‘Chasm’ between women and men in entrepreneurship, businesswoman says

A leading businesswoman says she has been shocked by the “chasm” between women and men in Scottish entrepreneurship.

Ana Stewart, a partner at investing company Eos, has published a review into supporting women entrepreneurs which has made 31 recommendations.

Commissioned by the Scottish Government, the review’s recommendations include providing micro-grants and pop-up areas which offer training and support in creating businesses.

On Monday, Ms Stewart was joined by Nicola Sturgeon as they visited the Roslin Institute in Midlothian.

There they met the founders of two biotech companies – Ishani Malhotra of Carcinotech and Dr Kate Cameron of Cytochroma.

Asked about the size of the gap between women and men in business, Ms Stewart said: “I’m shocked myself by the scale of the chasm, really.

“Only one in five businesses in Scotland are female-led, and that hasn’t changed in the last 10 years.

“So despite people thinking progress is being made nothing in statistics that we’ve looked at – and they’re very robust statistics – is telling us the progress is being made.”

In terms of institutional investment, she said, start-ups founded by women are receiving just 2% compared with men.

She stressed that solving this disparity was a societal issue, saying: “This isn’t about fixing women, this is about fixing a problem so that we can try in a better and more effective and inclusive economy.”

Ms Stewart also said Scotland’s system of business support organisations needed to be better connected.

She said: “What I would say about the Scottish ecosystem is it’s incredibly disjointed.

“There are multiple, many networks that are informal, but they’re not connected or collaborative.”

Ms Stewart’s report was co-authored by Mark Logan, the Scottish Government’s chief entrepreneurial officer.

Ms Sturgeon said: “I welcome Ana Stewart and Mark Logan’s work in delivering a powerful review of the barriers facing women in entrepreneurship in Scotland and presenting a compelling set of recommendations aimed at removing them.

“The review’s findings are challenging but underline the need to tackle the root causes, as well as the immediate barriers, of this inequality.

“Fully realising the entrepreneurial potential of women in Scotland will not only promote greater equality in our society, it will also deliver significant benefits for the economy.

“The Scottish Government will respond quickly to the review as a whole, and its recommendations.”