America’s female entrepreneurs who hope to shatter the proverbial glass ceiling are in the right place.
The United States is ranked No. 1 on Dell’s sixth annual Global Women Entrepreneur Leaders Scorecard, which the technology company released this week.
The scorecard states:
The United States is seen as an innovation-oriented business environment with few market monopolies and less bureaucracy and corruption than lower-ranked countries — all conditions favorable for business startup and growth. American women enjoy the same legal rights as men, and have ready access to education, the Internet, bank accounts and [small- and medium-business] training programs.
According to the methodology, the scorecard ranks countries based on how they score in five categories:
- Business environment
- Gendered access
- Leadership and rights
- Pipeline for entrepreneurship
- Potential entrepreneur leaders
The scorecard is based on existing data from organizations such as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor; World Economic Forum; World Bank; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; and International Labor Organization.
Of the 31 countries analyzed for the latest scorecard, the best-ranked are:
- United States – 71
- Canada – 69
- Australia – 69
- Sweden – 68
- United Kingdom – 65
The worst-ranked are:
- Tunisia – 29
- Egypt – 24
- India – 17
- Pakistan – 14
- Bangladesh – 12
The bad news is that more than 70 percent of the 31 countries scored below 50 percent. According to a Dell press release, that demonstrates “a significant growth gap between female- and male-owned businesses worldwide.”
Even the highest-ranked country — the U.S. — scored just 71 out of 100. Without a growth gap, Dell executives say, the impact on the economy would be profound:
If American women started growth-oriented businesses at the same rate as men, the nation would gain an estimated 15 million jobs in two years.
Click here to view the rankings for all 31 countries.
What do you think the U.S. could do to improve women’s entrepreneurial opportunities? Share your thoughts in a comment below or on our Facebook page.
Add a Comment
Our Policy: We welcome relevant and respectful comments in order to foster healthy and informative discussions. All other comments may be removed. Comments with links are automatically held for moderation.