Women entrepreneurs can change the face of the world economy

With the ever increasing world population, we will need almost six hundred million new jobs to maintain employment rates at their current level, in the near future. With the global growth rates going down, one ray of hope could be the growth of women entrepreneurs.

In the US women owned small enterprises, currently employ 16 % of the economic workforce, and the numbers are on the rise as more and more women are graduating in the country. Organizations across the world are now recognizing the benefits and potential of women owned businesses today. This was first noticed by Kathy Matsui (Goldman Sachs), who suggested that the Japanese economy could benefit from by almost 15 percent by tapping the potential of women.

A study by the World Bank revealed that about 90 percent of the 143 economies researched, have at least one legal restriction that hampers women’s economic opportunities. This and other studies suggest that globally, the growth of the women workforce has stalled. In addition to that, the lack of female role models, and problems in finding capital; are in no way helping the cause.

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To address this issue, many organizations are doing their bit to initiate more women into better paying jobs and sectors. A few years back, Goldman Sachs launched the 10,000 Women initiative to that provides business training, mentoring, and networking opportunities for working women.

Another report by a programme conducted by Babson College reaffirmed the role women can play in creating new jobs. It also stated that just eighteen months after their graduation, almost 70 percent of the women had increased revenues, and the average growth.   Conclusively, the world needs to recognize and tap the enormous potential women entrepreneurs have, that will prove to be highly significant in the coming future.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: Council on Foreign Relations http://blogs.cfr.org/development-channel/2014/09/10/unlocking-the-potential-of-women-entrepreneurs/#b09g17t20w14