                                                                            Support services should be co-designed with target audiences to ensure provision meets needs and overcomes barriers to participation.
                                                                                            Childcare grants should be given to primary carers to support equitable access. Small grants should be made available to develop and test business ideas at different stages.
                                                                                            Diversity must become a key feature of all publicly funded, and private co-funded entrepreneurial support organisations, with equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) training being a mandatory requirement. Mandatory, credit-bearing EDI training must also be delivered in high schools and universities.
                                                                                            Policies to support equitable childrearing practices must be better encouraged, and their take-up better monitored and reported.
                                                                                            Funding should be provided for a centralised, accessible, impartial and fully up-to-date online entrepreneurial ecosystem resource to be created. Information must be searchable by location, stage of business development, type of service offered etc., and must include only vetted, reputable service providers.

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                                                                                            • Tags Global | Journal

                                                                                              Women as Entrepreneurs: Lessons Unlearned?

                                                                                              A woman's hand is writing on notepaper

                                                                                              All types

                                                                                              Women as Entrepreneurs: Lessons Unlearned?
                                                                                              2022
                                                                                              Enterprise Research Council

                                                                                              Key findings:
                                                                                              The support landscape for women’s entrepreneurship continues to fail to provide women with required flexible, tailored, best-practice, gender-aware support.
                                                                                              Women entrepreneurs are important, distinct and diverse communities within the wider entrepreneurial population.
                                                                                              Too many women entrepreneurs continue to report actual, or perceived, difficulties with financial intermediaries and wider business support initiatives.
                                                                                              Immediate action must be taken to prevent similarly gendered atrophy of women’s businesses post-Covid as was seen during and after the 2008 Global Economic Crisis.

                                                                                              Policy implications:
                                                                                              Policies and programmes to encourage and support entrepreneurs must recognise their diversity and embed this within their approaches.
                                                                                              A national strategy is required to achieve ratios of UK women owned businesses comparable to ‘best-in-class’ countries.
                                                                                              A clearer route to policy should be developed to translate research evidence into policy action e.g., through an annual Female Entrepreneurship Research and Policy Conference.
                                                                                              Sustained, substantial government support is needed to develop a robust and accessible women’s entrepreneurship support network, locally, regionally and nationally, across all four nations in the UK.
                                                                                              A national framework of support must be developed, built around existing, local, focused, trusted, quality providers.
                                                                                              Gender-disaggregated, annual HM Treasury reporting is essential to ensure that commitments made to provide targeted support result in measurable and impactful outcomes.

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                                                                                              • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship: Progress report 2022

                                                                                                Image of a women sitting at a laptop

                                                                                                All types

                                                                                                The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship: Progress report
                                                                                                2022
                                                                                                Alison Rose

                                                                                                Key findings:
                                                                                                The major barriers for women entrepreneurs continue to be inequitable access to, and awareness of funding, inequitable caring responsibilities, lack of enabling entrepreneurship support ecosystems for women.
                                                                                                Caring responsibilities: Women entrepreneurs continue to suffer from the inequitable division of caring work, a situation exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. Women entrepreneurs reported spending 6-10 hours more per week on caring work than men entrepreneurs during the pandemic. Women entrepreneurs were 62% less likely than men to report post-pandemic recovery in their businesses. 44% of women entrepreneurs reported the urgent need for additional childcare support (versus 34% for men).
                                                                                                Enabling entrepreneurship: 68% rise in signatories to HM Treasury’s Investing in Women Code, which requires signatories to a) adopt best practice in supporting female business owners, and b) collect and publish gender disaggregated data to enhance transparency.

                                                                                                Policy implications:
                                                                                                Government should consider how best to support the development of targeted support for women entrepreneurs through public/private partnership working, designated policy support, ministerial buy-in and policy promotion, pan-government and public institution support, transparent funding, outcome measurement and reporting.

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                                                                                                • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                  The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs: How targeted support for women-led business can unlock sustainable economic growth

                                                                                                  Journal Article

                                                                                                  The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs: How targeted support for women-led business can unlock sustainable economic growth
                                                                                                  2022
                                                                                                  Mastercard

                                                                                                  Key findings:
                                                                                                  Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to funding and business training; negative gender stereotypes; the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.
                                                                                                  (Aotearoa specific):
                                                                                                  There exists a lack of affordable childcare, which disproportionately affects women

                                                                                                  Policy implications:
                                                                                                  Gender lens in policy-making is required to ensure equitable outcomes for women entrepreneurs.
                                                                                                  Explore the effects of policy in action (are policy intentions resulting in equitable results outcomes?).
                                                                                                  Explore why almost four times as many women as men are ‘pushed’ into (necessity) entrepreneurship.
                                                                                                  More funding required for good quality, locally-based childcare.

