Ep. 313: Empowering female entrepreneurs

Guest: Laurel Anne Stark, founder of resurgo

“Self-employment should empower women to earn more money, but studies show the wage gap persists in self-employment and it’s even worse in the gig economy for many entrepreneurial women.

“Regardless of parity in education, work experience, number of hours worked or occupation, women earn less than men in self-employment,” says Laurel Anne Stark, an entrepreneur and co-author of a new report on the State of Female Entrepreneur Mental Health.

Key to understanding the reasons why women face unique challenges lies in their motivation to start a business. For women, many (if not most) have to start a business because they have few employment choices. Women tend to be entrepreneurs of necessity, which means they were victims of a system that didn’t compensate them appropriately, didn’t promote them, their work-life balance was off-balance or they were harassed – to name but a few of the reasons for going out on their own.

The good news is that research shows women are uniquely suited to entrepreneurship. They are adept at understanding the needs of others, which is essential in the development of strong client relationships. As well, Stark says, “Their potential is enormous given their ability to succeed and exceed the profitability of many companies created by men, despite the crippling barriers they face.” One such barrier is access to capital. Stark says, “The harsh reality is, women simply do not have the same access as men do to financing.”

While launching an enterprise ought to provide protective factors for women such as increased control over work schedules and a better work life balance, it does not alleviate the concerns that motivated women to start a business. Stark says, “Our research shows self-employment does not provide relief from gender bias, the gender pay gap, workplace harassment or the other stressors unique to women.” Add it all up and female entrepreneurs burn out more frequently and are significantly more likely to encounter mental health challenges than their male counterparts.

We invited entrepreneur Laurel Anne Stark to join us for a Conversation That Matters about empowering female entrepreneurs with the resources needed to support a vital sector of our economy.