The Ewing Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit that supports and studies entrepreneurship has released a new study indicating that the U.S. needs more female entrepreneurs.
The study titled, "Overcoming the Gender Gap: Women Entrepreneurs as Economic Drivers," explores “the reasons behind lower business startup rates among women and proposes actions that would help to realize the promise of female entrepreneurs in escalating the economy,” says a press release issued by the organization.
The study shows that while women make up 46 percent of the workforce and more than 50 percent of college students, only 35 percent of women are startup business owners.
Lesa Mitchell, the paper’s author and Kauffman Foundation vice president, said in a statement released by the organization, "There are plenty of highly qualified women in science and technology – industries from which the majority of high-growth companies are born. More women are entering these fields than ever before. However, while women have broken through the glass ceiling, they seem to encounter ‘glass walls' that keep them from venturing out of big companies or structured academic settings to launch their own firms at the same rate men do."
Mitchell went on to argue that because high-growth startups account for a disproportionate number of jobs created in the U.S., more women creating startups could only be positive for the economy.
"Women's entrepreneurship is an economic issue, not a gender-equity issue," she said. "As more women engage as entrepreneurs to build on their discoveries, new jobs and economic prosperity will follow."