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                                                                                                  • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                    Women, Business and the Law 2022

                                                                                                    a big bookshelf

                                                                                                    Journal Article

                                                                                                    Women, Business and the Law 2022
                                                                                                    2022
                                                                                                    World Bank Group

                                                                                                    Key findings:
                                                                                                    Inequitable access to finance and training, negative gendered stereotypes, gendered sectoral segregation e.g., health and social care versus construction, inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                                                                    Policy implications:
                                                                                                    Implement and enforce gender equality laws.
                                                                                                    Support greater legal equality for women.
                                                                                                    Developed economies should focus on systemic and structural barriers that result in ongoing inequalities for women.

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                                                                                                    • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                      Women entrepreneurs: Catalyzing growth, innovation, and equality

                                                                                                      Journal Article

                                                                                                      Women entrepreneurs: Catalyzing growth, innovation, and equality
                                                                                                      2022
                                                                                                      Citi GPS

                                                                                                      Key findings:
                                                                                                      Inequitable access to finance (especially Venture Capital), international markets, mentoring, networks, training, cumulative disadvantage for some women e.g., non-Whites, differently abled, refugee women, gendered sectoral segregation e.g., health and social care versus construction, inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                                                                      Policy implications:
                                                                                                      Legislate for gender equality;
                                                                                                      Tackle systemic and structural barriers/biases that lead to inequitable outcomes for women.
                                                                                                      Collect gender disaggregated, internationally comparable data on women entrepreneurs.
                                                                                                      Introduce gender-aware procurement policies and practices.
                                                                                                      Invest in accessible, gender-aware business training support for women.
                                                                                                      Facilitate public policy, private sector, and legislative collaborations to support women’s entrepreneurship.

                                                                                                      • BibTex Key
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                                                                                                      • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                        2021 A Guide to Fostering Women’s Entrepreneurship: Five key actions towards a digital, green and resilient Europe

                                                                                                        All types

                                                                                                        A Guide to Fostering Women’s Entrepreneurship: Five key actions towards a digital, green and resilient Europe
                                                                                                        2021
                                                                                                        European Commission

                                                                                                        Key findings:
                                                                                                        Women entrepreneurs are an underutilised of economic growth, job creation, and social well-being.
                                                                                                        Supporting more women into entrepreneurship would improve gender equality, and provide diverse potential solutions and innovations for the green transition and recovery from the pandemic.
                                                                                                        Women are under-represented in science and technology (particularly digital technology) – a situation fueled by gender bias and lack of visible role models.
                                                                                                        Women entrepreneurs suffer from the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.
                                                                                                        The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected women’s businesses more than men’s due to their general location in more vulnerable sectors e.g. hospitality, retail and leisure.
                                                                                                        More support is needed to encourage women into entrepreneurship – business support and training, gender-specific equality-focused policy interventions, equitable access to finance, visibility of female role models, availability of mentors etc.

                                                                                                        Policy implications:
                                                                                                        Challenge gendered stereotypes of entrepreneurship.
                                                                                                        Develop life-long entrepreneurial learning offerings in schools, Universities and communities covering topics such as: finance, growth/investment readiness, network development, ICT and digital technologies.
                                                                                                        Adopt gender-sensitive, multi-agency, pan-regional approaches to promoting and developing women’s entrepreneurship.
                                                                                                        Ensure collection of gender-disaggregated, comparable data across regions to build robust, evidence-based policy interventions.
                                                                                                        Enhanced visibility of female role models.

