Many entrepreneurship programs seem to see the need to offer separate programming for women entrepreneurs. The logic is that they face a different situation and have different needs.
However, in most of my conversations with women entrepreneurs I hear that they don’t want to be treated differently — they just want to be treated as entrepreneurs. This is particularly true among the young entrepreneurs we work with.
Entrepreneurship researchers also crank out study after study looking for “gender differences” in the entrepreneurial experiences. While some subtle differences can be observed, fundamentally the experiences and issues entrepreneurs face seem to be remarkably similar.
A new study was just released by the SBA on gender differences among entrepreneurs. The authors found differing expectations, reasons for starting a business, motivations, opportunities sought and types of businesses between men and women — and these result in differing outcomes. They go on to recommend that such observations should be taken into account when comparing the outcomes of ventures across genders.
That makes sense, but so does taking account differences in age, life stage, life style, marital status, rural versus urban location, etc., etc., etc.
That is why I start out every entrepreneur in their journey with a careful reflection on their aspirations, goals, financial needs, and non-financial needs. The outcome of this discernment should be foundational in any business plan. The business should reflect what you want and need to get out of the venture — it is yours, after all.
So if women tend to want to pursue a venture of their own to allow for more flexibility in their family life — a common theme I see with many female students in my classes — then so be it. My job is to teach them the processes and skills that will help them achieve their goals. And those are the same process and goals that I teach any aspiring entrepreneur, whether they want to retire at 30 or simply provide a family with supplemental income from owning a business.
Think of it this way — the same basic tools and materials are used to build a small starter home that are used to build a 20,000 square foot mansion.
Dr Jeff Cornwall
Co-founder of The Entrepreneurial Mind, serial entrepreneur and professor of entrepreneurship.
I agree that the basics of entrepreneurship are the same regardless of gender. When I started teaching a course on high-tech entrepreneurship to women 3 years ago as part of a grant from the NSF (www.umbc.edu/activate), I was admittedly skeptical that it really needed to be all women (other than the fact that forming an all-women class was the only way it was funded!). Three years later, I see that there are benefits to a female-only class, at least for successful women who have been out in the workforce for some time and now want to start a business. These women are used to being successful, so stepping outside of their comfort zone seems to be easier in a single-gender class.
I consider it to be like the Curves phenomenon. It isn’t for every woman, but the women who do like it prefer the single-gender environment because it feels safe and supportive. Good health and exercise is good health and exercise and although there are some differences between fitness training for men and women, there is no reason it can’t be done in the same facility. It goes back to their choice and clearly some women are more comfortable with a woman-only environment. That doesn’t make mixed gender approaches wrong, it just provides options.
Julie Lenzer Kirk
Lead Instructor, ACTiVATE at UMBC
Author, “The ParentPreneur Edge: What Parenting Teaches About Building a Successful Business”
This is an interesting position. I just saw a feature on http://www.julieb.com about the new MakeMineAMillion female entrepreneur program. I wonder if a woman’s comfort and ease within a women-only environment also depends on the woman’s age. Perhaps a 50 year old woman may have a different comfort level than a 25 year old woman, based on their social upbringing.