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News From 2008



News items and links featured on Womenable.com during 2008


  • From Rhetoric to Results: At a recent meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, a new report was released by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The report, "Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009, Who Answers to Women? Gender and Accountability," states that the UN's Millennium Development Goals have not yet been met, and that greater accountability mechanisms must be put in place if they are to be achieved.

    The report cites five key areas where action is needed to strengthen progress and accountability:

    • politics and governance,

    • access to public services,

    • economic opportunities,

    • justice, and

    • the distribution of international assistance for development and security.

    The bottom line: advancing the status of women worldwide needs good governance, and good governance needs the involvement of more women to close the gender gaps that exist in health, education, economic empowerment, and personal safety.

    For more information, and to download the full report, visit: www.unifem.org/progress/2008. (December 2008)

  • Women's Entrepreneurship in New Zealand: New Zealand's Ministries of Women's Affairs and Economic Development, having collaborated over the past four years on a Women in Enterprise project, recently announced the publication of "Women in Enterprise: A report on women in small and medium enterprises in New Zealand." The study combines information from several sources, including government census and labor force survey data, qualitative interviews, discussions with key stakeholders, and data from the country's Global Entrepreneurship Monitor surveys.

    The report finds that:

    • women-owned firms are smaller than those owned by their male counterparts, and more likely to be operated on a part-time basis,

    • women with Asian and European ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be self-employed compared to Maori or Pacific women,

    • the same factors for success exist for both women and men, but gender differences in skills and experiences leave women disadvantaged, which may be impacting business growth and success, and

    • more detailed and ongoing gender disaggregated data are needed to measure progress.

    For further information, and to download the report, visit the Ministry of Women's Affairs web site. (December 2008)

  • Just the Facts, Ma'am: Stealing a march from the Center for Women's Business Research and the National Women's Business Council (who, truth be told, copied the idea from an old Small Business Administration "Answer Card"), Prowess' newly-established Prowess National Policy Centre has wasted no time in getting out fundamental facts about women business owners and their enterprises in the UK in a handy fact-card format.

    The ten-panel cards share easily digestible information on:

    • the overall picture of women's business ownership in the UK,

    • ethnic minority women-owned firms,

    • access to finance and growth,

    • social and rural entrepreneurship among women,

    • and more.

    These pocket-sized cards are perfect to insert into information folders, to leave behind during advocacy visits or at conferences, and - of course - make great party favours.

    The cards may be purchased in quantities or multiples of: 50 (for £27 + VAT), 100 (£49 + VAT) or 500 (£200 + VAT). Amounts include postage. To find out more or to order some fact cards, contact Prowess at admin@prowess.org.uk.

    And, to find out more about the resource cards available from the National Women's Business Council, contact them at allison.gilmore@nwbc.gov; for fact cards from the Center for Women's Business Research, contact info@womensbusinessresearch.org.
    (November 2008)

  • Focusing on women in SET: More and more women are studying science, engineering and technology (SET) at the university level, but these increasing numbers are not being seen in technological innovations nor in SET-related business pursuits. To help understand some of the reasons why, the Kauffman Foundation is supporting some research and educational efforts. See their Women Scientists in Innovation web page for more information. Also visit the web site of the Rosalind Franklin Society, which is a new organization focused on recognizing the achievements of women in the sciences.

    One reason why more women may not be turning their technical and scientific prowess into entrepreneurial endeavors may be the decidedly unfriendly environment of support for women in the sciences. One recent paper exploring this issue won the NWBC-ICSB best paper ward in women's entrepreneurship this year. The paper, " The Business Incubator and the Female High Technology Entrepreneur: A Perfect Match?," was co-authored by Dr. Maura McAdam of Queen's University, Belfast and Professor Susan Marlow of DeMontfort University, Leicester, UK. It explores the hidden and not-so-hidden challenges of women entrepreneurs starting and growing a business in a male-dominated field AND in a masculinized physical space of a high-tech incubator.

