The stereotype of the superwoman who has a successful career and family is, in fact, the worst enemy of women. And the way in which the public authorities value female entrepreneurs does not help matters. Striking interview with Janice Byrne, assistant professor at Ivey Business School, co-author of a study on the subject (1).
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According to you, the female entrepreneurs promoted through the communication of the public authorities do not break stereotypes, and even accentuate them. Explain to us.
In 2019, women make up around 40% of all business owners. They were only 29% in 1987 and 33% in 2000. A welcome progression. However, there is still a long way to go. Women leaders are mainly involved in so-called "feminine" professions, such as health, social action and personal services. They are becoming rarer, on the other hand, in new technologies. They are in the minority in incubators, to the point of feeling uncomfortable there. The problem lies further upstream: only 28.5% of engineering school graduates are women.
What are the models of entrepreneurs put forward?
We studied the way in which the public authorities, via several organizations including the Agency for Business Creation, promoted female entrepreneurship between 2013 and 2015. We analyzed the profiles of around fifty personalities chosen as "role models". The results are striking: they are, for the most part, white, from rather well-to-do backgrounds, graduates of large, even very large schools. They have acquired valuable professional experience in large companies and can count on their address book. Only a minority of them come from less privileged backgrounds.
What message do these figures send to the youngest?
It's a pretty disturbing message: it goes against the idea of meritocracy, according to which success comes when you work hard. It does not take into account the advantages enjoyed by women from certain backgrounds. Moreover, entrepreneurship is presented as a sort of Eldorado allowing women to escape all the problems encountered in the labor market. The communication of the public authorities in a way normalizes the concerns encountered by women. We act as if it were in the order of things that they are discriminated against and have a salary lower than that of a man. This is all quite perverse.
How are these female role models presented?
We go into raptures over these superwomen who have power, are rather neoliberal, autonomous, independent. They succeed in everything they do, and that puts a lot of pressure on the younger ones. Another point: the women put forward often create more modest businesses than the men, and in the famous so-called feminine sectors, such as personal services.
Why do these women embark on entrepreneurship?
We find that they start out of necessity and not out of opportunity, regardless of their background. Some hit the glass ceiling and preferred to leave their employer. Others created their box because of office hours incompatible with their family obligations. There are also those shelved when they return from maternity leave. And those who can't find a job. Clearly, for women, starting a business is often a plan B.
How to change the situation?
We have to stop saying that we have done a lot of things to encourage women to embark on business creation, and that now it is up to them. It's a masquerade. It's not so much the women who need to evolve as the whole system. We must challenge all the players - bankers, incubator managers, public authorities... - and encourage them to think together and take concrete measures.
(1) Role models and women entrepreneurs : entrepreneurial superwoman has her say", par Janice Byrne, Salma Fattoum and Maria Diaz Garcia, Ieseg School of Management, 2019.
