Term Paper on "Entrepreneurship: It Is Said That Women"

Term Paper 11 pages (3999 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Entrepreneurship: It is said that women are worse at entrepreneurship than men.

Introduction and Definition of Entrepreneurship

The woman who heads her own company is no longer something exceptional. However, there is still a disparity in the number of entrepreneurs and businesses run and owned by men compared to women in the United Kingdom. A definition of entrepreneurship does not reveal any logical or innate reason for this disparity.

The conceptualization of the concept of entrepreneurship is complex and one that evolves with economic development. In the modern business context it means combining various factors in an innovative manner to generate a dual collaboration between entrepreneur and customer that will result in the creation of wealth. While scholars from diverse disciplines have over time grappled to define the function of entrepreneurship, contemporary economists place the emphasis on a blend of innovation, coordination of productive resources, and persistent formation of new demand for products, production methods, markets and forms of organization. However, the interpretation of entrepreneurship is relative to a particular economic environment.

The term 'entrepreneur' was first introduced in the early 18th century by the French economist Richard Cantillon. "In his writings he formally defines the entrepreneur as the 'agent who buys means of production at certain prices in order to combine them' into a new product."

While entrepreneurial activities remain traditionally male-dominated, the number of women heading businesses has escalated over recent decades. Technological progress has not only advanced the performance in commerce and industry, it has also streamlined domestic work which has opened the doors for women to explore independent self-employment outside the home. The most booming business sectors in the UK today include personal services and complementary therapies. According to a new study launched by Yellow Pages Alternative Census, there is "a general trend towards a boom in women dominated businesses. The report is the first ever study of business growth and decline within key Yellow Pages business classifications over ten years (1992-2002), it reveals that seven out of ten classifications registering the highest increases come from professions catering for beauty and body image, or alternative therapy and stress release. Between 1992 and 2002 there was a 635% increase in classifications for Yoga classes and a 969% increase in the number of Nutritionists listed.

Implicit in this definition is the fact that entrepreneurship and business ownership is in fact a means of combating discrimination and gender or class restrictions and discrimination.

The positive role of proprietorship for women relies on the idea that in the capitalist system, members of economically and socially deprived groups can "escape" deprivation through business ownership, which provides opportunities for self-determination through owning and controlling resources, and through an increased ability to flexibly interface work and domestic life (Goffee & Scase, 1983, p. 626)

The social conditions in the world during the 1970s and 1980s made it easier in many respects for women to achieve proprietorship and independence in business. Margaret Thatcher also served as an inspiration to many prospective female entrepreneurs during this time. Her success in politics proved that women could achieve in any field. There are numerous cases of successful female entrepreneurs who have not only improved their own lives but have "made a dramatic impact on the perception of women in society as a whole." As Goffee and Scase put it, "female entrepreneurs have a symbolic importance which implicitly questions popular conceptions of the position of women in society."

2. Comparison between male and female entrepreneurs recent report on the differences between the participation rate of male and female in entrepreneurship in the UK indicates that there is a large disparity in female participation in business world. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor found that "the most significant issue for the UK is the low relative participation rate in entrepreneurship of women. The UK comes near the bottom of a global ranking based on decreasing differences between levels of male and female entrepreneurship."

Other studies also reveal similar results indicative not only of this disparity between male and female, but also the need to adjust the common view of the possibilities and potential for female involvement in business. The GEM report emphasizes the economic necessity for an "... increasing proportion of women who wish to, and do, start a business" as one of 3 key challenges for the UK

Government."

Various other findings also indicate that there are many areas that point to outstanding differences and discrimination between male and female entrepreneurs. Some of these findings are summarized below.

Men are 2.5 times more likely to be entrepreneurs than women.

The peak age group for entrepreneurship is 35-44 for men and 45-54 for women.

Women are more likely to be involved in customer-orientated businesses and men in either business-related or transformative sectors.

Women are relatively more likely to believe that they will create no jobs in the next five years.

In spite of these facts there are also studies which show an increasing number of women succeeding as entrepreneurs in the UK. For example, a survey by NatWest states that "the number of women going into business for themselves has risen by 38% in the past five years."

The report for 2000 shows that "women accounted for 124,000 of the UK's new business start-ups in the first three-quarters of this year, compared to a figure of 90,000 new female entrepreneurs for the whole of 1995. The increase has also seen women lift their share of new business start-ups by almost 10% during this period and they now account for 35% of the total. NatWest estimated that the final number of businesses setup in 2000 would be around 460,000.

The NatWest report also indicates various attributes and differences in focus between men and women entrepreneurs.

Women starting up in business are less driven by the desire to make a lot of money than their male counterparts and are more driven than men by a sense of personal satisfaction in providing a service. A sense of fulfillment also ranks highly for women when considering what they hope to get out of their business.

According to the findings of the report women are most likely to run businesses in the retail sector (28%) and there are an increasing number of women who are starting up in the Finance/Professionals/Property sector. The other dominant types of entrepreneurial concerns run by females include Hairdressing and domestic services businesses.

Another significant finding that concurs with various other studies is that female entrepreneurs have markedly lower expectations when it comes to turnover, compared to male entrepreneurs. "Women forecast an average turnover of just £58,000 with men forecasting a turnover of £140,000 in their first year. Just under half of female respondents expect a turnover of less than £20,000 in their first year."

Many reports also indicate a regional differentiation between men and women entrepreneurs in the UK. "... 28% of all women starting up new businesses are based in the South East, followed by 18% in the Midlands and 12% in the North West. Yorkshire 7% and the North 5% account the fewest start-ups amongst women. "

Other significant statistics are that most female entrepreneurs are aged between 25 and 34. Thirty-one percent have a first degree or HND compared to 27% of men; and 26% have a-levels compared to just 21% of men.

Importantly, the NatWest report states that there has been a favorable increase in the number of women entrepreneurs. However, it also makes a point that is one of the main aspects of this paper that "... The gap between the number of male and female entrepreneurs starting up is still wide. There's no reason why we shouldn't have as many women as men starting up in business."

The report also states categorically that gender has no significant impact on whether a business is successful or not. This report is bolstered by many other recent surveys that state there is a disparity between female and male entrepreneurs, which has no foundation in economic principles but it due essentially to discriminatory social perceptions. There is also the fact that the UK lags far behind other counties in female entrepreneurship levels.

Female entrepreneurship in the UK has improved in the last three-year s but still lags behind that of men, says a joint report from the British Chambers of Commerce and Learning & Skills Council - sponsored Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. For every 10 male entrepreneurs in the country there are only four female entrepreneurs - a gap that is wider than in Canada, the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy.

On the other hand, there are numerous studies, reports and surveys which attest to the increasing number of women running successful businesses. "One third (32%) of women business-owners have owned their firms for five years or less, compared to just 21% of men. There is also research evidence indicating that more women own and run their own businesses in the UK.

Women-owned firms are expanding in size as well as in their share of the marketplace. In… READ MORE

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