Women are the largest group of “missing entrepreneurs” according to the OECD-EU Missing Entrepreneurs 2023 report, accounting for 73% of the “missing entrepreneurs in OECD countries. Women are held back in business creation by a range of barriers such as a self-perceived fear of failure, skills gaps and difficulties accessing finance and networks. The need to reduce the gender gap in entrepreneurship was discussed at the OECD Ministerial Meeting on SME and Entrepreneurship Policy in June 2023, where ministers made a commitment to do more to harness the talents of all entrepreneurs, notably women.
Women’s entrepreneurship policy and programmes are developing rapidly in a number of areas (e.g. public and corporate procurement, online delivery of training and coaching, dedicated risk capital instruments, fintech) yet many governments lack information on recent trends and approaches in many of these developing areas. This international workshop will facilitate an exchange on new developments in women’s entrepreneurship programmes. The discussion of these new policy approaches aims to offer both inspiration for other countries and help identify areas where a more systematic policy analysis and information exchange process would be helpful from the OECD.