This text is part of the special Women’s Leadership booklet
The number of women entrepreneurs continues to grow, but slowly. This is revealed by the BMO Chair in Diversity and Governance at the Université de Montréal, whose objective is to stimulate reflection on issues of diversity, equality, inclusion and governance in organizations.
In 2020, women represented nearly 17% of majority owners of SMEs in Canada, 1.5% more than in 2011. The numbers are increasing, but they remain low. A trend that the Government of Canada seeks to increase with its Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, introduced in 2018 and aimed “to improve women-led businesses’ access to financing, talent pools, networks and the expertise they need to start up, expand and access new markets”.
The desire to undertake
“17% is not enough! Women represent half of the population,” says Tania Saba, holder of the BMO Chair in Diversity and Governance and full professor at the School of Industrial Relations at the Université de Montréal.
However, this figure is not representative of reality. “The development potential is huge. Studies based on the Quebec entrepreneurial index show how strong the desirability of going into business is among women,” explains Ms.me Saba. Indeed, the 2021 index shows an almost equal intention rate among men and women.
In addition to being just as attracted to entrepreneurship as men, women represent almost 38% of self-employed workers in Canada. “This means that women will launch their own initiatives or their own professional projects, but they will not go so far as to develop their business”, explains the founder of the BMO Chair.
Women face unique barriers in the process of entrepreneurship that sustain this trend. For example, they will more often invest their personal savings in their project, while a man will seek financing elsewhere, says Ms.me Saba. “Women have unfortunately internalized these obstacles,” she laments.
One of the beliefs contributing to the slow increase in the number of women entrepreneurs is that if there are more women in entrepreneurship, there will be fewer men. “The goal is not to increase the number of women to reduce the number of men. We must keep the number of men and increase the number of women! » replies M.me Saba.
For the researcher, the development of entrepreneurship among women must be seen as an opportunity, a creation of wealth, and not as a sharing of wealth. “It is important to see it as a contribution to the economy, a latent potential that must be exploited. »
Because women are moving towards other types of businesses than their male counterparts, with projects that will have an effect on the community, and they sometimes have a more social approach, particularly in sustainable development, where female entrepreneurs are in some way sort of precursors. “These initiatives have an enormous impact, but which is not necessarily quantified at its fair value by the indicators used in our society. »
women and diversity
But the obstacles are even greater for racialized people, who have more difficulty accessing the networks that will allow them to create their business. It is for this reason that the BMO Chair organizes events for women who face these realities.
The Pôle Québec and Francophone Communities of Canada of the Knowledge Portal for Women in Entrepreneurship, the BMO Chair and the Vice-Rectorate for Community and International Partnerships at UdeM notably organized, last February, the Forum of Francophone Aboriginal Women Entrepreneurs at the MIL Campus of the University of Montreal. “The event was quickly sold out,” says Tania Saba, with a smile. It was a very nice event. Organized around several panels, the purpose of the day was to share the experiences of Aboriginal women entrepreneurs and to present the ecosystem and the tools that make it up.
The Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Portal seeks to showcase all successful women, regardless of their industry. The data collected there makes it possible to design a more precise portrait of the market, the opportunities and, above all, the obstacles encountered by women entrepreneurs. These are essential elements to guide efforts and continue to promote entrepreneurship among women.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.