Research

2024

Despite one in three high-growth, innovation-oriented entrepreneurs globally being women, the UK’s women-owned businesses have stagnated at 19% over the last decade, compared to 20-35% in other countries.

The UK’s “missing millions” in women-owned businesses represent a substantial loss in job creation and local wealth. Persistent barriers, outdated biases, and an inadequate support ecosystem hinder their growth.

2023

Our data reveals that, at least at the level of higher growth businesses, women seem to be breaking through the glass ceilings of the entrepreneurship world and entering a new era. It has been a long time coming. GEM research has also illustrated that women entrepreneurs frequently experience negative stereotyping and bias throughout all stages of the entrepreneurial cycle.

Pathways: A New Approach for Women in Entrepreneurship, 2023

This report seeks to change how we think about the under-participation of women in entrepreneurship, to more rapidly and effectively move our society away from its current extreme gender imbalance in this field of endeavour. The report presents concrete recommendations for how dramatically better participation rates can be achieved.

The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, Progress Report, 2023

Female founders built more new businesses last year than ever before, despite a challenging economic environment. They responded to higher inflation and macroeconomic uncertainty with innovation and entrepreneurialism. And through this, the Rose Review expanded the support that we offer to make sure that they can get the backing and finance they need to thrive.

GEM 2022/2023 Global Report: Adapting to a “New Normal.”

The global pandemic had a mixed effect on entrepreneurship across the world, according to the 2022/2023 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Global Report: Adapting to a “New Normal”. Based on interviews with over 175,000 individuals and experts from 51 economies, the report tracks the percentage of adults who are starting or running a new business (referred to as Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity or TEA)

2022

Is there a Link between Small Business Leadership and Productivity? 2022

Leadership quality has been proposed as an important explanation for differences in the productivity performance between so-called ‘frontier’ and ‘laggard’ firms. Quantitative studies have sought to understand if human resource management systems and skills can improve SME performance, including productivity.

Other influential international research on management practices has motivated survey data collection and analysis covering SME populations.

Family Policy and Women’s Entrepreneurship, 2022

This review summarises the current state of knowledge about the relationship between family policy and women’s entrepreneurship and is based upon a search of recent research studies and academic literature.

Women’s entrepreneurship policy needs to be interwoven with family policy to successfully support women to start and run prosperous businesses.

The State of Small Business Britain 2022: From Crisis to Crisis

The State of Small Business Britain report is the Enterprise Research Centre’s annual review of trends and issues affecting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.

The report draws together and summarises several different strands of the Centre’s research to give a picture of the landscape for the UK’s SMEs in 2022.

Gender, Ethnicity, and Access to Finance: Evidence for UK Social Enterprises, 2022

We investigate the access and use of various forms of finance for social enterprises, including those that are women and minority ethnic group (MEG) led. Using data from the UK Longitudinal Small Business Survey, we find that relative to commercial small and medium enterprises (SMEs), social enterprises are less likely to apply for bank overdrafts, but more likely to apply for government grants.

Women as Entrepreneurs: Lessons Unlearned? 2022

The evidence is overwhelming that women as entrepreneurs were more seriously affected and needed backing during the 2008 Financial Crisis and the COVID Pandemic. So, why can’t policymakers build the infrastructure to support women as entrepreneurs?

Over thirty years of research reinforces Alison Rose’s call to arms: read, understand, and respond to the evidence, and make the UK a far better place for women as entrepreneurs.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor UK Report, 2021/2022

The findings of this report, against a challenging backdrop of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, once again confirm that the UK is a nation of entrepreneurs, with around 1 in 3 adults now either running a business or looking at starting one.

As the cost-of-living crisis grows and continues to affect UK business we need to continue to ensure that the small businesses forming the backbone of the UK economy receive the support they need to handle these unprecedented challenges.

A Green and Caring Economy, 2022

The current economic system has delivered the intersecting crises of climate, ecological breakdown and inequality. It has sought growth at any cost, and has treated the earth, nature and people carelessly in pursuit of profit. Women and other marginalised groups have both borne the brunt of this exploitation and are most vulnerable to a climate changing and increasingly unequal world.

Time to Change: A Blueprint for Advancing the UK’S Ethnic Minority Businesses, 2022

The contribution of ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) to the UK economy could increase four-fold from £25bn to £100bn GVA by realising the following changes detailed in this 2022 report.

What Women Want: Tackling Gender Equalities and Unpaid Care in the Workplace, 2022

Gender inequalities continue to manifest in the workplace. This report investigates one of the most prominent causes of gender inequalities in work, which is the unequal division of unpaid care for both children and adults.

Managing Risk Through Security – WBG, 2022

Social security’s contribution to tackling climate change and gender inequality. Social security is an important part of a package of social and economic policies which could mitigate climate change. Such policies should not disadvantage people on low incomes and women, so both environmental sustainability and gender equality must be considered.