    The authors suggest that while the structure of incubators may be gender "neutral," they are not particularly welcoming or friendly to the different considerations (hours of operation, child-minding accessibility, etc.) that women may bring to the entrepreneurial equation. The paper may be downloaded by clicking here or at the link above. (November 2008)

  • New research from Womenable: At a recent conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Womenable President and CEO Julie Weeks presented a new research paper. Entitled "A Connotation for Control: Women Business Owners Seeking Balance AND Growth," the paper looks at the relationship between entrepreneurial motivations and outcomes among growth-oriented women business owners. Based on recent work that Womenable has done with members of the "Make Mine a Million $ Business" community, Weeks finds that:

    • even growth-oriented women business owners are motivated to start their own businesses to achieve greater work-life balance,

    • the quest for greater balance stems more from life-stage circumstances than from past career experiences, and

    • balance-seekers are no less successful in achieving business growth than are women business owners motivated by other goals.


    So, what does the word 'balance' really mean? Is it instead a connotation for greater control over one's schedule and one's future? And what are the implications of a misunderstanding of a woman's business motivations for business support providers and educators - are we 'dumbing down' the technical assistance and support provided to women business owners because of a misperception of her desire/lack of desire for growing her business?

    To download and read the paper, click here or on the link above. (October 2008)

  • Women Impacting Public Policy, on behalf of and with the support of many of its women business organization partners, recently issued "Economic Blueprint: The Women Business Owners' Platform for Growth." The report outlines a set of "policy expectations" for the next Presidential Administration and Congress, organized within six core areas: health care reform, Federal procurement for women-owned small businesses, tax equity/fairness for small firms, access to capital, energy issues, and telecommunications policy. To read more about the report and download a copy, visit WIPP's web site. (September 2008)

  • New ILO Report: From concrete block making to tailoring and shop-keeping, the women profiled in the International Labour Organization's new report, "Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia," have universal stories to share, and the lessons they have learned may be applied everywhere:

    • "I would like to advise women to get some business enlightenment through training. Money matters, but what factors most in business is knowledge."

    • "Start a business with whatever you have. You don't need to have a lot of money ... learn to persevere."

    • "I like to encourage young women to become entrepreneurs because it gives them real power at home."

    The report also illustrates that physical disabilities and illness need not hamper entrepreneurial dreams. Several of the women profiled are HIV-positive or have other physical limitations. Click here to read more about the report and to download a copy, and click here to learn more about the ILO's Women's Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE) programme. (September 2008)

  • Best Paper in Women's Entrepreneurship: For the fifth straight year, the National Women's Business Council has underwritten an award in collaboration with the International Council for Small Business to recognize the best paper focused on women's entrepreneurship. This year's paper, " The Business Incubator and the Female High Technology Entrepreneur: A Perfect Match?," was co-authored by Dr. Maura McAdam of Queen's University, Belfast and Professor Susan Marlow of DeMontfort University, Leicester, UK.

    The paper explores the hidden and not-so-hidden challenges of women entrepreneurs starting and growing a business in a male-dominated field AND in a masculinized physical space of a high-tech incubator. The authors suggest that while the structure of incubators may be gender "neutral," they are not particularly welcoming or friendly to the different considerations (hours of operation, child-minding accessibility, etc.) that women may bring to the entrepreneurial equation.

    This year's paper may be downloaded by clicking the link above. Past papers may be found at these links:

    (September 2008)

  • Weeks/Womenable Quoted in New York Times: "Entrepreneurial Women on the Rise" says the headline in the hard copy article, while "An Increasing Appeal of Starting a Business" is the lead-in to the online version of an article in the Sunday New York Times on June 22, focused on the rising trend in women's entrepreneurship AND the rising interest in growth.

    Balance, flexibility and control are factors influencing womens' choices about starting their enterprises, but those goals do not stand in the way of reaching for the million-dollar level.

    Click here to read the article. (June 2008)

  • Women Doing Business in Africa: A new report from the World Bank tells the stories of seven women entrepreneurs across the African continent - from Senegal and Cameroon in the west to Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda in the east, to Swaziland and South Africa in the south. Profiles are presented along with facts and statistics that highlight both the progress that has been made and the legal, structural and cultural barriers that still remain for many women entrepreneurs in Africa.

