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lodelcar · 5 years ago

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IMPROVEMENT OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Picture: Belgian woman entrepreneur explains her goals & perspectives, realisations, strategy, working conditions, network to interested Turkish audience in Brussels, CoR

1. Entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs, whatever their gender

The statement made above should be obvious. Economy is a universal principle and starting up and running a business is a competence that is not given to everyone. So: those who have the courage and perseverance to start and run a business should be supported and admired whether they are male or female. If business leaders still choose to expand their business and recruit staff and treat and reward them properly, they should be cherished by society, whether they are men or women. This is the theory; in practice things prove to be very different. Women all over the world still have to overcome obstacles that are almost absurd if they feel the entrepreneurial blood tickle. As a result, in a country such as Belgium, which nevertheless belongs to the OECD, only 1 / 3rd of the entrepreneurs are women. As a result, in most OECD countries, women-led companies find it much more difficult to get loans or venture capital than companies run by men. After all, 94% of the investors are men, which means that female entrepreneurs attract only 2% of the venture capital.[1] The fact that it is mainly prejudices that play tricks on women is proven by the fact that women are much more likely to have crowdfunding. A context that is much less dominated by men and where women often achieve better results than men. According to research from PwC, 22% of the crowdfunding campaigns led by women achieve the stated goal, compared to 17% of the campaigns led by men.[2]

But are the differences between male and female entrepreneurs so different? American research by Illuminate Ventures, a fund that invests in tech companies and has an eye for but is not limited to start-ups with female founders, teaches us that there are more similarities between male and female entrepreneurs than generally assumed. Women entrepreneurs are no more risk averse than men and are also not inhibited more than men (on the contrary even) by the lack of financial security. The ambition to develop a company on a global scale scores equally low with both groups. [3]

In 2017, a study “Women’s empowerment in the Mediterranean Region” was ordered by the ARLEM[4] network and drafted by CASE – Center for Social and Economic Research, covered the European Union southern neighbouring partner countries and some other countries comprised by the ARLEM network. The focus of the report was specifically on how regional and local governments can play a role in empowering women and challenging social norms that impede women’s progress in society and how the European Union and the Union for the Mediterranean can support and facilitate that process. The study’s main findings can be resumed as follows[5]:

The International Labour Organisation reports shows that globally women represent around 24% of all employers in all regions except the Middle East and North Africa where they are around 6%.

Women entrepreneurs in the Southern Mediterranean face significantly more challenges than their European counterparts.

If we deepen out these statistics towards the Turkish context, we can deliver the following statements:

According to TurkStats, the labour participation rate among women is only 31.5%, while in the European Union it is 51.3%, on average.

Nevertheless, female participation has increased to 50% in the country's urban areas - an increase fueled primarily by university-educated women.[6]

2. Why are women entrepreneurs interesting in the economic process?

Women entrepreneurs offer many advantages. After all, women go bankrupt much less quickly, because they have prepared their business plan more thoroughly and also because they (dare to) take fewer risks. Women entrepreneurs also have a number of human skills, such as empathy, cooperation and creativity.[7] The American company Boston Consulting Group calculated that female startups raised 78 cents per invested dollar compared to less than half (31 cents) for "male".[8]

Female leadership is on the rise in Europe. In 2019, the Belgian organisation “Women on Board”[9] conducted a study together with the marketing research agency Profacts in which 80 percent of the Belgians say that if they start a business tomorrow, they would opt for a Board of Directors with as many women as men. 60 percent think a Board of Management without women is outrageous. In five areas, according to the Belgians, Boards of Directors with a third women distinguish themselves through a strong long-term vision, long-term sustainability, consideration of climate impact, better relationships with social partners and a clear diversity policy.[10]

