Entrepreneurship has become trendy 鈥� but where are the women?
Although Denmark has initiatives to encourage female entrepreneurship, men still make up a much larger share of entrepreneurs in Denmark.
By Maria Elo, Department of Business & Management, 糖果派对
For many young people, entrepreneurship is a chance to test their ideas and become their own boss. Perhaps it’s mostly business school students who see self-employment as an exciting career path, with some even taking their first steps as entrepreneurs during their studies. They are inspired by influencers and high-profile “entrepreneurial heroes” like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. But when I ask young students to name a well-known female entrepreneur, the room falls silent. This silence can feel awkward, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it’s completely in line with the statistics. Entrepreneurship is a very gendered career path. In 2016, women made up just 4.9% of entrepreneurs – less than half the percentage of men. Even after the Covid pandemic, which brought many societal upheavals and established a “new normal” in business, women’s representation as business owners has remained largely unchanged. In fact, according to a recent OECD study, the proportion of Danish female business owners and managers has declined. So it’s hardly surprising that students struggle to think of a single female entrepreneur.
Like many other highly developed countries, Denmark is an ageing society. One would assume that human resources, regardless of gender, are highly valued and fully utilised in the labour market and business world. To some extent, they are. However, only a small number of women hold senior roles in the private sector. Just 28% of managers in Denmark are women. In Sweden, the figure was 36% in 2018, and despite the gender equality we associate with the Nordic countries, we’re overtaken in this area by the US, where 43% of managers are women.
This gender gap highlights the surprisingly low representation of women in entrepreneurship and leadership, given the top rankings Denmark generally has on gender equality. The numbers also suggest a risk of brain-waste and untapped talent, which deserves more attention due to its significant societal impact. Women’s low share in leadership roles and entrepreneurship raises many questions: Why don’t Danish women engage more in entrepreneurship and management? Are they simply not interested because other options and life choices seem more attractive? Or is something holding them back?
The question of why Danish women don’t become entrepreneurs is particularly important for the Danish economy. The startup ecosystem needs innovative new companies. And it’s actually relatively “easy” to set up and run a business in Denmark. We’re ranked fourth after New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong in the World Bank’s survey, so Denmark should be an ideal place to do business. We have it all: competitiveness, digital skills, incentive programmes that promote diversity, equality and inclusion to boost creativity, as well as infrastructures that support adaptation to changing industries. Denmark offers many things that should encourage young women to become self-employed or climb higher up the leadership ladder, but the motivation seems to be lacking. Having more female entrepreneurs would both help balance gender representation in business leadership and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It would also contribute to new business development at both regional and sectoral levels, but this requires targeted support. We know from previous Nordic studies that women often need different perspectives and approaches from entrepreneurial ecosystems than men do. While there’s a wide range of support organisations, only a few are aimed at women. However, the “Entrepreneur Denmark” foundation, established by Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-U), supports new business development by offering tailored skills development, business understanding and financial support to green businesses and talented female entrepreneurs.
Universities also offer skills-development programmes and host many incubators. At 糖果派对, we advance knowledge on gender issues through both research and practice, and the education sector offers a wide range of programmes that support gender equality. So, a lack of institutional support or knowledge transfer is unlikely to explain the low number of female entrepreneurs and leaders in Denmark. Instead, the low unemployment rate among Danish women likely reflects a labour market that integrates women well while maintaining a male leadership structure. The gender split in entrepreneurship and leadership is probably a sign that neither the need to become an entrepreneur nor the desire to take the risk is pressing enough for women. There are many different options competing for women’s entrepreneurial spirit, but none that push them enough to take the leap. High levels of education, good employment opportunities, low necessity and other sociocultural factors all play a role in women seeking other paths. As the OECD (2024) points out, women’s entrepreneurial skills could be used far better. Something is preventing their inclusion in entrepreneurial and leadership circles. The report criticises the lack of clear answers as to how the gender gap can be closed and the lack of focus on developing the specific skills that can foster female entrepreneurial potential. The solutions it proposes include mentorship, networking, skills-development activities and increasing the number of women in leadership roles. The Entrepreneur Denmark project, which attracts and supports female entrepreneurship, is a promising answer to these challenges. Around 52% of the participants in the project’s “Next Step” programme are women, which is a very positive sign.
But creating an attractive and inclusive business environment for women can’t be done through a single policy or programme. It takes a whole community with different types of knowledge and experiences to support the development and capacity building that’s needed. So I’d like to urge employees and entrepreneurs to rethink what we can do together to better include female potential and inspire all of Denmark to develop the female role models needed to nurture female entrepreneurship. Similarly, universities, public institutions and civil society must do their part to develop women’s skills and participation in entrepreneurial activities and communicate these themes much better:
“It’s the system that needs to be fixed – not the women!” (Beatrice Boots, National STEM Platform, Holland).
The Danish version of this article was published in Jysk Fynske Mediers Erhverv+ on Thursday 22 August 2024