    Visit the Doing Business web site to learn more about the 2-year women's initiative and to download the 52-page report. (June 2008)

  • Access to the Corporate Marketplace in the UK: Launched late last year at an event in the House of Commons, WEConnect is a new NGO aimed at helping women business owners in the UK certify their firms as Women's Business Enterprises in order to seek corporate market opportunities, and government contracts.

    The organization is the first international "spin-off" of the 11-year old US certification organization, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

    WEConnect plans a workshop this summer and an inaugural conference later this year. WBENC's 9th annual conference is coming up in late June. See their respective web sites for more information. (June 2008)

  • Online poll among WBOs in UK: The Government Equalities Office in the UK recently announced the results of an online survey taken among women business owners in the UK. The 1,000+ women who were surveyed said that:

    • they started their own businesses to seek greater flexibility in their lives (70%), to be their own boss (65%), and to achieve better work-life balance (52%),

    • they feel that entrepreneurship has brought them greater independence (78%) self-confidence (66%) and self-esteem (60%), but

    • they feel things would have been much easier with: more assistance from the government (34%), easier access to finance (27%), and encouragement/advice from a mentor (23%).


    Minister for Women and Equality Jane Harman and Business Secretary of State John Hutton spoke about the survey results at a recent reception in London, at which time they also launched a new publicity campaign to encourage more women to start their own businesses.

    The campaign is part of a multi-pronged effort to boost private enterprise in the UK, which features several efforts aimed directly at women. Read more about these efforts in the UK government's recently released Enterprise Strategy. Womenable is consulting with the UK government on some of the efforts focused on women. (June 2008)

  • New Information on Firms Owned by Women of Color: At a two-day symposium held on May 6 and 7, the Center for Women's Business Research discussed the findings of a multi-year dialogue held across the United States among women entrepreneurs of color, pointing out that:

    • Women of color face misperceptions, and frequently have to work harder to prove their capacity,

    • Many top business issues - such as managing cash flow, human resources, and gaining access to business networks - can be more challenging for women of color, yet

    • Many women of color operate with a "double bottom line," putting giving back to their communities on a par with generating revenues.


    The Center also released new estimates of the number and growth of minority women-owned firms in the U.S., stating that there are now an estimated 1.9 million businesses that are majority-owned by one or more women of color, employing 1.2 million workers, and generating $165 billion revenues. Firms owned by women of color have grown in number by 32% between 2002 and 2008, and now represent an estimated one-quarter (27%) of all women-owned businesses.

    For more detailed information, and to read and download the symposium press release, visit the Center's web site. (May 2008)

  • New GEM Women's Report: The Center for Women's Leadership at Babson College has published the fourth special report on Women and Entrepreneurship as a part of the ongoing Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research effort. The report was unveiled on May 2 during a day-long discussion session in New York.

    As in previous years, GEM reveals a persistent gap between women and men in the share who are starting businesses, as well as among those who own established firms. This year, report authors offer some implications for policy makers, stating that efforts could address supporting greater access to social and financial capital, as well as self-confidence building.

    To learn more about the latest report and to download the full report, an executive summary, and a press release, visit: http://www.gemconsortium.org/files.aspx?Ca_ID=212.
    And to view and download past reports or other GEM research reports, visit the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor web site. (May 2008)

  • SBA Study Looks at Gender Differences in Self-Employment: A new study conducted for the SBA's Office of Advocacy reveals that, over the past 12 years, self-employed women have closed the educational gap with their male counterparts, yet there are still lower rates of self-employment among women than among men - 3.3% of adult women are self-employed as of 2006, compared to 6.7% of men.

    The study also investigates differences between self-employed women and wage-and-salary women. While some research has shown that entrepreneurs differ from wage-and-salary workers in their levels of human capital, this analysis shows little difference between women entrepreneurs and employees in overall educational attainment, but a significant difference when it comes to work experience - particularly in managerial experience.

