Female Entrepreneurship in Ireland

1
Female Entrepreneurship in Ireland

• Dr. Colette Henry
• Head of Department of Business Studies
• Director - Centre for Entrepreneurship Research

2
Presentation Overview

• Background
• What Do We Know So far?
• The Case for Female Entrepreneurship
• Dispelling the Myths
• What Are We Doing to Help?
• The Way Forward

3
Background

• Traditional role of women - homemaker, mother,
  carer.
• Disproportionate share of family
  responsibilities.
• Male breadwinner model.
• During 1940s, women started to take a more active
  role in the workforce.
• Marriage Bar (1950s) not abolished in Ireland
  until 1973
• Ireland historically (pre-Celtic tiger) viewed as
  one of the poorest countries in the EU.
• No enterprise tradition or culture (FDI focus).

4
What Do We Know So Far? statistics

• Twice as many women working now compared to
  1950s.
• Sectors mostly services (80 education
  health).
• Levels 70 clerical/secretarial lt30 managers.
• No formal register of female entrepreneurs.
• Confusion over actual numbers of female
  entrepreneurs.
• Only 15-18 (35-42,000)? of our entrepreneurs
  are women.
• 70,000 women involved in early stage
  entrepreneurship compared with 180,000 men (GEM,
  2005).

5
- Women as Entrepreneurs

• Well-educated, with work experience and children.
• Set up in retail, services, consultancy.
• Tend to favour micro, homebased start-ups in the
  first instance.
• Different management approach to men.
• Avail of local enterprise agencies banks.
• Women appear to be more risk-averse - safer bet
  for banks and lenders.
• Constantly juggling family business
  responsibilities.
• Women entrepreneurs are different!

6
The Case for Promoting Female Entrepreneurship

• The 50/50 gender split in population is not
  reflected in entrepreneurship.
• Irish women are less involved in entrepreneurship
  than women in other countries.
• Current mainstream supports are inherently
  designed for men!
• Female entrepreneurship is good for the economy.
• Impact of female entrepreneurship mainstream
  initiatives in other countries.

7
Dispelling the Myths

• 1.The Pussycat Doll image not real life!
• 2.Women dont want to grow their business!
• 3.Women dont need or want special treatment!

8
What Are We Doing to Help?

• Start Your Own Business Programmes
• Womens Business Officers
• Womens Business Networks (WIN)
• GEM new focus on women.
• At DKIT
• - Incubation Research Project
• - Growth Pilot Programme
• But dont we need a more coherent approach?

9
The Way Forward

• Appreciate this economic opportunity.
• Recognise that women as entrepreneurs have
  different needs.
• Re-design current enterprise policy to encourage
  more women entrepreneurs.
• Thank you!