These last years, people have started to find women more competent, intelligent, emotional and social, but not more ambitious, decisive and aggressive. This appears in an analysis of sixteen opinion polls from the period 1946 -2018, in which representative samples of a total of more than 30,000 American adults had indicated whether certain character traits are more prevalent among men or more among women. The research was published in July 2019 in the scientific journal American Psychologist [11]. The authors looked at three clusters of qualities requested in the surveys. "Intelligent", for example, with "creative" and "organized" fell under the competence-related characteristics. Socio-emotional characteristics were, for example, "emotional", "honest" and "warm". And then there is the cluster that the psychologists identify with the word agency: properties such as "decisive," "arrogant," and "aggressive," related to goal achievement and power. Interestingly, people have started to find women more competent, but have not attributed more agency to women, and did not find women even more social. Perhaps women are more intrinsically social than men and men have more intrinsic agency by nature. But another way of appreciating these elements could be that perhaps social norms push them in a certain direction, away from jobs that require qualities that are typical of the opposite sex.[12]

3. Typology of female entrepreneurs

The international consultancy firm Ernst & Young organizes an annual academy for promising female entrepreneurs from all over Europe. The description of the profiles of all participants can be found on the internet.[13] From the description of the 54 candidates for 2016, 2017 and 2018, many conclusions can be drawn, both about the studies they did, the sectors in which they started their companies, whether they are active regionally, nationally or internationally and whether they are alone or with a partner when they started up their company.

Most of the female entrepreneurs have a master’s degree, some of them even a PhD. Of the 54 companies that are included in the academy, 8 are with two female partners. Some also have a male partner: husband, brother or fellow student. Several of the female entrepreneurs also belong to an entrepreneurial family and have continued the business of their parents, or have received financial and logistical support from the family when they started up or took over an existing company. About half of the start-ups work regionally, with one or a few stores or developed a consultancy company that has a regional impact. The other half is already working nationally or internationally, often out of necessity because the market in which they operate contains too few potential customers regionally. It is striking that among the 54 companies described, the female managers are very active in networks, by chairing professional associations or by other activities in which they can expand their network and introduce their customers. With regard to the sectors in which women entrepreneurs are active, it is noticeable that few women have found their way into traditional heavy industry or construction, with some notable exceptions. Many have been creative and have found themselves a niche in services such as marketing and market analysis, baby sitting, home & decor, groceries and gardening, recreation parks, education & didactics, risk management for the healthcare sector etc. In addition, they are active in typically female professions such as creation of lingerie, hair products, organic raw food bar, vegan shops, silk development, wedding clothing, organic cotton development, HR etc. And then there is, of course, the full range of ICT developments such as apps for care centers, for local nightlife, ordering or catering; cyber security, fintech, etc. An example among many is the Portuguese Susana Sargento. This entrepreneur, scientific researcher and professor at the University of Aveiro created in 2012 the technological Veniam together with João Barros, University of Porto. The company develops technology that enables the linking of cars to networks, turning them into Internet access points and collecting information on vehicles, for example to enable better management of traffic or public transport networks.[14]

It is also remarkable that in the list of companies that focus on the circular economy in Flanders, Belgium, we also have found very many female entrepreneurs active. For example, we find in the list a matchmaker between second-hand baby stuff and parents in school, Subscribe to children's clothing, an artisan who is able to recycle everyday materials into something new that looks professional and equally sophisticated, etc.[15]

The Brussels training center Interface 3, which we mentioned earlier, also set up an initiative with similar training centres in Europe called All Digital and which is supported by the EU. In October 2010, All Digital was formed into an AISBL (International Nonprofit Association) with the name Telecentre Europe and has taken up residence at Interface3's headquarters. New information and communication technologies represent a bridge to economic and social development. The mission of the All Digital network is to help its members improve their effectiveness and increase their impact through the exchange of information, knowledge and best practices. 30,000 Digital Public Spaces in 33 European countries and ten non-European countries are members of All Digital.[16]

4. How are women supported in their development as entrepreneurs?

Governments often undertake to encourage female entrepreneurship. In addition, cities and regional governments go further and deeper than national governments. After all, they are closer to the entrepreneurs and see the usefulness of their companies for the region more clearly.

The EU supports initiatives combatting inequality and poverty in the framework of its regional development policy. We already introduced the study ordered by the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) network. A series of recommendations have been delivered through the study, emphasising the following items[17]:

Access to education and training is absolutely essential for the empowerment of girls and women. The education gap between men and women is closing in South and Eastern Med Countries. However, there are still inequalities, particularly in rural areas.

Regional and local governments have a central role to play in both formal and informal education at local level.

