Our Policy Briefs on Women in Enterprise
We are pleased to share a series of policy briefs based on our WES Survey of Women in Enterprise 2023 published earlier this year.
The launch of our policy briefs comes as the 2023 Small Business Survey data is released by the UK government, evidencing an accelerated decline in the numbers of women-led businesses to just 15% of UK employer businesses. The Scotland cut of the Small Business Survey data is awaited, however, prior year data showed a decline of one percentage point in Scotland’s women-led employer businesses.
Our policy briefs offer a range of recommendations designed to improve women’s experiences of entrepreneurship, mitigate any further decline in employer women-led businesses in Scotland and create the diverse and thriving business ecosystem which will benefit us all. Our policy briefs addressed the topics of:
Business Support for Women – This brief explores the challenges and opportunities in entrepreneurship and business growth for women, outlining practical measures to enhance existing business support and increase the economic contribution of women-led businesses.
Pension Gender Gap – This document highlights the disparities women face in retirement savings and income, examining contributing factors from women’s entrepreneurship journeys and offering recommendations to close the gender gap in pension provision for women business owners.
Digital and Net Zero Opportunities for Women – This brief delves into the role of women-led businesses in the digital/technology economy and the transition to net zero, providing actionable strategies to ensure women are central to the growth of these critical sectors.
The recommendations made in the policy briefs aim to help accelerate change, enable more women to realise their business aspirations and unlock the multi-billion-pound economic contribution of women-led businesses in Scotland.
You can read the full policy briefs, here.
Roundtable on Women in Enterprise
Following the publication of the briefs, we hosted a roundtable discussion on three of the policy brief themes - Business Support, Key Economic Sectors (Digital/Technology and Net Zero), and Pension Provision. This event brought together policymakers, enterprise support organizations, and women-led businesses to examine and address Scotland’s gender gap in enterprise and what is needed to build a more inclusive business ecosystem.
CEO of WES, Carolyn Currie, commented:
“Our roundtable discussion focused on the meaningful change needed to ensure women across Scotland can realise their business aspirations. To thrive our economy must harness the talents of all our population and eradicate the persistent gender gap in enterprise participation. There is more work to be done to ensure women can access a commensurate share of financial and non-financial resources to firstly start-up and then advance their business growth. By achieving this goal, we can add billions of pounds to our economy every year and create the innovative business landscape which will benefit us all. Thanks to everyone who contributed their experiences and insights during our roundtable event.”
Key points participants underscored the importance of, were:
Providing the choice for women to access dedicated business support as needed.
Improving access to funding and financial education to enhance stability and enable opportunities for growth.
Facilitating peer support groups, which provide mentorship, shared knowledge, and community.
Addressing specific challenges such as caring responsibilities and balancing work-life demands through flexible policies.
Closing the gender pension gap to promote long-term financial wellbeing and security.
Overall, the discussion reinforced the need for tailored, flexible support, increased financial education, and policy adjustments to address the unique challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, particularly around funding and work-life balance.
Many of these key points which were highlighted in the roundtable discussion, aligned with our 2024 Manifesto in which we called for action on five priority areas to accelerate growth. As we seek to strengthen our economy, it is vital that these consistent messages and persisting barriers are addressed to enable women to make their rightful contribution to the economy.
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