                                                                                                        • BibTex Key
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                                                                                                        • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                          Ngā wāhine kaipakihi: He tirohanga | Māori women in business: Insights

                                                                                                          Journal Article

                                                                                                          Ngā wāhine kaipakihi: He tirohanga | Māori women in business: Insights
                                                                                                          2020
                                                                                                          Ministry for Women Manatū Wāhine

                                                                                                          Key findings:
                                                                                                          There are increasing numbers of Māori women in business across all regions of Aotearoa New Zealand – both urban and regional.
                                                                                                          Many wāhine Māori businesses operate in ‘non-traditional’ markets e.g., agriculture, forestry and fishing, professional, scientific and technical services, and construction, as well as in more ‘traditional’ sectors e.g., healthcare and social service.
                                                                                                          The majority of surveyed businesses had proven their market resilience and sustainability by operating for 6+ years.
                                                                                                          Wāhine Māori employ others, and contribute to the wellbeing of their whānau, communities and the wider economy.
                                                                                                          Wāhine Māori businesses currently suffer from limited visibility (including role models).
                                                                                                          There is limited specialist financial support available to wāhine Māori wanting to establish a business.
                                                                                                          Supporting more wāhine Māori businesses to thrive would help future-proof and grow the social and economic wellbeing of whānau and their communities.

                                                                                                          Policy implications:
                                                                                                          Targeted, specialist funding and other incentives should be developed to help grow the number of wāhine Māori businesses in Aotearoa.
                                                                                                          Opportunities to invest in wāhine Māori businesses both now, and in the future, should be developed.
                                                                                                          Steps should be taken to enhance the visibility of wāhine Māori businesses both as active contributors to social and economic wellbeing, and also as role models.
                                                                                                          Innovative childcare funding should be developed for wāhine Māori (and other women) whose businesses operate outside the standard working hours that most childcare is available.

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                                                                                                          • Tags Aotearoa reports | Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                            The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship

                                                                                                            Journal Article

                                                                                                            The Alison Rose review of female entrepreneurship
                                                                                                            2019
                                                                                                            Alison Rose

                                                                                                            Key findings:
                                                                                                            Women entrepreneurs need better, more equitable access to funding at all stages from start-up to growth.
                                                                                                            Women launch businesses with, on average, 53% less capital than men.
                                                                                                            Only 1% of all venture funding goes to businesses founded by all-female teams, inhibiting scale up.
                                                                                                            Enhanced family support is required to mitigate the inequities associated with the gender imbalance in unpaid domestic labour and caring roles for entrepreneurial women.
                                                                                                            Women are typically more risk-aware than men and are more cautious about starting or scaling a business.
                                                                                                            Women are (incorrectly) less likely to believe they possess entrepreneurial skills.
                                                                                                            Women are far less likely than men to know other entrepreneurs or to have access to sponsors, mentors or professional support networks.

                                                                                                            Policy implications:
                                                                                                            Develop and mandate best practice, gender aware funding approaches for financial institutions, incorporating transparent, gender disaggregated reporting.
                                                                                                            Develop and deploy new investment vehicles to encourage and support investment in women-owned businesses by financial institutions, high net worth individuals and investment institutions.
                                                                                                            Investigate necessary adaptations to existing finance mechanisms to support entrepreneurs with caring responsibilities.
                                                                                                            Tackle the access inequities of the urban/rural divide.
                                                                                                            Support community-based public/private partnership (PPP) initiatives to provide entrepreneurship, financial literacy and self-belief training, alongside mentoring, coaching and networking, to aspiring entrepreneurs, delivered in schools to both youth and adult learners.
                                                                                                            Expand availability of, and gender-aware access to, business networking and mentoring events and activities, particularly regionally.
                                                                                                            Support PPP development of a digital ‘one-stop shop’ information and resources portal for aspiring and established entrepreneurs.

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                                                                                                            • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                              2019 Women’s entrepreneurship report: Education and finance for successful entrepreneurship in Africa

                                                                                                              All types

                                                                                                              Women’s entrepreneurship report: Education and finance for successful entrepreneurship in Africa
                                                                                                              2019
                                                                                                              UN Economic Commission for Africa

                                                                                                              Key findings:
                                                                                                              Opportunity entrepreneurship produces more profit and more employment than necessity entrepreneurship.
                                                                                                              Secondary education and above is positively correlated with opportunity entrepreneurship.
                                                                                                              Education positively correlates with engagement with formal financial institutions, which encourages both business growth and formal (rather than informal) entrepreneurial activity.
                                                                                                              Women’s businesses with access to formal lending exhibited higher levels of product and process innovation.
                                                                                                              Entrepreneurial skills development training is transformational for supporting vulnerable women out of poverty.

