Women Entrepreneurs in the U.S.

2673 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: review of literature on women entrepreneurship

Across America, there is a prevalent viewpoint that women are inferior to men in the field of entrepreneurship. However, “The common perception that women primarily start small hobby-related enterprises that are less likely to grow is contradicted by substantial evidence showing that women own firms in all industrial sectors, and that many do want to grow them in size and scope,” (Brush, Carter, Gatewood, Greene, & Hart, 2001, p. 4). In the United States in 2007, nearly 7.8 million firms were women-owned (National Women’s Business Council, 2012). Some may believe that this viewpoint permeated society because men are more successful at starting businesses than women. Yet, women-led businesses are not more likely to fail than those led by men, (Rosa, Carter, & Hamilton, 1996) (Kalleberg & Leicht, 1991).

That being said, women would be even more successful as entrepreneurs if they had equal access to funding as that of their male counterparts. One way businesses receive funding is through angel investors. Angels provide financial backing and bring “industry experience and a network of potentially valuable contacts (i.e. the gold-plated rolodex) that can service as intangible assets to the firm…” (Amatucci & Sohl, 2004, p. 186). They are focused on the success of the business, rather than gaining profit or a majority share-hold. Women receive less funding from angel investors due to the realization of stereotype threat pertaining to three traits related to success in entrepreneurship: confidence, risk tolerance, and social capital. This causes a cycle that deters female entrepreneurial success; women-led firms lack necessary start-up funds, which hinder their success, and the ability to become angel investors themselves. This cy...

... middle of paper ...

...tes/default/files/NWBC%20Final%20Narrative%20Report.pdf

Oster, N. (2013, November). Men vs. women: Risk aversion. In BlackRock, The Blog. Retrieved December 14, 2013, from http://www.blackrockblog.com/2013/11/06/men-women-risk-aversion/

Rosa, P., Carter, S., & Hamilton, D. (1996). Gender as a determinant of small business performance: Insights from a British study. Small Business Economics, 8(6), 463-478. Retrieved December 13, 2013, from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00390031#

Sohl, J. E., & Hill, L. (2007). Women business angels: Insights from angel groups. Venture Capital, 9(3), 207-222. doi:10.1080/13691060701324536

Stengel, G. (2013). It's not just warren buffet who is bullish on women. In Forbes. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/geristengel/2013/05/08/its-not-just-warren-buffett-who-is-bullish-on-women/

Show More
Related

  • Memo to Martha Stewart, CEO of Martha Stewart Omnimedia

    1577 Words  | 4 Pages

    Didion, Joan. “Everywoman.com.” Advanced College Essay: Business and Its Publics. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II and Denice Martone. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. 143-52.

    Read More

  • Lean In Women Work And The Will To Lead By Sheryl Sandberg Summary

    1540 Words  | 4 Pages

    Being a successful woman entrepreneur is an achievement women have been fighting for years to accomplish, a struggle most men won’t ever know. The book, “Lean In; Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” by Sheryl Sandberg is a novel discussing all her personal obstacles and her journey in becoming the 5th Most Powerful Woman in Forbes 2011. Not only being ranked number 5 on Forbes but becoming such a successful woman entirely in her career. I aspire to become a makeup artist, with my own salon created by my own rules. Even though my path of studies is completely different than that of Sandberg, I find myself connecting in so many ways with many aspects in this book.

    Read More

  • Empowerment and Evolution: Women in the 21st Century

    1266 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women are still trying to prove their worth in this male-dominated world where men still earn more than women in comparable jobs, and more opportunities are presented to male entrepreneurs than to female entrepreneurs. Gender inequality is still rife. Any woman who reads this book has to understand the dynamics of the business world from a female’s perspective before even beginning to pave the path for her own business.

    Read More

  • Women Facing Women Essay

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women face discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination is defined as a behavioral activity is exhibited in how people treat members of other groups and in the decisions they make about others. In chapter 3 Race and Ethnicity in the United States discusses how discrimination not only effects positions in companies it also affects pay rates. Income is drastically different when it comes to men and women and only gets worse for women who are minorities. These women have broken through the glass ceiling in their corporations. “In 1991 the Glass Ceiling Commission was formed to help women and minorities, fight their derrepresentation in the workplace”. With this article and with research that is being done women are starting to break the glass ceiling that is holding them down. Women account for only 2.2% of Fortune 500 companies CEO roles. The number is shockingly low, less than 15 companies have women CEO’s in the 500 companies we look at that best fit our country’s

    Read More

  • Providing Nursing Care to Underserved Communities

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... and women-owned as well as businesses in rural areas, have been among the hardest hit by the recent economic downturn

    Read More

  • Gender Still Plays a Role in the Workplace

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although these examples could prove a case in the corporate world some may take defense by balancing with further statistics. It is stated in Clayton Collin's article, "Why Girls May Still Need an Edge," that women in America may not be at the top of the corporate ladder, but they do hold around forty percent of all privately owned businesses in the United States. (11) So, even though women haven't quite proven themselves to the corporate world, they have most certainly conquered a portion in the entrepreneur world and in a big way. That is definitely a positive point for America's look on gender equality in the workplace.

