Gender Index Report 2024 published
The latest Gender Index Report has been published, with input from Strathclyde Business School academics Dr Aylin Ates and Dr Paul Lassalle of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship feeding into the Scotland aspect of the report.
This is the third such annual report which aims to provide accurate and up-to-date information that will help address the gender imbalance in UK business by applying the latest analytics technology to comprehensive data sets, combined with insights from some of Britain’s leading business academics.
The Gender Index Report 2024 analyses active companies across all four UK nations in 2023 to unpick trends related to diversity in leadership, industry, growth, access to funding, investors, and turnover growth. It presents updated figures on female-led and ethnic minority female-led companies as well as providing an intergenerational picture of entrepreneurship in the UK.
In 2023, the report states, a total of 4,954,534 companies were active in the UK of which 20.1% were female-led. This share remains the same as the previous year and means that only one in five active companies in the UK was female led. The highest share of female-led companies was found in England (20.3%) followed by Scotland and Wales (19.4% and 19.7% respectively), while the lowest share was found in Northern Ireland (17.8%).
The report reveals that gaining access to external capital remains a particular challenge for female-led companies and substantial gender investment gaps are evident. In 2023, of the UK companies that acquired external capital, a far higher proportion were male-led than female-led companies across each form of investment.
The Scotland analysis was put together in partnership with Dr Aylin Ates and Dr Paul Lassalle of the University of Strathclyde Business School; Professor Eleanor Shaw OBE, Professor Sreevas Sahasranamam and Dr Saurabh Lall of the University of Glasgow; and Dr Samuel Mwaura of the University of Edinburgh.
Analysis showed that between 2022 and 2023, Scotland reported the highest decrease in the share of female-led companies among all Home Nations.
The report says: “The Scottish Government and various organisations are working to support entrepreneurs through initiatives aimed at fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for female entrepreneurs. Efforts to reduce the gender gap in entrepreneurship and provide equal opportunities for all reflect a growing recognition of the importance of diversity in driving innovation and economic growth. Programmes like the Growth Advantage Programme and the Aspire Fund are illustrative of efforts to mitigate these barriers, aiming to provide female entrepreneurs with the tools and resources necessary for success.”
The full report can be found here: https://www.thegenderindex.co.uk/uploads/Reports/TGI-2024-Report.pdf
Dr Aylin Ates wrote a blog post on the Gender Index Report Scotland narrative… https://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/blogs/SBS/post.aspx?id=1571