Female equality in Business

41 women are now CEO’s of companies listed as part of Forbes 500 largest powerhouses, marking an all-time high number for females occupying the top job in the C-Suite. This record-breaking statistic is a mere 12% of the total big corporate CEOs. Women of color make up even less of this paltry number.  

Outside of the corporate world, the numbers for female entrepreneurship are starkly different. In the United States, 40% of businesses are owned by women and 64 % of businesses started in the last year are owned by women of color. According to the National Association of Women Owned Businesses based in the U.S., this translates into 11.6 million firms owned by women employing over 9 million Americans and generating over $1.7 trillion USD in sales. 

One can attribute the growth of female-led firms at least partially to the economic and employment shifts born from the COVID 19 pandemic which had a disproportionally adverse impact on women in the workforce. It is also no secret that there is a systemic gender gap in earnings, with American women earning 82 cents for every dollar a man of the same race and education level would earn. The wage gap for women of color is even more significant than their white colleagues.  

So, it would seem that women are looking to take their financial destinies into their own hands by starting their own businesses and setting their own professional agendas as a way to level the playing field. 

However, while the outlook for women-owned businesses seems to be more positive than the landscape for women in the more traditional corporate sphere, there are still myriad challenges women face as entrepreneurs. For example, it is still difficult for women to obtain capital investment to start or grow a business. And, there are still significant gender gaps in certain industry sectors such as tech.  

Female entrepreneurs, especially those who are more established, have an opportunity to join forces to help make changes to overcome some of the roadblocks that exist today. Angel investment funds and programs targeted at supporting growth in women owned businesses are on the rise. This is an area established female entrepreneurs can help augment and tailor to meet the needs of newer enterprises. Of course, mentorship and female centric industry associations can and do help foster business growth and development as well.  

Women business leaders must also use their voice to make systemic changes in the system overall. For example, more women need to be on boards of major corporations.  Banks need to do more to help provide loans and lines of credit to women owned businesses.  Schools need to work harder to get girls engaged in math and science courses in order to prepare a new generation of tech leaders. Governments need to provide more information and resources to first time entrepreneurs through agencies such as the Small Business Administration in the United States. And, equal pay laws must be enforced. 

These are just some examples of building blocks that are essential to the long-term success of women entrepreneurs across different socioeconomic and cultural spectrums. Progress cannot happen without women speaking up and advocating for their collective financial futures.  But, to do this effectively, women must first be at the table. The more women who are in leadership roles, from the C-Suite to Congress, the more possible it is to make progress and foster an environment ripe for continued growth for female entrepreneurs.