Carleton University announced today that its Centre for Women in Politics and Public Leadership will undertake a new national study on women entrepreneurs. Conducted in partnership with BMO Financial Group and The Beacon Agency, the study will attempt to understand how women entrepreneurs evaluate risk compared to men, and what impact that may have in business.
“Continuously re-enforcing the image of women as more risk averse than men hurts women,” said Clare Beckton, the centre’s executive director. “There needs to be a greater exploration of what different approaches to risk mean for an entrepreneur. Does it impact on their likelihood of accessing capital and achieving growth?”
While the report on the study’s findings will not be available until March of 2016, Carleton did share some statistics via the Canadian Task Force for Women’s Business Growth that will inform the study:
- In 2007, women retained ownership in 47 per cent of Canada’s 1.6 million small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and majority ownership of 16 per cent.
- Majority women-owned enterprises represented more than $117 billion per annum of economic activity in Canada in 2007.
- A 20 per cent increase in total revenues at majority women-owned SMEs would contribute an additional $2 billion a year to the economy.
- Women’s enterprises are not growing at the same rate as male enterprises in Canada or the United States.
Carleton is not the only Canadian university paying attention to the topic of women in entrepreneurship. Ryerson University recently partnered with MasterCard to launch a Women in Entrepreneurship program through the DMZ.
Image courtesy Carleton University.