Women in business
Sometimes a lack of adequate business capital, female education, and training programs in the use of technology can mean women are more constrained by their social and political environment than men.
[3] The earliest known well-documented businesswoman is the Sumerian Ama-e whom was involved in various trades and real estate investments (circa 2330 BC).
That means the vast majority of decisions impacting our communities, economies, and environment are being made without equal representation from half the population.
The results varied across countries: Norway, Latvia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria had at least 20% female representation at senior executive and board level.
The report on their survey, published in 2016, found having more women in overall executive positions correlated to greater profitability at organizations: "Going from having no women in corporate leadership (the CEO, the board, and other C-suite positions) to a 30% female share is associated with a one-percentage-point increase in net margin — which translates to a 15% increase in profitability for a typical firm.
"[7] A 2015 study of 400 female C-suite executives by Ernst & Young and ESPN found that there was a positive correlation between athletics and corporate success.
[19] Catalyst, a US-based non-profit research organization, reported that having a higher percentage of female board directors was positively associated with companies' scores on four of six Corporate Social Performance dimensions: environment, community, customers, and supply chain.
[23] Moreover, in many emerging economies, women are now starting a business faster than men, making significant contributions to job creation and economic growth.
[24][25][26] A disproportionate share of female-owned businesses in developing countries today are either small or medium enterprises, which often do not mature as a result of negative growth and poverty.
[32][33] The Kenyan government, with support from NGOs, has created many programs providing access to financial resources, loans, and entrepreneurial education.
She explained that a major issue in Kenya was that only 1% of land is owned solely by women which makes it difficult for them to offer a bank collateral.
She recalled that when her organization partnered with the Council, there was no clear and evident framework for the next progressive steps and she felt the government could have provided a more effective way of protecting her business.
[35] In Ghana, women such as Ayisha Fuseini have benefited from grants and sponsorships from NGOs and big business like Camfed and the MasterCard Foundation's Innovation Bursary Program (IBP), allowing them to become entrepreneurs.
[38] A surge in the number of women starting businesses in the United Kingdom has narrowed the "enterprise gap" between male and female company owners in the past decade.
The proportion of working-age women going into business rose by 45% in the three-year period between 2013 and 2016, compared with 2003 to 2006, according to a report by Aston University in Birmingham.
