Entrepreneurs are among the most impactful actors in our economy because of the roles they play in creating new jobs and bringing breakthrough technologies to the marketplace. Despite their importance, female entrepreneurs remain a largely untapped economic force. The number of highly educated women indicates that females have the potential to start high growth businesses, but research shows that women have not pursued high potential entrepreneurial endeavors at the same pace as men. Consider these facts about women from the Kauffman Foundation, Astia, and Babson College, for example:
- They are well educated: Women represent 51 percent of the nation’s PhDs, 51 percent of business school applicants, 67 percent of college graduates, and more than 70 percent of 2010 valedictorians.
- They are in powerful positions but are not leading companies: Women became the majority of the labor force in 2010 for the first time in U.S. history, holding 51.4 percent of managerial and professional jobs, but only 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are female.
- They own low growth, lifestyle businesses, not high growth, cutting edge companies: While data shows that women own 30 percent of all new firms, only 3 percent of female entrepreneurs own high growth firms.
- They do not get their fair share of investment capital: Women-led businesses receive only 5 percent of all equity capital investments and just 3 percent of women-led firms attract venture capital investments.
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Author: Leah Yomtovian
