Women entrepreneurs in STEM

A new study from researchers in Denmark and Germany suggests that despite the growing number of women entrepreneurs, numbers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are now adequately represented in this trend. Details of an exploratory study across Denmark, Latvia, and Turkey, are reported in the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, and hope to explain this underrepresentation in STEM.

Sanita Ármane, Seda İrem Gärtig, and Silke Tegtmeier of the University of Southern Denmark, in Sønderborg and Alexander Brem of the University of Stuttgart, carried out interviews with a number of women entrepreneurs educated in STEM subjects. They uncovered the women’s main motivations, the challenges they face, and the support sources on which they rely to glean important advice for future women entrepreneurs as well as for policymakers to increase the number of STEM-educated women entrepreneurs at the national level.

A recent survey across Europe revealed that only about a third of all the millions of entrepreneurs in the business world are women. This reinforced the long-standing notion that entrepreneurship is a male-dominated field. Moreover, the underrepresentation of women from a STEM background is also rather worrying with most companies run by women not being involved in those areas. Reinforcing a second notion that businesses founded in STEM areas tend to be male-dominated too.

Many observers have argued that encouraging more women entrepreneurs in STEM-related fields is of great importance in terms of economic growth and an enhancing social status. Moreover, gender diversity at the top of any corporate hierarchy is key to ensuring the diversity of employees, again all to the positive in terms of socioeconomic benefits.

This new study points to possible reasons for the shortfall in the number of women entrepreneurs from a STEM background and running businesses that work in the areas covered by STEM. The work shows the apparent differences across three nations and offers new advice on how women from a STEM background might be encouraged to seek out and exploit new opportunities as entrepreneurs.

Ármane, S., Gärtig, S.I., Tegtmeier, S. and Brem, A. (2021) ‘STEM educated women entrepreneurs in Denmark, Latvia and Turkey: a context-based explorative study’, Int. J. Entrepreneurial Venturing, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.186–216.