By Rhonda Campbell
Women entrepreneurs are starting their own companies as creative business leaders at faster rates than they did a generation ago. As of 2007 and in the United States alone, women own more than 7.8 million companies, a growth rate of 44 percent from 1997 to 2007. Women are also heading up large divisions and departments at Fortune 500 companies. Yet, women entrepreneurs are still not standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their male counterparts when it comes to the sizes of the companies women own or lead and the salaries women take home as creative business leaders.
Forward Steps by Women Entrepreneurs
For example, of the top 500 countries mentioned in the 2011 CNN Money ranking only 12 Global 500 companies had a woman at the helm. Amongst those companies were Xerox (Ursula Burns/CEO), Archer Daniels Midland (Patricia Woertz/CEO), KraftFoods (Irene Rosenfeld/CEO), Westpac Banking (Gail Kelly/CEO) and Sunoco (Lynn Elsenhans). Of course, January 2012 Wal-Mart named Rosalind Brewer as its first woman CEO.
In regards to the numbers of employees at women owned companies, the October 2010 “Women-Owned Businesses in the 21st Century” report produced by the United States Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration showed that as of 2007 businesses owned by women employed about 7.5 million workers. Companies owned by men employed approximately 41.5 million workers. These numbers do not reflect employees who work at publicly owned companies.
The report continued, “Average employment in women-owned firms is smaller than men-owned firms, but higher than at equally-owned firms. Women-owned firms employed slightly more than 8 workers on average in 2007 compared to almost 13 for men-owned firms and slightly less than 8 for equally-owned firms.”
Industries Women Entrepreneurs and Men Operate Businesses In
Furthermore, industries that women and men own larger numbers of businesses in differ, with women owned businesses operating more in the healthcare and education services industries. Men owned businesses, on the other hand, operated more in manufacturing, agriculture and warehousing than women owned businesses did. It is not clear what propels women and men to move toward one industry more than another. What is clear is that industries that are growing may present greater opportunities for entrepreneurs, regardless of gender, than industries that are shrinking do.
Overall, efforts women have made to distinguish themselves as effective business leaders are paying off, influencing the way women perceive themselves in America and abroad. So much ground has been covered that it’s hard to believe large numbers of people once thought women entrepreneurs didn’t have the disposition and insight to successfully operate large, competitive firms. Nevertheless, there is room for more progress, particularly in regards to the workforce size and annual wages generated by companies owned and managed by women.
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Sources:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704688604575125543191609632.html (Wall Street Journal: Why Are Women-Owned Firms Smaller Than Men-Owned Ones?)
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2011/womenceos/
http://www.dol.gov/wb/media/Women-Owned_Businesses_in_The_21st_Century.pdf
