Highest Female Entrepreneurs Recorded
16th August 2017
One in every 23 people in Ireland (aged 18-64 years) is a new business owner according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2016 Survey of Entrepreneurship in Ireland, which was published recently. These figures are similar to the US and high compared to European countries.
Enterprise Ireland, supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, sponsored the GEM survey which was authored by Paula Fitzsimons of Fitzsimons Consulting and Dr Colm O’Gorman, Professor of Entrepreneurship, DCU Business School. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is the world’s foremost study of entrepreneurship.
According to the report, an estimated 1,800 men and 1,100 women were involved in a start-up every month in Ireland in 2016. The rate of entrepreneurship for women in Ireland is 7th highest in Europe. However, men are still much more likely to be entrepreneurs – twice as likely in Ireland. Men and women in Ireland also differ in terms of growth expectations. 36% of men who are entrepreneurs, compared to 21% of women who are entrepreneurs, expect to have 10 or more jobs and to double jobs within 5 years. However, they do not differ in terms of their international orientation. Nearly 8 in every 10 nascent entrepreneurs and new business owners in Ireland have an international outlook whereas across Europe the average is 6 in every 10 entrepreneurs.
According to the report findings, the culture in Ireland is very supportive of entrepreneurship – the highest in Europe in terms of popular regard for successful entrepreneurs. It’s interesting to note that the number of female entrepreneurs is also the highest since the Survey began 17 years ago.
Commenting on the GEM Survey, An Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Frances Fitzgerald TD said: “The GEM 2016 report provides timely research which will help inform our entrepreneurship strategy and in particular, the mid-term review of The National Policy Statement on Entrepreneurship. With 35,000 new business owners in 2016, Ireland ranks 6th highest in Europe for new business owners. I am particularly heartened that the rate of early stage entrepreneurship in Ireland has now returned to the levels observed pre-recession and that many Irish entrepreneurs have growth ambitions and expect to be employers.
“Like most countries, there are more male entrepreneurs (63%) than female (37%), but that gap narrows as one moves from actively planning to actually starting a new business. At 1 in every 14 women in Ireland, the number of female entrepreneurs in 2016 is the highest noted since GEM research started in 2000. Initiatives to encourage female entrepreneurship, like Enterprise Ireland’s dedicated female entrepreneurship unit, are helping to further reduce the gender gap.”
You can download the report here>>
