Women in business: A trend that is growing

Women in business today – leaders in their fields

There are more women in business today in the UK than we have in the last decade. This is because those who were in leadership positions before now or should have been are branching out to start their own thing. 

According to BusinessLive, there are women excelling in business as entrepreneurs as well as in managerial roles. Some of them include Juliet Barratt, June Angelides, Elaine Birchall, Anne Boden, and Amanda Blanc to mention but a few. Other women like Octavia Goredema, Baroness Martha Lane Fox, Dame Carolyn Julia McCall, and Lesley Eccles are leading role models to women in men-dominated enterprises. For example, Leslie Eccles is a cofounder of FanDuel which is a gaming world for fantasy sports and is one of the leading companies in its category in the world today.

All in all, women are making their marks and taking territories despite the biases and limitations around them.

How times are changing in favour of women in business in the last decade ?

According to the National Federation of Self-Employed and Small Businesses Limited, female-owned businesses in the UK have contributed about £105 billion to the UK economy in recent years which is a far cry from what it was in 2012. The organisation also noted that the contribution of female-owned businesses to the economy of the UK has risen from 5.1% in 2012 to 6.3% now in terms of GVA, and they contribute to employment opportunities representing about 11.3% of the total employment available in the private sector of the UK.

What the circumspection above simply connotes is that while the growth is increasing rather slowly, it is still better than what it was in the last decade. Now, there are many organisations encouraging women who are in leadership positions or looking to become entrepreneurs to come together and rub their minds together so that more women can be empowered to own businesses. Some of these organisations include the FSB (Federation for Small Businesses), BAWE (British Association of Women Entrepreneurs), WIBN (Women in Business Network), and many others. 

Another important thing to note before we move on is that the rate at which women are becoming entrepreneurs in recent years is unprecedented as statistics showed that 1 in 3 new entrepreneurs is a woman and women represent 1.5 million of the total entrepreneurs in the UK now, a whooping increase from just over 300,000 in 2012. This goes to show that things are looking up for women in becoming starters, managers, and leaders in businesses.

Advantages of women in business – the importance of the roles of women in business

1. First-hand consumer experience can improve business decisions – it has been shown that about 80% of the population of consumers all over the world are women. This is not so surprising since women are usually in charge of groceries shopping and general home purchases with the men tending towards technological gadgets and real estate purchases. That simply implies that women have first-hand experience where consumer preferences are concerned and this can help them to make better decisions as business owners than their male counterparts.
2. Helps to create gender balance – creativity is boosted in a workplace where there is diversity, not just in gender but in race, age, and culture. This is because with variety comes innovations which can help build a better community and drive technological evolutions. 
3. Important soft skills for effective leadership are naturally available in women – when you talk about soft skills like teamwork, self-awareness, empathy, adaptability, conflict management, etc., women outperform women by a wide margin. Coupled with the fact that these soft skills have been found to give about a 9% increase in return on assets within two years, it goes to show that despite what we see now, businesses owned by women have more potential to thrive and become established within the next decade.

Challenges facing women in business

According to Wikipedia, women make up about 17.5% of the corporate leadership positions of Fortune 500 companies while they make up only about 6.7% of S&P 500 companies. This is despite the fact that the women population of the total employee workforce in these companies is about 47%. This points to some form of skewed preference for males in leadership positions despite the advocacy for gender equality.

Another important challenge women face in business is that there is a bias where male employees receive more remunerations than their female counterparts or get preferential treatment for promotion opportunities. At other times, women are at a disadvantage considering the need to take maternity leaves or leave from work to take care of a loved one in the hospital. Empathy towards the many facets of women’s engagement in society is usually lacking in the place of work and that just puts women at the background of the decision-making rungs of the ladder. 

Prospects for women in business and management in the next decade

While it may seem that leadership positions are not going to be available to more women any time soon, women still have prospects available to them. One such is becoming entrepreneurs. Whether you are going lone ranger like the sole trader, in partnership with others or incorporating a corporation, the fact still remains that you are able to be the don of your business and call the shots as you see fit. This way, you can choose your team and make sure that you give more women the opportunity to grow alongside you. 

Statistics show that more women earned a university degree than men but that is not enough in the world of business. To take on managerial roles, taking professional certifications like MBA, a Master’s or PhD degree, or any related certification would go a long way to stand out of the crowd. While more certification may not necessarily mean you have the required leadership capacity, it is still a requirement that the world cannot ignore.

Lastly, as the world progresses and evolves, there is more awareness of the role of women in society and their potential of being useful agents of management in the coming years. For this reason, more policies are coming up to favour gender equality. Some angel investors and financiers are even making it a criterion for startups they are wanting to invest in. In other words, there is still hope for more women in business.

Conclusion

Women in business is a growing community that is building strength in number and influence by the day. Joining the train is as simple as putting that business idea that is in your mind into motion and establishing your business. The time to start is now because when more women come into entrepreneurship, they serve as an encouragement to others who are aspiring to do just that too.