    The analysis looks at differences by race as well, finding that perhaps the bar is set somewhat higher for minorities, in that self-employed minorities have higher levels of formal education than do whites.

    The study's researchers analyzed annual data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey from 1994 to 2006. Visit the SBA Office of Advocacy's women-focused research page to read and download the full study report and/or research summary. (April 2008)

  • New Information on New Business Starts: Last year, an estimated 495,000 new businesses started in the United States each month, representing new entrepreneurial activity among 0.3% of the adult population in the country. So says the latest publication of the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Activity Index.

    This annual analysis of household survey data from the US Government's Current Population Survey also shows that men are twice as likely to be engaged in starting a business as are women: 0.41% to 0.20% (or 4 out of 1,000 adult men and 2 out of 1,000 adult women). This rate of entrepreneurial activity among women is a drop from 0.23% last year.

    But is this cause for alarm? Womenable doesn't think so - at least for now. A look at the trend analysis provided in the report shows that there was an upward "spike" of .03% in start-up activity among women back in 1998 that went away the next year, and a downward blip of .02% in 1999 that was erased two years later. In addition, the decline between last year and this year - given the small rate of new business start activity overall - represents just 100 interviews among a survey sample of just over 314,000 women. If the trend continues next year, then we can start looking for answers that may go beyond sampling error. (april 2008)

  • Whither the Growth of Women-Led Firms? A recent article in USA Today highlights a variety of research findings that come to a similar conclusion - that there are very few women leading very large enterprises, that even fewer of them are women-founded, and that the current state of the pipeline does not bode well for those numbers to increase any time soon.

    According to the corporate women's leadership research organization Catalyst, only 43 women have ever led a Fortune 1000 business since they started keeping track of such matters - and only three of them were women-founded. Another related analysis of "up-and-coming billion dollar companies" finds that this small number is not likely to increase soon.

    Why - if women are starting businesses at an ever-increasing rate - are so few of them aiming for the stars? Does the fact that women are fully 25 times less likely to grow their business to the billion-dollar level matter? Any why is this the case - do fewer women wish to grow to this level of business accomplishment? Are fewer women able to navigate the professional paths that would take them there because of external barriers? Interesting questions - for which there are not yet clear answers. Check out the article in USA Today, and the news from Catalyst. (April 2008)

  • Women's Entrepreneurship a Focus of New British Enterprise Strategy: The British government recently unveiled its new Enterprise Strategy, and women's business advocates were greatly cheered by its emphasis on helping more women start and grow businesses in the UK.

    Julie R. Weeks, President and CEO of Womenable, was mentioned by name in the strategy document (which can be found on the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform web site) as "one of the world's leading authorities on women's enterprise." Weeks will be consulting with the government on one aspect of the new strategy: piloting the delivery of business start-up assistance using a method similar to the U.S.' Women's Business Center program.

    In addition to downloading the full 97-page strategy at the link noted above, you may also wish to download this 2-page summary of the key elements of the women's enterprise strategy. (March 2008)

  • New GEM Study Released: Entrepreneurship researchers from 42 countries contributed to this year's annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research effort. The new report, published just a few weeks ago, not only contains the annual look at 'total entrepreneurial activity' in 42 countries (this year divided into 23 high income countries, 11 middle/low income countries in Europe and Asia, and 8 middle/low income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean) but a refined analysis of entrepreneurial perceptions/intentions among adult populations AND an interesting look at 'entrepreneurial framework conditions.'

    In this new look, they compare the views of 'GEM experts' in the 42 countries studied with the World Bank's well-known Doing Business research on regulatory and legal barriers to doing business. The ratings of GEM experts show much less variability and sensitivity compared to the Doing Business ratings.

    Of course, the report also shows a continuing gender gap in entrepreneurial activity. We, and other womenablers, eagerly anticipate the release of the annual Women and Entrepreneurship report, which will happen in May. Learn more about the current report, and download both the general and women-specific reports, at the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor web site. (February 2008)




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Last Updated: July 31, 2010