INFORM - Issue 14 - Training for women entrepreneurs: an imperative for growth and jobs

By Olena Bekh. INFORM - Issue 14 - Training for women entrepreneurs: an imperative for growth and jobs.
The impact of business women on society extends far beyond their contribution to global GDP. Women are an indispensable part of the labour force but this is not visible in employment statistics and even less so in entrepreneurship statistics. Official GDP figures do not reflect the hours of unpaid female labour devoted to family care and women get paid less than their male colleagues and generally hold fewer top positions in company management and government. According to IFC and World Bank enterprise surveys, in recent years only 18.3% of companies worldwide had a female top manager while only just over one-third (35%) was (co-)owned by a woman.
Trends in some ETF partner regions correspond to the world average: in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 36.6% of business owners are women, and they occupy 18.8% of top management positions in companies. But in the Enlargement region these figures are 27.5% and 14.2% respectively, and at just 17.2% and 13.6%, they are even lower in the Middle East and North Africa. Top performing countries are those that developed a strong culture of gender equity which benefitted from state support. Unfortunately, centrally collected and updated statistics on women’s participation in business are lacking in many countries so analysis is largely based on independent surveys.
At the same time, research shows that women represent the fastest growing share of the population with higher education degrees. Today, 56% of graduates at master’s level are women. Analysis conducted by The Economist suggests that since 1970, women have filled twice as many newly created jobs as men. But most of these are in wage employment and in most of the world’s economies the number of women entrepreneurs is less than half that of men. A 2004 report by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor concluded that in every country it studied, men were more active in entrepreneurship than women. It said that the largest gap occurs in middle-income nations where men are 75% more likely than women to be active entrepreneurs, compared to 33% in high-income countries and 41% in low-income countries.
The World Economic Forum’s leaders called for investment in “the most important determinant of a country’s competitiveness: its human talent – the skills, education and productivity of its workforce”. The participation of women in business transforms the quality and structure of the workforce and society as a whole. It boosts female career development, self-realisation and job creation. It benefits their households and communities by affecting the mindset of future generations who may come to consider self-employment as a natural career option...
To strengthen the entrepreneurial competences and business potential of women, the following areas of policy support should be strongly considered.
ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Entrepreneurial learning should be given an early start to develop entrepreneurship skills in boys and girls according to their own needs and interests. It should be accessible to all and embedded in a culture of lifelong learning. Entrepreneurship should become a key competence in curricula. Special attention should be paid to developing leadership skills in girls from the early phases of education and to broadening their exposure to technology-related issues. Learning has to provide common and equal opportunities, regardless of gender, to engage in any type of employment, to succeed in any sector of the economy and to run a business. Measures should be taken to overcome prejudiced and discriminative attitudes towards women in business or in leadership positions: dedicated policies and education programmes must focus on developing self-efficacy among women entrepreneurs and promote their role in top management and company boards. Adult education and training also needs to be employed to promote the entrepreneurial potential of women and to encourage their own business development.
ROLE MODELS AND STORY-TELLING
Education and training are dominated by male role models. Female role models need to be introduced. Story-telling, as applied by the network of EU Women’s Entrepreneurship Ambassadors is an excellent example of a new form of informal learning. Early exposure of learners to entrepreneurial success stories featuring both men and women is critical. Thus, women entrepreneurs should be encouraged to engage with local communities and schools to establish active links and cooperation. A more generally positive attitude towards women’s entrepreneurship can be nurtured with media involvement and by developing promotional campaigns.
MENTORING, COACHING AND NETWORK SUPPORT
Mentoring and coaching are valued highly by many women entrepreneurs due to their positive effects on business start-up survival and the way they can build confidence among women entrepreneurs. They should be developed together with peer learning networks. Broader business advisory structures for women engaged in various stages of entrepreneurial activity should also be considered. Access to networks is important for informal learning, for the exchange of good practice, for building confidence and for resolving real-life business problems in a ‘safe’ peer format. While women possess no fewer networking skills than men, many need to learn to utilise these skills for the promotion, sustenance and expansion of their business in the global market, as well as for lobbying their business interests.
WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS
Training for entrepreneurial women should be built on a thorough analysis of their training needs, both before, during and after they move into business. Training needs analysis for women’s entrepreneurship is now a focal point in policy research. New analytical instruments are being piloted by ETF partner organisations.
Finally, access to networks, training and finance require policy coordination so as to increase the sustainability of individual programmes and measures. Download INFORM - Issue 14 - Training for women entrepreneurs: an imperative for growth and jobs.