Compensatory/second chance education programmes should be available to young women who missed out on formal schooling in both urban and rural areas. EU funded projects could provide valuable assistance in this regard.

The importance of micro-credits as tool for empowerment women in business should further be exploited.

The balanced participation of men and women in decision-making structures is a sine qua non of a democratic society. A number of Southern Mediterranean countries are now operating quota systems for women, particularly, in local government.

The role of women in the cultural sphere can be very positive especially at local level. New technologies and innovative practices such as digitization and social media continue to open up new opportunities for creatives within this sphere.

Women and particularly women refugees from Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries can play a leading role in the development of the cultural economy with assistance and coordination, from regional and local Authorities.

The potential of the digital world should be further explored in this field in order to give access to content to the maximum number of women and girls.

The ARLEM community has organised also for the first time an ARLEM AWARD. The purpose of the award is to reward a young entrepreneur at local level from a Mediterranean partner country where the youth unemployment is a big problem, as well as the Mayor/President of Region who promoted his/her entrepreneurship. Initiatives from all South Mediterranean countries members of ARLEM can take part in the competition. Women and men are equally invited to introduce their projects. This attitude confirms my opening statement: Entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs, whatever their gender

The EU attributes also awards during the EU Week for Regions and Cities. They are indicated by the name “RegioStars”. One of the candidates for the RegioStars Award 2019[18] is the Irish WISE Project. WISE (Women's Integrated Skills & Employment) is a project running in Donegal, helping ladies return to employment, education or self-employment. There are dedicated Employment Advisers who provide the following services, CV building, cover letter & interview skills, job brokering, access to employment and educational opportunities, self-employment guidance, support confidence and motivational building and development opportunities. With funding available for short-term accredited courses.[19] The project, run by People 1st Employment and Skills is funded for almost 300.000 € by the European Social Fund.

In Sweden the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, was tasked by the Swedish Government to promote women’s entrepreneurship in the period 2007–2014. This decision came as a result of a study revealing that conditions for entrepreneurship are not equal for women and men who wants to start, run, lead and develop a business.[20]

In an article on the Blog Ochimusya Drive, we find an ode to the way that Sweden encourages female entrepreneurship, even if the entrepreneurs in question are not of Swedish origin, but tried to build a new life in Sweden. The author cites a Femtech start-up weekend in which 76 women having different backgrounds such as business / marketing design / UX or programming joined this event in order to work on their ideas and turn them into reality as teams.[21]

In Belgium, female entrepreneurship is supported both regionally and nationally. A national "Plan for the promotion of female entrepreneurship" encouraged valuable initiatives from regional non-profit organizations to propose projects. For example, the well-known non-profit organization Markant submitted the OnderneemstersDUET project. OnderneemstersDUET wants to bridge the difficult initial period of entrepreneurship among recently started women. They get a strong female role model as a personal mentor. Mentee and mentor form a nice "duet" for 1 year. Afterwards, the mentee needs to feel more motivated to manage her business in a solid way. In the course of the project, an eco-system between mentors and mentees is developed through various events, and the practical cases are published.[22] The Brussels non-profit organization H.E.R.O. pour le réseau Wowo received financial support for the WonderFullWomen project. WonderFullWomen is a project structured around the 5 instruments to promote female entrepreneurship: a mentoring program, a coaching program, inspiring TV clips, the only paper magazine intended for female entrepreneurs and events. The WonderFullWomen want to be a source of inspiration but also get inspiration to do business.[23]

In Germany, women entrepreneurs are supported in various ways by the regional authorities through the non-profit organization “Frauen Unternehmen” (WOMEN business). They organize in the first place the "Vorbild-Unternehmerinnen" (= Model Entrepreneurs). More than 160 role model women entrepreneurs are already supporting the "WOMEN business" initiative.[24] In addition, the same non-profit organization also organizes "Multiplikatorinnen & NetzwerkpartnerInnen" (=Female multiplicators and female network partners). In this specific project the Model Entrepreneurs work as volunteers

with schoolgirls, they playfully explore what it's like to be your own boss, for example during class visits, as part of project weeks, career orientation days or at the annual Girls'Day. They support founder plan games or the foundation of student companies.

with students and graduates they show that entrepreneurial independence is an attractive career option, for example by attending podium discussions, workshops and career days.

