There are millions of entrepreneurs in developing countries. In fact, in emerging markets, more than half of all workers — both men and women — are small-firm owners.
Many of them, unfortunately, are unable to earn a decent livelihood. And for the women, a persistent gender gap makes success even trickier.
In an effort to help improve business outcomes, governments and nonprofits each year invest billions of dollars in training programs, many of which provide mentors for the entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, female entrepreneurs frequently benefit less — or don't benefit at all — from these programs.
A new study from the University of Notre Dame, Texas A&M, University of Chicago and London School of Economics recommends a simple adjustment to the current training system to give women a better shot at success. It looked into whether the gender of the mentors plays a role and found that for the men it does not, but pairing female mentors with female entrepreneurs, or gender matching, did make a significant difference.
"Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Empowering Female Entrepreneurs through Female Mentors" is forthcoming in Marketing Science from lead author Frank Germann, the department chair and Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Marketing at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. Co-authors of the study are Stephen Anderson from Texas A&M, Pradeep Chintagunta from the University of Chicago and Naufel Vilcassim from the London School of Economics. The team collaborated with Grow Movement, a nonprofit based in London.
