Dr Jeff Cornwall

Based upon survey data from more than 107,400 respondents in 35 countries, today’s GEM Women report, prepared by scholars at the Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson College, gives a clear indication that while women entrepreneurs often exhibit patterns of behavior similar to those of men, a gender gap nonetheless exists for entrepreneurial activity across the globe.
Women most likely to be entrepreneurs are those who hold jobs, have higher levels of household income and education, and have confidence in their level of skill and in the possibility of their success.
For the first time, GEM divided countries into middle- and high-income clusters, on the basis of per capita gross domestic product (GDP), and identified entrepreneurs by stage of business process. The report found that women’s businesses in high-income countries are just as likely to survive and thrive as men’s. It;s a different story in the middle-income cluster where the survival rate is significantly lower than that of a man’s business. Also, young women (25 to 34) are more active in ‘early-stage’ enterprises in middle-income countries while women 35-44 are the most likely to lead ‘established’ businesses.
Despite these encouraging signs, a gender gap nonetheless persists. On average, men remain nearly twice as likely as women to start a new business. In high-income countries, the gender gap is greatest, while in middle-income countries it narrows somewhat.