According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Women’s Report from Babson College and Smith College
Including the number of established businesswomen brings the total number of women entrepreneurs to more than 400M worldwide
by Babson College, Wellesley, MA/USA
photo caption: The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, authored by Babson College and Smith College, demonstrates the value that women entrepreneurs bring to societies around the world.
Approximately 252 million women around the world are entrepreneurs and another 153 million women are operating established businesses, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/2019 Report on Women’s Entrepreneurship, released today by Babson College and Smith College and sponsored by the Korea Entrepreneurship Foundation. This 2018/2019 report provides analysis from 59 economies, aggregating data from two GEM data collection cycles, 10 economies reporting in 2017 and 49 reporting in 2018.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) was initiated in 1999 as a joint venture of Babson College and the London Business School.
“This report considers women’s entrepreneurship within the context of entrepreneurship ecosystems. The concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems has achieved importance especially with regard to policy, regional clusters, innovation systems, context and institutional frameworks that promote and support entrepreneurship,” says Babson College’s Amanda Elam, Diana International Research Institute Fellow, Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College.
“Overall, this report demonstrates the value women entrepreneurs bring to societies worldwide and suggests areas for improvement in ecosystems that better encourage and support women entrepreneurs,” said Candida G. Brush, Babson College Vice Provost of Global Entrepreneurial Leadership.
“The findings of this report provide a foundation for guiding future research, policy decision-making, and design of initiatives and programs to enhance growth and development of women’s entrepreneurship within context,” said Monica Dean, Director, Jill Ker Conway Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Smith College.
The report has three main recommendations. We should:
- Address stereotypes of who are entrepreneurs and what is entrepreneurship.
- Change the dialogue about entrepreneurship to match the reality reflected in the data.
- Learn from each other about the best ways to build successful businesses and a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.