Success in Female Entrepreneurship

On average, women are less likely to start businesses than men for a complex variety of reasons. Standard explanations for the lower likelihood of female entrepreneurship include personal characteristics, human capital, and barriers related to prejudice concerning access to resources. In terms of personal characteristics, women tend to exhibit lower entrepreneurial self-efficacy and higher fear of failure than men, both closely associated with business creation. Women, especially in developing countries, often have lower levels of human capital in terms of education, and there are often more constraints for them in accessing financial capital. These differences not only hamper the development of entrepreneurial skills and confidence but they are also perpetuated by the fact that there are fewer entrepreneurial role models for women. Across economies, women are burdened by an inequitable share of global poverty and one strategy to address these gaps is to aim for the economic empowerment of women through entrepreneurship. Female entrepreneurship is particularly important for creating jobs that are intrinsically suited for women, given the socioeconomic conditions that they face. Such jobs could better align with the human and social capital that women have, provide novel solutions to female issues, and help women achieve a better work-life balance. Many female entrepreneurs also report higher incomes compared to their paid worker counterparts and in addition, they can use their unused talents while fully expressing themselves. This chapter explores how more women can escape the barriers to venture creation to establish sustainable business ventures and secure the economic and non-economic benefits of entrepreneurship.