                                                                                                              Policy implications:
                                                                                                              Ensure equitable access to education for girls and women.
                                                                                                              Improve availability of and access to informal entrepreneurial education, especially for women denied the chance to complete their formal education.
                                                                                                              Provide targeted training in business management, leadership, digital technologies, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
                                                                                                              Challenge gendered stereotypes (including gendered sectoral segregation).
                                                                                                              Deploy digital technologies to support financial empowerment (especially saving and engagement with formal financial institutions).
                                                                                                              Provide equitable access to insurance products for vulnerable women entrepreneurs to help insulate them and their businesses against economic or other shocks.

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                                                                                                              • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                                2017 Tackling the Gender Gap: What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Thrive

                                                                                                                All types

                                                                                                                Tackling the Gender Gap: What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Thrive
                                                                                                                2017
                                                                                                                Shaheen, J.

                                                                                                                Key findings:
                                                                                                                Few role models, and a lack of mentors, contribute to the perception that entrepreneurship is a male-only endeavor; the gender pay gap undermines the ability of women to be successful entrepreneurs.
                                                                                                                Unequal access to startup funding and financing streams leaves women with fewer credit options and a small portion of venture capital.

                                                                                                                Policy implications:
                                                                                                                Legislate for transparent, equitable pay.
                                                                                                                Increase girls’ exposure to ICT and science-based education to increase numbers of women in (high value) STEM careers.
                                                                                                                Challenge traditional gender stereotyping and enhance the visibility of non-traditional role models.
                                                                                                                Increase women’s access to small loans and grants.
                                                                                                                Make small business support and training more relevant for the digital age (and for online trading).
                                                                                                                Provide high quality business mentoring to women.
                                                                                                                Ensure the availability of local, high quality, low-cost childcare.
                                                                                                                Incentivise start-ups to locate in deprived areas through student loan forgiveness schemes.
                                                                                                                Tackle (un)conscious bias in recruitment, promotion etc. through training and regular review.

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                                                                                                                • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                                  2017 Advancing women’s empowerment: Growing women’s entrepreneurship through ICT in Southeast Asia

                                                                                                                  woman on laptop

                                                                                                                  Journal Article

                                                                                                                  Advancing women’s empowerment: Growing women’s entrepreneurship through ICT in Southeast Asia
                                                                                                                  2017
                                                                                                                  The Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Dalberg

                                                                                                                  Key findings:
                                                                                                                  Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to finance; networks; start-up support/training; mentoring; negative gendered stereotypes; and the inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare.

                                                                                                                  Policy implications:
                                                                                                                  Reduce gender-based barriers to women’s entrepreneurship and increase rewards.
                                                                                                                  Increase training for, and access to, ICT to decrease gendered barriers and increase income.
                                                                                                                  Develop multi-stakeholder/collaborative support provision (policy makers, philanthropists, private sector organisations, etc.).

                                                                                                                  • BibTex Key
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                                                                                                                  • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                                    2017 Strengthening women’s entrepreneurship in ASEAN: Towards increasing women’s participation in economic activity

                                                                                                                    Journal Article

                                                                                                                    Strengthening women’s entrepreneurship in ASEAN: Towards increasing women’s participation in economic activity
                                                                                                                    2017
                                                                                                                    OECD

                                                                                                                    Key findings:
                                                                                                                    Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to finance; domestic and international markets; networks, and start-up support/training; negative gendered stereotypes; lack of opportunities to enter high-value sectors; lack of support through public procurement; inequitable division of unpaid domestic labour and childcare; and a lack of visible role models

                                                                                                                    Policy implications:
                                                                                                                    Develop gender sensitive and responsive policies and strategies.
                                                                                                                    Improve women’s access to flexible, affordable finance; access to markets; ICT training; start-up and business management training; improved networks and networking opportunities.
                                                                                                                    Improve visibility of successful/impactful women entrepreneur role models.
                                                                                                                    Develop mechanisms for women entrepreneurs to feed-into policy development.
                                                                                                                    Address gendered disparities in the workplace (including entrepreneurship).
                                                                                                                    Deal with gender-based traditional/cultural/legal barriers e.g., women not being able to own assets and land.
                                                                                                                    Enhance gender diversity in public procurement policies and practices.

                                                                                                                    • BibTex Key
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                                                                                                                    • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                                      2017 Women unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential

                                                                                                                      Journal Article

                                                                                                                      Women unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential
                                                                                                                      2017
                                                                                                                      PwC and The Crowdfunding Center

                                                                                                                      Key findings:
                                                                                                                      Women entrepreneurs suffer from inequitable access to funding (also lack of visibility/awareness of the issue), negative gendered stereotypes, limited awareness of crowdfunding as a potential source of more equitable external business finance, and a lack of training re. crowdfunding.
                                                                                                                      There exists a lack of diversity in finance sector alongside a lack of (unconscious) bias training within finance sector, both of which disadvantage women entrepreneurs.

