Women Entrepreneurship continues

Women entrepreneurship is on the rise worldwide. Last year, 163 million women started businesses globally in 74 economies, while 111 million led established businesses. This is according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2016/17 Women's Report, which was recently released.

New values for the world

"This not only demonstrates the magnitude of impact female entrepreneurs have around the world, but also highlights the contribution they have on the growth and well-being of their societies," says Donna Kelley, Babson College professor and co-author. "Female entrepreneurs provide income for their families, employment for those in their communities, and products and services with new value to the world around them."

Among the 63 economies surveyed in this report and the last one produced in 2015, GEM found that total entrepreneurial activity (= Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA)) among women increased by 10 percent and the gender gap (ratio of women to men participating in entrepreneurship) decreased by 5 percent. It also shows an 8 percent increase in women's ownership of already established businesses.

Female participation in entrepreneurship in Europe remains low, but the perception of opportunities is growing

Female entrepreneurship rates vary significantly across the economies studied. GEM groups economies in five levels of economic development (according to World Economic Forum criteria) and six geographic regions: East and South Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Female TEA rates ranged from 3 percent in Germany, Jordan, Italy, and France to 37 percent in Senegal. In only five economies in two regions (Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam in Asia, and Mexico and Brazil in Latin America) did women participate in entrepreneurship at equal or higher rates than men.

Despite low TEA rates, Europe is notable for having more well-educated female than male entrepreneurs, 22 percent more on average. And while women in Europe are less likely to start up than women in economies at earlier stages of economic development, there has been a 10 percent increase in the number of women who think there is a good chance of starting a business in the region.

Ten percent of all female entrepreneurs surveyed run their businesses alone and have no intentions of employing staff in the next five years. Europe has the highest frequency of female one-person business activity, which means they have no intentions of employing anyone.

Political insight to better support women entrepreneurs

"GEM, now in its 18th year, has gained widespread recognition as the most authoritative longitudinal study of entrepreneurship in the world, and therefore provides valuable insights to inform future research and policy-making, as well as the design of interventions that can improve women's entrepreneurship," says GEM Executive Director Mike Herrington.

The data from this latest report shows several important trends and paradoxes and further said, "While economic development and educational attainment are increasing, women's entrepreneurial participation is decreasing and the gender gap is increasing, but business exit is also slowing. While the female discontinuity rate exceeds that of men in the first three stages of development, although at only about 10 percent, fewer women in highly developed and innovation-driven economies have exited businesses, only about two-thirds of the male rate.

There is also evidence for policymakers that women on average have a 20 percent or greater propensity to cite necessity as a motive for starting a new business compared to men - especially in less developed economies. There is also positive evidence that female entrepreneurs have a 5 percent greater propensity to innovate compared to men.

This suggests that support initiatives for women entrepreneurs need to be entrepreneurially tailored and adapted - rather than taking a 'one size fits all' approach.

Find out more about the current Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2016/17 here