They support business plan seminars, entrepreneurship competitions or are individually prepared as mentors. The Model Entrepreneurs participate also in regional events to inform women interested in founding a company about the advantages and challenges of self-employment. The events include, for example, female entrepreneurial tables, a series of events of the chambers of commerce and of municipalities or career and founding fairs. In employment agencies they operate in “question and answer" sessions to show women new job and life perspectives in their career orientation.

Yet there are also numerous private initiatives. In Portugal we name the Chicas Poderosas movement, a project that was born in Latin America and whose mission is to give women skills related to technology that has spread worldwide. The Portuguese Mariana Santos is its founder. She is still the CEO of Unicorn Interactive, a digital content startup.[25]. In the UK Veronica Costache, originary from Romania, has an advertising company RoComm. A part from that she also enables and coaches her fellow countrywomen to develop their lives, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship, under the umbrella organisation Romanian women in the U.K. [26]

5. Women entrepreneurs: an asset for regional development

Stimulating women towards entrepreneurship is primarily a regional matter. The circumstances may vary considerably from region to region. The economic situation is sometimes so positive that companies are begging for employees and that women are being driven to work in a natural way, without their husband's resistance. In other circumstances, there is so little work that men leave to look for work. Women stay behind and have to take care of themselves without a good education. Enterprising women will still try to start a mini-company, often at home, in order to stimulate the education of children and the creation of income. Local governments should therefore integrate vocational training programmes for women into local economic development strategies, so that training is related to labour market opportunities.

Women have more modest goals and often opt for entrepreneurship to better combine work and children. In addition, many women deliberately keep their business small, so that they can avoid certain issues that come up with more personnel, such as employment law and management issues.[27] This does not necessarily have to be a disadvantage, on the contrary. Small-scale initiatives can be supported to grow gradually and are also more connected to a region. Cities and regions can support this dynamic by educating women, offering them financial guarantees and grouping them in associations.

In Romania, the regional option is reflected in the way the n.g.o. for the promotion of female entrepreneurship is organized: CONAF[28] is a confederation of provincial and local organizations. Every local association is supported by local entrepreneurs who spend part of their time promoting entrepreneurship and guiding women who want to set up a business. The Braşov division is led by Silvia-Daniela Pohrib, who, in addition to her accounting office, also conducts entrepreneurship courses for young people within the n.g.o. Mentalio and coaches women in their entrepreneurship.

In Turkey, the approach has to differ definitely when it comes to remote rural areas, such as the city of Erzincan, we are working with. Although the main cities have a strong participation degree of women in their economic life and labour structure, this cannot be said for remote areas such as Erzincan. There is a reluctance from men that women should lead a business and will not be at home for the children. However, when it comes to farm work, most labour is done by women nowadays. But they idea that an income is generated separately, calls for opposition. Moreover, the educated people from the city systematically fled because of the lack of labour opportunities. It is therefore not enough to train women but also to influence society about the role of women entrepreneurs in society. [29]

Women are not only encouraged to become entrepreneurs, but also to acquire competences that until recently were considered to be a matter for men. In most European countries, the proportion of women in the computer industry is below 20%. As for the proportion of young women enrolled in higher education courses in computer science, it is currently below 10%, all regions and all levels combined. In Brussels, an Adult Education Centre has been in existence since 1988 that focuses exclusively on women and focuses exclusively on introducing women into ICT and digital competences. The Centre is called Interface 3. This non-profit association is recognized and supported by many private and institutional partners for the quality and innovative nature of its training. Each year nearly 400 women job seekers undergo training, short or long, initiation or specialization. The insertion rate at the end of qualifying training is 70%! The Interface3 training courses are designed for women wishing to integrate into professional life, to reintegrate themselves or to reorient themselves towards promising sectors (job-seeking women, long-term unemployed women, "returning" women). These programs focus on ICT but also on other requirements of today's professions: project management, language skills, ...[30]

Earlier in the article, we will also provide a series of examples of how cities and regions are often engaged by higher authorities to use funds to promote female entrepreneurship as efficiently as possible. They in turn often work together with civil society organizations, in the West European sense of the word.