                                                                                                                      Policy implications:
                                                                                                                      Promote crowd-funding platforms to increase gender equality in seed funding acquisition.
                                                                                                                      Provide training in crowdfunding e.g., through Business Support providers and Business Schools.
                                                                                                                      Instigate gender (unconscious) bias awareness training for traditional financial institutions.
                                                                                                                      Promote visibility of female role models and success stories.

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                                                                                                                      • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                                        2017 Policy brief on women’s entrepreneurship

                                                                                                                        All types

                                                                                                                        Policy brief on women’s entrepreneurship
                                                                                                                        2017
                                                                                                                        OECD

                                                                                                                        Key findings:
                                                                                                                        Women are under-represented in entrepreneurship compared with men.
                                                                                                                        Women’s businesses tend to be crowded into sectors with low barriers-to-entry and low profit margins.
                                                                                                                        Women more often pursue entrepreneurship for gendered reasons i.e., to manage family/caring responsibilities, due to the glass ceiling and lack of upward career progression.
                                                                                                                        Women face multiple, often simultaneous barriers to entrepreneurial careers including: lack of training in entrepreneurial skills, gendered social and cultural attitudes that discourage entrepreneurial careers for women, greater difficulty (relative to men) accessing start-up financing, smaller and less effective entrepreneurial networks, and policy frameworks that discourage women’s entrepreneurship.
                                                                                                                        Access to entrepreneurial training and grants are useful in combatting barriers faced by women, but are not wide-reaching enough at present.
                                                                                                                        Lack of visibility of successful female entrepreneurial role models hampers engagement.
                                                                                                                        Gendered educational systems still steer girls towards traditionally female subjects and away from high-value, high-prestige subjects e.g., STEM.

                                                                                                                        Policy implications:
                                                                                                                        Ensure government policies (e.g., family, social and tax policies) do not discriminate against women or create barriers to entrepreneurship.
                                                                                                                        Tackle gendered subject choices for girls and boys in educational settings.
                                                                                                                        Use public procurement as a tool to support women’s businesses.
                                                                                                                        Improve access to start-up and growth finance for women entrepreneurs.
                                                                                                                        Make entrepreneurship training, including growth readiness training available through dedicated incubator and accelerator programmes.
                                                                                                                        Policies must recognise the heterogeneity of women.
                                                                                                                        Challenge gendered stereotypes at every level.

                                                                                                                        • BibTex Key
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                                                                                                                        • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

                                                                                                                          2015 Putting all our ideas to work: Women and entrepreneurship

                                                                                                                          Journal Article

                                                                                                                          Putting all our ideas to work: Women and entrepreneurship
                                                                                                                          2015
                                                                                                                          BIAC and Deloitte

                                                                                                                          Key findings:
                                                                                                                          Women’s businesses tend to be located in (gendered) sectors which are less attractive to investors e.g., retail, education, healthcare.
                                                                                                                          Structural barriers mean that women’s businesses start with less capital, grow less quickly, and employ fewer people than men’s.
                                                                                                                          When women seek external funding, they request far less than their male counterparts.
                                                                                                                          Women tend to start businesses later in life than men.
                                                                                                                          Women entrepreneurs are often highly educated (degree level).
                                                                                                                          Women entrepreneurs suffer from: inequitable access to finance; negative gendered stereotypes; unconscious bias; male-dominated funding organisations (particularly VC); inequitable entrepreneurial ecosystems.

                                                                                                                          Policy implications:
                                                                                                                          Facilitate and normalise women’s access to STEM subjects and entrepreneurship training.
                                                                                                                          Enhance business environments – ease of access to information, training, resources/support systems, finance.
                                                                                                                          Support flexible working policies to ensure employed women can continue working as they build their businesses.
                                                                                                                          Provide affordable, local childcare.
                                                                                                                          Support development and enhancement of women’s networks.
                                                                                                                          Invest in enhanced ICT infrastructure e.g., high-speed internet availability, even in rural areas.
                                                                                                                          Ensure application of a gender lens in policy making to tackle inequalities for women entrepreneurs.

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                                                                                                                          • Tags Global | Journal | Mainstream enterprise

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