JUMP provides women with practical tools to help them achieve their professional aspirations and supports organisations and companies wanting to promote gender diversity at management level.
www.jump.eu.com
In the Eurobarometer for entrepreneurship issued by the European Commission, Belgium is the only country with Slovakia, where less than one third of the population declares any interest for being an entrepreneur. The figures are even worse for women compared to men! 73% of US citizens questioned in this survey said that they have a favourable image of entrepreneurs. In Europe at least about half of the population (49%) has a favourable image of entrepreneurs.
JUMP’s survey among self-employed women in Belgium was the first one of its kind to make a distinction between women who are self-employed or company owners highlighting their differing needs. There are some striking similarities too! Take a look at some of the highlights.
An overwhelming 93% of self-employed Dutch-speaking women compared to 75% French-speaking felt that being self-employed is socially accepted. Very surprising given the fact that Belgium is still lagging behind the rest of Europe when it comes to exercising that entrepreneurial spirit.
More self-employed women put a higher priority on the need to be supported by partners and families than those women owning their own companies. Only 28% of those starting up as freelance had received any external advice compared to 41% of women setting up a company. The majority want to have maternity leave on a par with that offered to female employees. In addition to extending the maternity leave from the current six weeks to 14 weeks, they also want more child care with more flexibility and more after school support for their children. The higher their company turnover the more important they found this support to be. This must be related to fact that these businesses are more likely to have employees and thus to have less flexibility in working hours.
On the whole, an overwhelming 91% of Dutch-speaking female entrepreneurs questioned compared to 75% of French-speaking were very happy to have taken the steps to strike out on their own.
Most women don’t like risk !
According to research in the US women are relatively risk averse than men, and they follow less extreme and more consistent investment styles and trade less than male managers. It is no coincidence that Cherie Blair (wife of former UK PM Tony Blair) is backing a fund that aims to invest in companies with a high number of women in senior role.
For centuries women have been brought up to preserve the home and family from famine and insecurity while our men were out fighting or hunting far away. Even today you can find the traces of this role in many of us women … in our professional lives this is usually seen in our search for stable jobs and in our reluctance to face change. In Belgium we represent only 30% of the pool of the self-employed, because this status is synonymous with putting our salary levels at risk (unpredictable and irregular). This is even more obvious in the area of business creation, where only 14% of these 30% self-employed women are majority shareholders, while 90% of “assisting spouses” turn out to be women! A partial explanation of this poor result in entrepreneurship is that creating a business means taking risks over more than just one’s own salary … it means risking capital! For every woman who has overcome the stage of fear of being independent and has then braved capital investment, one further stage remains: investment for development. Fewer than 20% of female entrepreneurs have the growth of their businesses as their goal, and fewer than 25% have invested in total above €75,000.
The economic crisis through which we are currently passing has revived a number of demons. We can for survive this period - by trying to get some advantage from it, by understanding the mechanisms, and by deciding on a strategy for managing our wealth and business in a way that suits us and correspond to our values.
Every crisis gives a boost to people who are willing to work at it …so, let’s get to work! Have confidence in your powers of analysis and decision-making!
Isabella Lenarduzzi, Social Entrepreneur in Employment & Gender equality by producing Medias and Events
Founder & Managing Director of JUMP “Empowering Women, Advancing the Economy”
www.jump.eu.com
Copyright © Microsoft® Innovation Center Belgium