6. Encourage women entrepreneurs

The fact that a woman, Ursula von der Leyen, was proposed to lead the European Commission and that another woman, Christine Lagarde, was nominated to become President of the European Central Bank, shows that European male politicians realize that there are talents available who are unused until now and who deal with leadership in a different way. And that a choice for women can have positive effects on the further development of the European Union.

Studies have sufficiently demonstrated that women are just as good entrepreneurs as men and that by excluding them a lot of potential for job creation is lost. In many countries, policymakers have understood that women entrepreneurs not only create small businesses to support their families and escape the poverty trap, but because they have valuable ideas and view business and employment differently than men. The fact that they are often disapproved in conservative circles with the fallacy that they will never be able to combine their family duties with their entrepreneurship is being refuted by the facts in many countries. Women not only have the right to remunerated work because it is important for their self-deployment and self-conscience. Women can be both good mothers and good entrepreneurs. They must, however, be supported and not left to their fate. In the first place in the family circle.

The fact that female entrepreneurship is actively promoted and supported in many continents, countries and regions is based on the positive effects that female entrepreneurship can have on a family, municipality or region: they are reliable and productive, they are good with money, they are efficient distributors of goods and services within the household[31].

Louis Delcart, board member EAR-AER, www.ear-aer.eu

This article regroups the first conclusions from a project in the framework of Supporting Civil Society Dialogue Between the EU and Turkey, that the European Academy of the Regions is implementing in collaboration with Ersiad Ankara between September 2019 and April 2020. It has been presented as a speech in Ankara on December 6th 2019.

[1] DE VOORDELEN VAN VROUWELIJKE ONDERNEMERS (THE BENEFITS OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS), An in blog Yarlini, 14-05-2019, https://www.yarlini.be/blog-de-voordelen-van-vrouwelijke-ondernemers/

[2] Wanneer vallen barrières voor vrouwelijke ondernemers weg? 16-10-2018 in MT.be, https://www.mt.be/business/wanneer-vallen-barrieres-voor-vrouwelijke-ondernemers-weg/6818

[3]Wanneer vallen barrières voor vrouwelijke ondernemers weg? (When will barriers for female entrepreneurs disappear?) 16-10-2018 in MT.be, https://www.tijd.be/opinie/column/weg-met-vooroordelen-tegen-vrouwelijke-ondernemers/10038347.html

[4] Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly

[5] Simona LIVIDEANU, Contribution of the European Committee of the Regions to empowerment of the women in the Mediterranean Region, presentation European Committee of the Regions, dd. 15-11-2019

[6] source World Bank

[7] DE VOORDELEN VAN VROUWELIJKE ONDERNEMERS (THE BENEFITS OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS), An in blog Yarlini, 14-05-2019, https://www.yarlini.be/blog-de-voordelen-van-vrouwelijke-ondernemers/

[8] Wanneer vallen barrières voor vrouwelijke ondernemers weg? (When will barriers for female entrepreneurs disappear?) 16-10-2018 in MT.be, https://www.tijd.be/opinie/column/weg-met-vooroordelen-tegen-vrouwelijke-ondernemers/10038347.html

[9] The Belgian non-profit organization "Women on board" ‘s main objective is to create a "pool" of talented women that can take mandates on boards of directors. Today the organization has 293 members.

[10] Françoise Roels, Vrouwelijk leiderschap is bezig aan een Europese opmars (Female leadership is on the rise in Europe) in: VRT Nws, 4-7-2019 https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/07/04/vrouwelijk-leiderschap-is-bezig-aan-een-europese-opmars/

[11] Alice Eagly, PhD, Northwestern University; Christa Nater, MSc, Michèle Kaufmann, PhD; Sabine Sczesny, PhD, University of Bern; David Miller, PhD, American Institutes for Research: Gender Stereotypes Have Changed: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis of U.S. Public Opinion Polls From 1946 to 2018, American Psychologist, published online July 18, 2019.

