For the second time, Maison Veuve Clicquot unveils its international barometer that maps out the current state of female entrepreneurship: common prejudices, mental and structural barriers to be overcome, and how to get beyond them.
Veuve Clicquot has always been on the side of bold women, introducing its Business Woman Award – now known as the Bold by Veuve Clicquot program – in 1972. Relentlessly seeking to understand how the world is evolving, we want to be a driving force for change and make a real contribution – especially when it comes to female entrepreneurship.
This is why the House launched its first international barometer on women entrepreneurship in 2019, to map out and gain a clear picture of the current state of female entrepreneurship by identifying common prejudices, mental and structural barriers to be overcome, and how to get beyond them and start a public debate. The first edition of this international barometer covered 14 countries and 28 741 respondents (representative sample in each country).
Observing and understanding the evolution of female entrepreneurship over time
One of the ambitions behind this barometer was also to observe and understand the evolution of female entrepreneurship over time. Therefore, Veuve Clicquot launched the second edition of its barometer in 2021, this time covering 17 countries and 34 622 respondents (representative sample) – and exploring the impact of COVID on female entrepreneurship.
Women are turning Covid challenges into triumphs
With the global pandemic came concerns around funding and female entrepreneurs’ ability to cope with the COVID-19 crisis: Amongst the women concerned, the primary worry was that the crisis would result in diminished funding for female entrepreneurship projects, with women in Japan (62%), Mexico (64%), and Nigeria (65%) showing the most concern. As a result, many are more cautious in their business dealings and report feeling much less self-confident, especially those in South Korea (59%), Japan, Russia, and Switzerland (63% each).
And yet, women are turning Covid challenges into triumphs. In 7 countries (Australia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland, and the US), women now report growing more confident in their business dealings and say they're more professionally bold than before the crisis. In 11 of the 17 countries, one-third or more have found new opportunities to set up their business as a result of the post-covid rebound.
Veuve Clicquot’s barometer is one of the rare tools that allows us to truly understand the state of female entrepreneurship today, as it collects data not only from women but also the general population, hence giving us a global-long-term vision of society in all its complexity.
For instance, in half of the countries surveyed, entrepreneurship levels are higher amongst both women and men under age 40 than amongst those over age 40.
Veuve Clicquot believes that breaking down preconceptions, removing structural and societal barriers and providing support and training will enable women to move forward and take the first steps towards entrepreneurship. For example, amongst the 17 countries surveyed, fewer women than men considered themselves entrepreneurs. This entrepreneurship gender gap is highest in the US (24%), Russia (18%), the UK, Italy, and Australia (13% each) and lowest in Nigeria (1%), Japan, and Mexico (4% each). And in every country surveyed, more women report being inspired by female entrepreneurs than by male entrepreneurs.
Determination and self-confidence are the most important attributes a successful female entrepreneur can possess
This latest edition of the barometer highlights the fact that women face significant structural barriers to entrepreneurship, especially when it comes to balancing work and family responsibilities. This inherent difficulty is perhaps why most women in 11 of the 17 countries surveyed believe that female entrepreneurship is disruptive to family life, while in nearly all countries (16 of 17 surveyed), only a minority of women believe the same to be true of male entrepreneurship. In addition to this, in most of the countries surveyed, about half of the ‘wantrepreneurs’ believe they must act more like men to succeed as entrepreneurs (Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Spain are exceptions).
Nevertheless, the women surveyed also believe that determination and self-confidence are the most important attributes a successful female entrepreneur can possess.
BAROMETER METHODOLOGY
Methodology of the 1st edition:
-Online panel
-The survey in France was conducted in June 2018
-The survey in the UK, South Africa, Japan and Hong Kong was conducted in November 2018
-The survey in the USA, Australia, Canada, Russian, Germany, Spain, Italy, South Korea and Belgium was conducted in September 2019
-Those who entered the survey were screened on age, gender and region (where applicable), with quota stops in place to ensure a representative population by census with regard these attributes
Methodology of the 2nd edition:
-Online panel
-The survey in all 17 markets (USA, UK, France, Belgium, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany, Swiss, Italy, Spain, Nigeria, South Africa, Russia and Hong Kong) was conducted between December 2020 and January 2021.
-Those who entered the survey were screened on age, gender and region (where applicable), with quota stops in place to ensure a representative population by census with regard these attributes