There's increasing awareness that the underrepresentation of women in business today is a missed opportunity -- not only from a social standpoint, but from an economic one as well.
Recent research commissioned by the Dell Women Entrepreneur Network shows that enabling a worldwide culture of female entrepreneurship can reshape the global economy.
Women represent the largest market opportunity -- controlling $20 trillion in annual consumer spending globally, and expected to rise to $28 trillion in the next five years -- equal to the economies of China and India combined. Economists concur that women entrepreneurs are an untapped force that can rekindle economic expansion and provide a stream of companies that are innovative, market-expanding, export-oriented and job-creating.
Dell and its agency of record, my firm, PPR Worldwide, saw an opportunity to help accelerate the impact of women on the global economy by developing and launching the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network in 2010.
The vision for DWEN was to provide a vibrant community for like-minded women to share best practices, build business opportunities, and explore international expansion and access resources -- like capital and technology -- that would help them grow their businesses.
To further propel the conversation between women entrepreneurs and policy makers, Dell and PPR commissioned a first of its kind research for High-Potential Women Entrepreneurs to track the challenges women business owners face.
Creation of the research index
"Our research is the first and only global diagnostic tool that measures and ranks the conditions high-potential female entrepreneurs face across 30 developed and developing economies," notes Jennifer Davis, executive director of brand communications at Dell. "The goal of the research is to act as a tool to guide leaders and policymakers in identifying national strengths and weaknesses to create more favorable conditions that enable women entrepreneurs to thrive and ultimately bolster the global economy."
Research index findings
The 2014 report profiles 30 countries, up from 17 countries profiled in 2013, and conducts cross-country comparisons, benchmarking such factors as business climate, access to education, capital financing and cultural attitudes toward women in leadership. The report reveals that there is room for improvement for all countries, regardless of their level of economic development.
The United States, Australia and Sweden were named the best places for female entrepreneurship, followed by France, Germany, Chile, the United Kingdom and Poland. The worst places are Pakistan and Bangladesh, owing to a lack of basic legal rights and education for women and acceptance of women's social and economic empowerment. Malaysia saw the most marked deterioration in the 2014 rankings, falling from 9th to 13th place.
Research index highlights
Highlights of the 2014 Research Index indicate that governments and corporations can support the improvement of conditions for high–potential female entrepreneurs by increasing access to education, technology, capital and networks. Highlights include:
Access to capital is crucial. Women entrepreneurs experience a greater financing gap than men do. Access to formal bank accounts is critical for entrepreneurs, as it is a necessary precursor to the financing that fuels business growth. In 14 of the 30 countries, 50% or more of the female population is unbanked.
Many industries remain male-dominated. The existence of "male" and "female" jobs in a country's economy contributes not only to the gender wage gap, but also results in the concentration of women's entrepreneurial activity within specific sectors, which can be detrimental to innovation.
Female start-up activity is on the rise in emerging markets. Despite being ranked as top performers with overall favorable business environments, opportunity perception is fairly low in the U.S. and Europe, with less than one third of the female population identifying business opportunities. Even with such challenges as access to education and capital, female startup activity in Africa is high at 86 female to every 100 male startups. Ghana has more female startups than male at 121 to 100. Latin America and Caribbean countries also exhibit high rates, at a regional average of 84 female to every 100 male startups.
More women are needed in top positions. Social norms are affecting support for women entrepreneurs and their decisions to take on higher roles and responsibilities. Only five countries have 40% or more female managers (Jamaica, Ghana, Panama, United States and Nigeria), and in four countries the percentage of women is 10% or less: South Korea, Turkey, Japan and Pakistan.
Women's rights must be addressed first. In 22 of the 30 countries included in the Index, married women have fewer rights than married men. In 21 countries women lack the same access to employment as men, and in eight countries women do not have the same legal access to property as men.
"Women business leaders inspire other women to pursue their dreams," says Davis. "We believe investing in women entrepreneurs is an investment in our collective growth and prosperity. At Dell, we are committed to empowering women in a way that will continue to allow them to fulfill their potential for the betterment of everyone."
Research use
The research has proven to impact global economic stability by supporting women entrepreneurs, innovation and job creation, and is being used by senior leaders and policy makers to inform policy and institute reform:
• The International Finance Corporation is using insights to increase access to capital for women entrepreneurs with its Banking On Women program.
• Vital Voices, an NGO that identifies, trains and empowers emerging women leaders is using the research to help partner organizations develop country-specific programs to address the main constraints to female entrepreneurship.
• Development Alternatives Inc. is using the Index on its Jordan Competitiveness Program, designed to achieve competitiveness and job creation goals in Jordan.
• The U.S. State Department previewed the Index with government officials in Spain to promote entrepreneurship within the country.
Jillian Fisher is vice president of PPR Worldwide.
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