Recent figures show women are less likely to start a business. Is it time the government stepped in and did something to help female start-ups succeed, or should entrepreneurs be left to their own devices? Business expert Barry McCall reports.

The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report has revealed that Irish men are two and a half times more likely than Irish women to start a business. This follows on from research carried out by the Dundalk Institute of Technology in 2011, which showed that just 3.9% of Irish women are active in early stage entrepreneurship, as opposed to 9.5% of Irish men.

A need for role models

The government’s Action Plan for Jobs acknowledged that this low rate of female entrepreneurship is an issue that needs to be tackled. Action 184 in the document outlines a number of specific initiatives to be taken to address it, but little has happened as yet.

“There is a commitment there in the Action Plan but there seems to be very little of substance behind it,” says Avine McNally, acting director of the Small Firms Association. “One of the issues is that there are very few role models for female entrepreneurs. Unfortunately we are still in the situation where the woman is the main homemaker and child-rearer and we need more role models who can show how these barriers can be overcome.

“There are other issues, such as women lacking confidence in their skills and abilities and being more risk averse and fearful of failure than men. It’s great to say that something will be done, but it is clear that the barriers are there and little is actually being done to address them.”

Sow the seed early

Avine believes one way of improving the situation is to bring entrepreneurship onto the school curriculum at an early stage. “It’s starting to be recognised that the culture of entrepreneurship needs to be brought into schools. Real progress has been made at third level but it needs to be done at primary and secondary levels as well. Entrepreneurship needs to be seen as a viable career option, particularly for girls, and that’s not happening at the moment.”

These sentiments are echoed by Suzanne Shaw, director of business development with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA). “The relatively low level of entrepreneurship among women was noted by a number of contributors to the CPA Entrepreneurship Report, which we launched earlier this year,” she says.

“The country clearly needs all the entrepreneurs it can get at the moment and we have proposed that the government and enterprise promotion agencies develop more programmes specifically aimed at supporting female entrepreneurs and assisting them in overcoming any particular barriers they may face.”

She adds: “Sadly, the Competitive Start Fund for Female Entrepreneurs is closed to applications now. We need more such schemes and urgently.”

Tackling things head-on

Work also needs to be done on identifying what those barriers are. “All the studies show that Irish women are under-represented as entrepreneurs and business owners, but we know that women are very capable of this,” says Grainne Kelleher, vice president of food services at Aramark Ireland. “What is needed is real research to establish what barriers there are and then co-ordinated action by all stakeholders to tackle them. This could significantly improve entrepreneurship levels overall, generating much-needed growth and jobs in the process.”

Tackling entrepreneurship in general is also important, according to McNally. “There is lots of activity going on in different agencies and departments in terms of entrepreneurship, but there is no one single person responsible for it. What is needed is a champion for entrepreneurship who can also take on the issue of dealing with the barriers women face in becoming business owners.”

Useful links

Are you a female entrepreneur looking for help and guidance starting out? The following are a few useful links to help you on your way:

www.nwed.ie – National Women’s Enterprise Day

www.goingforgrowth.com – Peer support initiative for women entrepreneurs

www.facebook.com/Digiwomen – Online community and support network for entrepreneurial women

www.startups.ie – Resource to help Ireland’s entrepreneurs get started

Have your say

Do you think the government could be doing more to help female entrepreneurs, or do you feel that they should fend for themselves? Share your opinions.