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Older News Items



News items and links featured on Womenable.com in 2007, still worth savoring


  • To encourage more scholarly analysis of women's enterprise with implications for education and policy, the US-based National Women's Business Council is collaborating with the International Council for Small Business for the 5th straight year to present an award for the Best Paper in Women's Entrepreneurship.

    The winning paper will be presented at the ICSB's 2008 conference, which will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. For more details, download this information sheet. And for additional information about the NWBC, ICSB or the 2008 conference, click on the respective links. (December 2007)

  • The National Women's Business Council, analyzing special tabulations from the US Census Bureau, has enhanced the accounting of the contributions of women to the US economy by adding a new slice to the pie: women-led firms. These firms - led by women who own a plurality, but less than a majority, of a business - number just over 1 million, and add 2.5 million jobs and $300 billion in revenues to the 6.5 million majority women-owned firms already counted by the Census Bureau. All told, women-owned or -led (WOWL) businesses number 7.5 million as of 2002, employ 9.6 million workers and generate $1.2 trillion in revenues.

    To learn more about these new numbers, visit the NWBC web site. And to read Womenable commentary on the impact of these new numbers, click here. (November 2007)

  • On the occasion of Women's Enterprise Day in the United Kingdom, Prowess executive director Erika Watson shared some thoughts on the state of affairs concerning support for women's enterprise development in the country in an op-ed commentary in the Financial Times. While women and men are encouraged to 'go for it' and start their own firms, Watson says that the growth of these firms is not being sustained. She sees the challenge lying in the lack of a long view amongst policy makers and a 'one size fits all' mentality with respect to programming. Sounds very familiar to us Yanks. Click here to read the commentary article on Financial Times.com. (November 2007)

  • Where in the world is the economic, educational, health and political status of women at closest parity with that of men? In Scandinavia. A new ranking of the global gender gap finds four Nordic countries - Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland - topping the list, a ranking unchanged from last year.

    While this year's analysis of the relative status of women and men does not show any major changes, the list has been expanded to include 128 countries (up from 115 last year). The largest positional changes among the top 20 include gains by Lithuania (up to 14th on the list from 21 last year), Latvia (from 19 to 13), and New Zealand (up to 5th place from 7th last year), and demotions for Canada (down 4 positions to 18th), and Germany, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa - all of whom slipped 2 points from 2006.

    To learn more about the Global Gender Gap, and to download the full report, the rankings, a press release and to view video clips of the study's authors, visit the World Economics Forum's Global Gender Gap web page. (November 2007)

  • PROWESS, the UK-based organisation which PROmotes Women's Enterprise Support Services, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary with an event in the Houses of Parliament, at which time they released a new analysis of the State of Women's Enterprise in the UK. What does this analysis show? That:

    • while the rate at which women are entering into self-employment is rising at a faster pace than men, women are still less likely than men to be starting their own businesses,

    • there are some significant regional differences, which point to the need for localised support, and

    • much remains unknown about entrepreneurship rates and challenges in the BAME (black, asian and minority ethnic) communities.

    (November 2007)

  • Diversity Dividends: US-based, corporate-focused research organization Catalyst has released a report finding that Fortune 500 companies with greater diversity in their boardrooms enjoy a healthier bottom line. Check out a summary of "The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women's Representation on Boards" on the Catalyst web site. A critical mass seems to be reached with three or more women directors. (October 2007)

  • Doing Business 2008: While in industrialized nations of the OECD still rank as the easiest countries in which to do business, countries in Eastern Europe and South Asia are making business-friendly reforms to enable greater enterprise creation and growth. The 'top reformer' in 2006-2007? Egypt, which improved in 5 of the 10 areas monitored by The World Bank and the IFC in their popular Doing Business series of reports. Check out the new report at the Doing Business web site.

    Of particular note is a new women's initiative, headed up by long-time women's enterprise advocate Amanda Ellis, who is moving over to The World Bank from its sister organization, the International Finance Corporation. (October 2007)

  • Starting with the end in mind: A qualitative study published this month by the Center for Women's Business Research focuses on the value of planning an exit strategy well before thinking about selling or passing on one's business. This new report, summarizing in-depth interviews with nine women who have 'harvested' their firms, is a companion piece to a survey conducted last year. Read more about the new study here. (October 2007)

  • WBOs in SECT 'under the microscope': PROWESS, the women's enterprise advocacy and support organization in the UK, has released a study looking into the unique challenges and characteristics of women business owners in science, engineering, construction and technology (SECT). Analysis of government data combined with a small survey and qualitative interviews among a select number of women in these non-traditional fields shows that women in these fields are few and far between, have benefited greatly from role models, and struggle with being taken seriously. To learn more, read the study news release, and download the report, entitled "Under the microscope: Female entrepreneurs in SECT." (September 2007)

  • Erin Go Bragh! The Dublin City and County Enterprise Boards are co-hosting the first-ever Women's Enterprise Day in the Republic of Ireland, on the 21st of November. The event will feature presentations by business experts, a mentoring clinic, and a panel of case studies of successful women business owners from across the country. For further information, click here or visit the Dublin City Enterprise Board's women's enterprise page. (September 2007)

  • Are women and men business owners different? A study just published by the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy takes a look at whether and how women and men business owners differ in their entrepreneurial choices, and the impact of those choices on performance. The findings? Women and men are different in their entrepreneurial motivations, the types of businesses they start, and their growth expectations. However, if these differences are held constant, outcomes are the same. But, as we know, these differences ARE what make many men- and women-owned firms different. Find out more for yourself by reading the study, "Are Male and Female Entrepreneurs Really That Different?," which may be found at this link. (September 2007)




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NEWS FROM 2009
Click on this link for news items that appeared on Womenable.com in 2009.

NEWS FROM 2008
Click on this link for news items that appeared on Womenable.com in 2008.







Last Updated: February 26, 2010