A new study by a professor at Waterloo Engineering reveals that inexperienced entrepreneurial women in Canada still see more success when partnering with experienced men than when partnering with experienced women or going it alone.
That is the key finding of research by Dr. Horatio M. Morgan and collaborators at Statistics Canada based on an analysis of 183,358 unique Canadian business ventures from 2006 to 2017 and the impact of co-ownership by women and men.
Horatio M. Morgan is a professor at the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business.
Morgan, a professor at the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business at Waterloo, said women-owned businesses typically underperform in terms of growth rate, profitability, survival rate, number of employees and productivity relative to businesses owned by men.
Research shows this is largely because women continue to face significant barriers, including negative gender-role stereotypes and difficulty gaining prior experience in executive positions at established companies, and challenges such as less access to financing.
After sifting through all the data, the researchers concluded that gender-equal ownership — inexperienced women and experienced men entrepreneurs teaming up as equal co-owners — can help women overcome the systemic barriers their new businesses face.
Go to Systemic gender barriers mean going it alone may not be the answer for all new women entrepreneurs in Canada for the full story.