    Read More

  • The Equal Pay Act

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are nearly as many women as there are men working, yet, as it was discovered in 2011, on average, a woman will only earn seventy-seven cents for every dollar that a man earns. Women owned businesses make up for over a quarter of all national businesses and earn more than one point two trillion dollars (“Assessing the Past, Taking Stock of the Future” 6). Since many women are now becoming are the primary sources of income in the household, making less that a man does not only negatively affect families, but also the overall economy suffers as well. These women, among many others, are the ones who end up purchasing the supplies that go toward improving communities and stimulating the economy. There is no reason that the general public should stand for this. Women should be treated equally to men in today’s American society based on their biological compositions, psychological profiles and contributions to history.

    Read More

  • Gender Discrimination: Sex Bias in Hiring by Douglas M. Garber

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    Upadhyaya, Preeti, and Lauren Hepler. "Why hiring women may make your business more money."Silicon Valley Business Journal [San Jose] 11 September 2013, n. pag. Web. 13 April 2014.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality at the Workplace

    2307 Words  | 5 Pages

    Today, however, women have integrated themselves into every field of activity and every kind of industry smoothly and skillfully. Whether travelling twenty days of the month or accepting transfers, they are as performance-oriented, sincere, competent and persevering as their male counterparts, if not more. Their presence in the corporate world is now more a rule than an exception such that a feminist agenda and, in fact, any speci...

    Read More

  • Organizational Ecology Essay

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    In particular, startups conform to a set of formalized, ritualistic practices in order to obtain venture capital (VC) funding during the “seed” phase. Almost paradoxically, new companies are regarded as a kernel of innovation and invention in the economy and yet they seem to emulate each others’ routines in the pursuit of early investment, decoupled from the actual products or services they plan to sell to the

    Read More

  • Venture Capitalist Case Study

    1164 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is an equity source of finance, so they usually demand to own part of the firm in exchange for their money. Angel investors as they are sometimes called, invest in firms they believe will be profitable. They are also long-term investors and expect to make profits long after investment. (Vivek, 2010). In addition to their financial support they sometimes advise and assist the entrepreneur in the running of the business. They usually invest less money and in a less formal manner than venture capitalist. . (Burns, 2001, P.

    Read More

  • Essay On Crowdfunding

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    Zachary, R., & Mishra, C. S. (2013). Research on Angel Investments: The Intersection of Equity Investments and Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 3(2), 160-170. doi:10.1515/erj-2013-0044

    Read More

  • The Entrepreneur

    3031 Words  | 7 Pages

    "Entrepreneurs who start and build new businesses are more celebrated than studied. They embody, in the popular imagination and in the eyes of some scholars, the virtues of "boldness, ingenuity, leadership, persistence and determination." Policymakers see them as a crucial source of employment and productivity growth. Yet our systematic knowledge of how entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses is limited. The activity does not occupy a prominent place in the study of business and economics.

    Read More

  • Future Leadership: The Future Leaders Of The Future

    1613 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women leaders have the crucial soft skills of empathy, innovation, facilitation, and active listening (Masaoka, 2006). They also have first-hand life experiences that bring technical skills and experiences from the street level to the workplace (Masoka, 2006). Women often build stronger relationships with clients and outside contacts than their male counterparts. This relationship building skill, provides a key aspect which helps to move businesses forward (Giber et al., 2009). Fortune 500 companies with a high percentage of women significantly outperformed those with fewer women. Companies with the highest representation of women showed higher returns on equity than those with fewer women employees (Giber et al., 2009). Thus, future organizations may have a higher percentage of female leaders than we have experienced in the past. Future leaders must ensure that there is equality among the workforce and that women are accurately represented among the

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Feminism In Society

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    “There are 74.6 million women in the civilian labor force. Almost 47 percent of U.S. workers are women.” (DeWolf 2017) Today, there are more woman in leadership roles in business than ever before. A leadership role in business ranges from a store manager, branch manager, to CEO’s of large companies. Through the modern and correct view on Feminism more business’ and individuals are proud and happy with the results woman are producing in the workplace. With women in the workplace comes the right for equal pay, which is now coming to fruition more than ever, further pushing the equal rights of women. A prime example of equal pay for equal work is the stance Google recently taken on closing the gap between salaries for men and

    Read More

More about Women Entrepreneurs in the U.S.

Open Document