Did you know that?
52% of European population is composed by females, yet only 34.4% of them are self-employed and 30% are start-up entrepreneurs. In the Central and Eastern European countries, women entrepreneurship rates in Czech Republic, Romania and Slovenia in 2017 were 32%, 26%, 33% respectively.
Why shall we care more about women entrepreneurship?
Undoubtedly, increasing parity of opportunity between genders is an ethical and moral obligation. But that is not the full picture. According to McKinsey, women entrepreneurship is strictly interlinked with economic growth and wellbeing: shortening UK gender gap in the workplace could produce an extra income of £150 billion and 840,000 new jobs since now to 2025!
What hinders women entrepreneurship?
Segregated labor market, lower supporting measures for women entrepreneurs when it comes to access to finance, lack of networks and mentoring, and difficulty to reconcile business with family are just some of the obstacles to female entrepreneurship.
Which are the tools that support women entrepreneurship in Europe?
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EU Prize for Women Innovators: an annual competition for innovative enterprises set by women.
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WE-GATE platform: a one-stop-shop for women entrepreneurship.
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WEHubs: the first community of business support organizations promoting female entrepreneurship in the digital sector.
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European Network of Mentors for Women Entrepreneurs: the European network of mentors that supports women entrepreneurs who are starting their businesses.
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European Community of Women Business Angels for Women Entrepreneurs: aims to facilitate access to funding for women entrepreneurs.
Are you a woman and entrepreneur?
Share with us what motivates you to create your business, the obstacles and factors which push you to continue along the way, and your motto! How? Write a post and tag MY-GATEWAY in our Facebook page.