Entrepreneurship Barriers for Young Women

By Princess Owusu, Fora

COVID-19 IMPACTS THE SERVICE SECTOR

The landscape of employability and work has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is evident in the expansion of health care structures due to the increased demand of health care services and resources in response to the pandemic. Notably, the service industry has also experienced drastic change, suffering many losses due to several lockdowns and restrictions. With this, young women and gender diverse youth within Canada continue to navigate economic vulnerability in these disrupted sectors. As a result, there has been a surge of young women seizing entrepreneurial opportunities, in order to gain and foster economic mobility in their lives. 

THE RISE OF YOUNG WOMEN AND GENDER DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

According to the first annual report from the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH) in 2020, women account for over 37 percent of self-employed Canadians. This report illustrates the rise of women starting small businesses and sole proprietorships. 70% of women state their reason for venturing into entrepreneurship is due to unexpected opportunities presenting themselves, whilst 56% of women state the reason is because of difficulty finding employment. Young women are taking both the initiative and risk to pursue entrepreneurship, as a response to the lack of economic opportunity within their varied industries. Unfortunately, this risk often involves navigating and enduring several systematic barriers. 

THE BARRIERS FOR WOMEN AND GENDER DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS IN THESE SPACES

There is a diverse range of women and gender diverse groups who face barriers within entrepreneurial spaces; racialized women, Indigenous women, women with disabilities and those who are non binary or have different gender identities. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, women entrepreneurs who own small companies or are self-employed have become under-financed and thus economically unstable. The WEKH report reported that 84% of women report using their personal finances towards their business.As  women continue to put their own finances on the line to fund their businesses, the economic shutdowns over the past year has only worsened the availability and access to capital and other monetary resources. There is also a disproportionate rate at which men and women receive financial support and credit, with 18% of men reportedly receiving trade credit from suppliers compared to only 10% of women receiving this subsidy. 

Women in entrepreneurship are not only faced with economic instability, but must also deal with inadequate representation and advocacy on a systemic level. Racialized and Indigenous women are not considered “typical” entrepreneurs, as the term entrepreneurship is widely associated with white men. Thus, the resources available for these groups of women are jointly scarce, not culturally appropriate or created without a gendered lens, and often do not address the needs of women entrepreneurs on a critical level. 

WHAT MUST BE DONE?

Failing to acknowledge and eradicate the lens of whiteness within entrepreneurship further exacerbates the barriers and exclusion faced by women and gender diverse entrepreneurs. Women of all backgrounds have steered the rise of social entrepreneurship, another form of entrepreneurship focusing on searching for and creating opportunity for change that has social value rather than solely gaining profit.As the WEKH reports, women make up the majority of social enterprise holders, thus illustrating the need for them to be better represented in social programming and policy efforts . Moreover,  gendered programming and policy reform will allow them to gain access to the resources, skills, and networks of other entrepreneurs needed to sustain their entrepreneurship ventures. 

The Hopeful Resilience: The impacts of COVID-19 on Young Ontarians' report recommends targeted skills training offered for young women specifically, to strengthen employability and as an extension of this, entrepreneurship capacity. Mentorship and networking opportunities are also found to increase their access to opportunities that will bolster future employment. 

In order to see these recommendations materialize, more information and data is needed regarding racialized communities, including the Black community. Disaggregated data about Black women in entrepreneurship is insufficient and is a barrier to appropriate assistance programs being curated or implemented within the community. The lack of access to capital, lack of culturally sensitive workshops and training in STEM and access to networks within the Black community are all examples of areas that need to be addressed. There is dire need for extensive Canadian research on this in order to inform actions for change. 

As we continue to discuss recovery from the pandemic, women and gender diverse entrepreneurs must be represented at the decision making table. The systemic barriers they face in entrepreneurial spaces cannot be ignored any longer; it’s time for change.

Sources:

Cukier, W., Gagnon, S., Hodson, J., Saba, T., Grandy, G., Morton, S., Elmi, M., Stolarick, K., & Chavoushi, Z.H. (2020). The State of Women’s Entrepreneurship in Canada: 2020. Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. https://wekh.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WEKH_State_of_Womens_Entrepreneurship_in_Canada_2020_EN-1.pdf 

The Hopeful Resilience: The impacts of COVID-19 on Young Ontarians Report 2021