Happy International Women's Day!  Today is a day around the globe when the accomplishments of all women are celebrated.  Of course, given that the Center for Women's Leadership likes to celebrate early and often, we hosted our third annual Symposium on the Role of Women Entrepreneurs in Global Economic Development last Friday, March 2nd.  We had a wonderful conversation with over 80 leading scholars, policy makers, and practitioners about the work that is going on around the world to extend the entrepreneurial capability of women and the impact that can have on their livelihoods, their families, their communities and indeed their countries.  You can check out the full agenda at   http://www3.babson.edu/CWL/events/GEM-2007-Event-Agenda.cfm.  It was a fabulous day, including an exhilarating speech by Naomi Tutu about the need for women to reframe the way they see their work and to use their voices to make that work and their contributions known to others.

At the heart of our conversation last week were the findings of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2006 Report on Women and Entrepreneurship.  Authored by myself and my Babson colleagues Elaine Allen and Maria Minniti, this study gives us insight into the business activity of new and established entrepreneurs in 40 countries.  Our analysis shows that there is a significant and persistent gender gap between men and women with respect to entrepreneurship; men are more likely to start businesses than women.  Country context makes some difference for how this gender gap operates.  In developed countries, those with higher per capita GDP, the gender gap is generally wider, most likely because women have other economic choices - they may have better professional prospects as employees of established businesses, they may choose professional pathways outside the business world such as teaching, law or medicine, or they may have better safety nets through the public policy of their countries.  In less developed countries, with lower per capita GDP, women face bleaker choices and thus entrepreneurship offers an opportunity — perhaps the only opportunity — for them to improve their livelihoods.  In fact, the data from the GEM study shows that necessity is a bigger component of women's motivation toward entrepreneurship than it is for men and, in lower income countries where necessity is typically high, the gender gap for entrepreneurship nearly disappears.

There is of course much to read and understand in the report and I welcome you to do so.  You can download the 2006 GEM Women Report at http://www3.babson.edu/CWL/research/published.cfm.  You'll find the details on what motivates women entrepreneurs, how background characteristics like work experience, education, and family income impact entrepreneurial behavior and what sectors women's businesses are most likely to be found, among other things.  Happy reading and Happy International Women's Day!