Why Aren’t There Enough Women Entrepreneurs?

When it comes to thinking, creating and ideating, it would not be fair to discriminate between men and women. Both men and women are breaking into new forays and emerging bright with ground breaking ideas on the other side. However, while everything is changing in the world of technology, one important question needs to be answered. Are we as a society consciously ignoring the efforts women are putting?

The challenges of gender based biases still persist making women entrepreneurship while appealing yet daunting. The other not so in your face challenge is the fact that in a family focussed country such as India, work life balance for a woman in yet incredibly tough.

If you look at the overall chances of someone starting a company, there are more chances of men becoming successful with their venture as compared to women. Why does this happen, you ask? According to several studies done on this matter, there is a term for this called “male hubris, female humility” effect. What it says is that women have lower levels of hubris than men — they’re less likely to be overconfident.

They are especially less likely to make what we call the fundamental attribution error. In this case, holding the belief that when things go right, it is all because of your genius and when things go wrong, it is because of luck or outside forces. The study further states that most women fail to be noticed because of the emotional attachment women have with the venture.

When men fail at the first attempt, they are more likely to try and start again. Women, on the other hand, work hard at fixing what is broken. More often than not, this approach works against these women and ends up destroying the overall effort. Gaining exposure, accepting the situation and moving forward with vigour is what sets women apart and this is what needs to be recognised.

There is no better time to start than now. The world is your oyster. Grab it by the horns and work to create change like never before. While women may have been ignored in the past, setting the pace forward for a bright tomorrow helps when you start today. Happy Women’s Day!