Dr Samuel Mwaura, Co-lead of GEM Scotland and co-author of the report, said, “Why is it so difficult to move the needle on female entrepreneurship in Scotland? We need around 60,000 more women engaging in early-stage enterprise in Scotland to approach gender parity, but despite much effort over the last several years, female rates just have not improved and we are out of pace with progress in female entrepreneurial activity in the rest of the UK.
“Also, the barriers appear to be consistent at the national level as unlike for males where we see regional differences in entrepreneurial activity within Scotland, female rates are consistently lower across the board.
“Furthermore, the female gap starts at the level of perceptions of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions among people presently not engaged in enterprise, and carries through to actual start-up activity and established business ownership rates. Clearly, there is something in Scotland that is not working for female entrepreneurship and we need to figure it out and fix it.
“However, it is encouraging that ethnic minority entrepreneurship in Scotland seems to have finally recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Ethnic minorities continue to make substantial contributions to entrepreneurship in Scotland, especially at a time when entrepreneurial rates are declining. This must be fully recognised and strongly supported so that this early-stage activity transitions to established businesses with even greater contributions to the Scottish economy."
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is part of a global research consortium which in 2022 measured rates of entrepreneurship by interviewing around 170,000 adults across 49 countries in, including around 42,400 respondents from Scotland.