[12] Ellen de Bruin in: Vrouwen zijn slimmer, mannen bereiken meer (Women are smarter, men achieve more), - de Standaard Avond, 9-8-2019

[13] EY - Entrepreneurial Winning Women Europe Class of 2016, Helping outstanding women entrepreneurs think big and grow rapidly, https://www.ey.com/be/en/services/strategic-growth-markets/ey-entrepreneurial-winning-women-europe-class-of-2016; https://www.ey.com/be/en/services/strategic-growth-markets/ey-entrepreneurial-winning-women-europe-class-of-2017; https://www.ey.com/be/en/services/strategic-growth-markets/ey-entrepreneurial-winning-women-europe-class-of-2018

[14] 5 mulheres empreendedoras portuguesas que deves conhecer (5 Portuguese women entrepreneurs that you should know), in Universia Portugal, 25 de Junho de 2018 , https://noticias.universia.pt/emprego/noticia/2018/06/25/1160164/5-mulheres-empreendedoras-portuguesas-deves-conhecer.html

[15] Louis Delcart: Waste management and circular economy in Flanders – Belgium, in blog “Principles of Regional Approach” , 9-12-2018, https://lodelcar.tumblr.com/post/180955829970/waste-management-and-circular-economy-in-flanders

[16] All Digital: l’accès aux TIC pour tous (All Digital: Access to ICT for everyone), https://www.interface3.be/fr/text/all-digital

[17] Simona LIVIDEANU, Contribution of the European Committee of the Regions to empowerment of the women in the Mediterranean Region, presentation European Committee of the Regions, dd. 15-11-2019

[18] https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/regio-stars-awards/#1

[19] https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/regio-stars-awards/2019/finalist?r=wise-project

[20] Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth: Women's entrepreneurship, 5-7-2018 https://tillvaxtverket.se/english/womens-entrepreneurship.html

[21] Ochymusya, How female entrepreneurs are active in Sweden, posted 2/10/2017, https://ochimusyadrive.com/how-female-entrepreneurs-are-active-in-sweden/

[22] Plan ter promotie van het vrouwelijke ondernemerschap (Plan to promote female entrepreneurship), on website of Federal Ministry of Economy Belgium, 8-3-2019 https://economie.fgov.be/nl/themas/ondernemingen/een-onderneming-beheren-en/promotie-van-het/plan-ter-promotie-van-het

[23] Plan ter promotie van het vrouwelijke ondernemerschap (Plan to promote female entrepreneurship), on website of Federal Ministry of Economy Belgium, 8-3-2019, https://economie.fgov.be/nl/themas/ondernemingen/een-onderneming-beheren-en/promotie-van-het/plan-ter-promotie-van-het

[24] https://www.existenzgruenderinnen.de/DE/Vernetzung/Frauen-unternehmen/MultiplikatorInnen/MultiplikatorInnen_node.html;jsessionid=69525D6284CDA6F6773BDA9104E3CA9D

[25] 5 mulheres empreendedoras portuguesas que deves conhecer (5 Portuguese women entrepreneurs that you should know) in Universia Portugal, 25-6-2018, https://noticias.universia.pt/emprego/noticia/2018/06/25/1160164/5-mulheres-empreendedoras-portuguesas-deves-conhecer.html

[26] both organisations are on Facebook

[27] DE VOORDELEN VAN VROUWELIJKE ONDERNEMERS (THE BENEFITS OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS), An in blog Yarlini, 14-05-2019, https://www.yarlini.be/blog-de-voordelen-van-vrouwelijke-ondernemers/

[28] CONAF = Confederaţia Natională pentre Antreprenorat Feminin

[29] Louis Delcart, Supporting Civil Society Dialogue Between the EU and Turkey, “Improvement of Women Entrepreneurship with the EU”, internal report of Brussels visit dd.14-15/11/2019

[30] Interface 3: Centre de formation bruxellois pour femmes en recherche d’emploi (Interface 3 : Brussels’ training centre for women in search of employment) https://www.interface3.be/fr/interface3

[31] Dr. Sarah Bradshaw, Dr. Joshua Castellino, Ms. Bineta Diop: Women’s role in economic development: Overcoming the constraints, Sustainable Development Solution Network, UN, 20-5-2013 http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/130520-Women-Economic-Development-Paper-for-HLP.pdf

#regional approach #women entrepreneurs

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