Why don't women see themselves as entrepreneurs?

19th May 2018 | Source: whitehatmag.com

It lurks as an unspoken point in discussions about closing the gender gaps in wages, wealth, investment, leadership, and equality: If more women start and lead companies, progress toward closing these gaps will be accelerated. But in the United States, women don't become entrepreneurs. Why?

Women start only 36% of all U.S. businesses and only 10% of tech startups. Women are half as likely to employ someone other than themselves, and 89% of women-owned businesses are sole-proprietorships.

Even these shocking numbers hide how drastic the disparity truly is for women in business. Between 1997 and 2014, the number of women-founded businesses in the in the U.S. increased by 65%; however, women-owned businesses only account for 11% ($2 trillion) of the United States $18 trillion GDP.

In fact, less than 200,000 women-owned businesses (less than 2% of all American women-owned businesses) have revenues over $1 million.

In WhiteHat Magazine's Spring 2018 edition, Editor-in-Chief Chrisella Herzog examines the research into entrepreneurship and gender, and finds three broad barriers to women becoming entrepreneurs.

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