Perceptions of Gender Equality – the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, 2022

Women are more likely to perceive institutional gender bias than men, with educational and healthcare institutions perceived as the most equal – 52% considered that these treat women and men the same.

The Gender Index Study into Female Entrepreneurship, 2022

The Gender Index is ground-breaking and is the largest research study into female entrepreneurship ever undertaken. It accurately measures the number of female-led companies and their impact on the UK economy. AI-powered, it holds live data on more than 4m active UK companies, constantly refreshed and always up-to-date.

The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship – Progress Report, 2022

Two years into the pandemic, female entrepreneurship has proved exceptionally resilient. More women than ever are starting new businesses. Over 140,000 all female founded companies were created last year, and this figure is growing by over a third each year. It means that in total over 20% of new firms are now led by women, a record high.

Investing in Women Code
Report, 2022

Welcome to this second annual report of the Investing in Women Code, which includes data collected by finance providers during 2021 and features the actions taken by them to support women entrepreneurs with the tools, resources, and finance they need to achieve their goals.

Broken Ladders: A Myth of Meritocracy For Women of Colour in the Workplace, 2022

Broken Ladders is the first report of its kind to focus explicitly on the experiences and perspectives of women of colour in the workplace – their voices on the challenges they face are now being heard.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Global Report: Opportunity Amid Disruption, 2021/2022

This annual report requires the time and expertise of several hundred people around the world, representing multiple academic institutions, research institutes and sponsoring organizations.

2021

Female Entrepreneurship – A Strategy for the Development of a Better Start-up Ecosystem, 2021

The DEEP Ecosystems Conference on 15th April 2021 brought together 175 practitioners and experts from the start-up scenes of more than 45 countries to have data-driven discussions on the most pressing challenges their ecosystems face.

Women’s Entrepreneurship, Thriving Through Crisis, 2021/2022

Business start-up and growth is an important pathway to industry leadership and the creation of personal wealth, as well as a key source of job creation, innovation and economic growth. In this sense, women’s entrepreneurship can provide a means to more rapidly advance gender equality in industries, communities and countries around the world.

Unlocking the Potential of Ethnic Minority Businesses, 2021

The evidence presented in this report comes predominantly from a 90-minute, high-level roundtable with academics, entrepreneurs, industry representatives, and financiers to discuss ethnic minority business in the UK.

Furlough was refused to 71% of UK working mothers while schools shut, 2021

A survey in January 2021 found that more than 70% of working mothers who asked to be furloughed for childcare reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic were refused according to a survey that experts said highlighted a rapid reversal in gender equality that will take decades to repair.

Mothers on the lowest incomes were eight times more at risk of losing their job due to school closures in the UK, 2021

An analysis in January 2021 from the Women’s Budget Group, Fawcett Society, Women’s Budget Group Northern Ireland, Women’s Equality Network Wales, Close the Gap and Engender shows that parents on lower incomes are reporting significant financial implications of school closures.

Entrepreneurship Policies through a Gender Lens, 2021

This 2021 publication examines how to strengthen the scope and effectiveness of entrepreneurship policies for women. It examines both dedicated measures for women and ensuring that mainstream policies for all entrepreneurs are appropriate for women. Evidence is offered on the gender gap in entrepreneurship and its causes.

2020

Rethinking the Economy for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future, 2020

An October 2020 report from The Women’s Organisation offers a new approach to build back not only better, but different, to create a more sustainable and inclusive economy.

Framework of Policy Actions to Build Back Better for Women’s Enterprise, 2020

Evidence in September 2020 shows that women face a catastrophic future with a tsunami of job losses and business closures unless the chancellor and wider Government develop an enterprise policy that serves women.

Creating a Caring Economy – A Call to Action, 2020

This report from the Women’s Budget Group in 2020 lays out a roadmap to building a new economy following the COVID-19pandemic and asks the question: do we really want to go back to business as usual?

Levelling Up by Powering On – A Report By Northern Power Women, 2020

This September 2020 report describes the journey taken by the Northern Power Women (NPW) community through Covid-19 and their response to it. One hundred and fifty cross sector female leaders and influencers, from six regions across the North met monthly to define the new future.

The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, 2020

The goal of the Rose Review is to tap the huge unrealised economic potential of female entrepreneurs by making the UK one of the best countries in the world for women to start and grow a new business.

Implications of COVID-19 and the UK Governmental Response for Self-Employed Women, 2020

This report from April 2020 argues that although men are more likely to be self-employed or own businesses than women, self-employed women are the most at-risk group during the COVID-19 crisis.

2018

Women Count: A casebook for gender responsive budgeting groups, 2022

Gender responsive budgeting is a tool to bring about change. This means persuading policy-makers (government, parliament, civil servants) to think about what impact spending and revenue raising decisions will have on gender equalities and to adopt policies that will bring about greater equality between women and men.