02/10/2020
Whatâs holding women entrepreneurs back?
The gender gap in entrepreneurship is real, and every day women entrepreneurs from across the world, and particularly on the African continent, are battling everything from equitable access to funding, through to access to new market opportunities.
Change needs to happen, and it starts by getting people talking, listening, and getting things done differently.
This critically important challenge is one being addressed in a new book by Susanne Althoff, titled,
âLaunching While Female: Smashing the System That Holds Women Entrepreneurs Back.â
She investigates the obstacles women, especially those of colour, face when launching, funding, and growing their companies, obstacles that persist because the current start-up world was engineered by and for white men.
Itâs an exposĂ© of the gender gap in entrepreneurship and provides a road map for a more inclusive and economically successful future for us all.
Ultimately, if the world is to survive and eventually thrive during these uncertain times, we need to find practical ways we can open up the entrepreneurial system to women on an equitable basis.
We need to address the economic and societal barriers that hold them back from fulfilling their considerable potential.
By giving women entrepreneurs the opportunity to voice their experiences, it means we can all learn and help to address these barriers and play our part in being the change the world needs to see in business and society.