Why Female Founders Could Fix the Economy

by Adrian Granzella Larssen , October 8, 2011 — 1 Comment

With economic growth, unemployment, and job creation rates at a near standstill, it seems like our nation is at a loss for how to get us out of this economic slump.

Well, ladies, it just might be up to you and me.

According to a new paper from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, women entrepreneurs who start high-growth companies “may be the nation’s secret weapon for achieving sustained economic growth.” Why? Currently, start-ups are the most successful source of new U.S. jobs, and are increasingly seen as our best hope for economic recovery. But these companies are overwhelmingly lead by men—women only make up 35% of start-up founders.

Check out this infographic for a run-down of the recent findings.

Infographic courtesy of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Photo courtesy of Dell’s Official Flikr Page.

About the Author

As The Daily Muse's Editor-in-Chief, Adrian's passion is helping you kick ass at your career. Formerly head of web communications for the George Washington University Med Center, she has 9+ years experience in the communications world and an MBA from Pepperdine. She (usually) resides in Los Angeles and spends her spare time on planes. Say hi on Twitter @adriangranzella.

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Cara

Thanks for posting this infographic, it's really eye-opening but your post didn't address the question of why women are better positioned to fix the economy. The assumption is you are saying that more of us should start our own companies but you haven't addressed why that isn't the case yet and it begs the question why be optimistic without the stats to back it? (Don't get me wrong, I work for a female run start-up so I'm a fan of the optimism I'm just looking for justification for it)

Fifty percent of GMAT takers are women but only 30% of enrolled MBA students are women as of 2010: http://businessmajors.about.com/od/mbaprograms/a/WomenMBA.htm