Babson Sponsors Global Report on Women Entrepreneurs

There is plenty of good news for women entrepreneurs in a report co-sponsored by Babson College.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Women’s Report is a joint venture by Babson, Universidad Del Desarrollo, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) and Tecnológico de Monterrey. It surveys women’s entrepreneurial activity in economies around the globe. The newly released report is based on data collected in 2014.

Among the key findings:

• There were more than 200 million women entrepreneurs in the economies surveyed.
• In nearly half of the surveyed economies, women entrepreneurs are are now equal to or outpacing their male counterparts in innovation.
• In the U.S., entrepreneurship is on the rise among young women.
• High entrepreneurship rates for women are associated with women first knowing another entrepreneur.
• Women are as likely to or more likely to be entrepreneurs than men in these economies: El Salvador, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Zambia, Nigeria, Uganda and Ghana.

The report is sponsored by Babson’s Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership. Authors of the report include Donna J. Kelley, professor of entrepreneurship at Babson and the Frederic C. Hamilton Chair of Free Enterprise; Patricia C. Greene, who holds the Paul T. Babson Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies; and Candida G. Brush, Babson’s vice provost of global entrepreneurial leadership.

”Promoting women’s entrepreneurship requires more than increasing the rate in which women start businesses,” Kelley said. “Our GEM research shows that women entrepreneurs are frequently innovative, which demonstrates the impact they can have on their societies. Supporting women’s aspirations to innovate could be an important means of creating businesses with a competitive edge, and those with novel solutions to improve people’s lives.”

regions: Boston

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