The study, conducted by Ute Stephan, an associate at the Centre for Sustainable Business and Professor of Entrepreneurship at King’s Business School, King’s College London, and co-authors Brigitte Hoogendoorn, Lorraine Uhlaner, and Peter van der Zwan, reveals when women are most likely to start social enterprises and the barriers they face.

Life stage and female social entrepreneurship

By analysing representative samples of 5,400 startup entrepreneurs across 44 countries the researchers found there is a distinct life cycle for women founding social enterprises.

They found that women are more likely to consider founding social enterprises in their early to middle adulthood when they are less hampered by childcare and elderly care duties or household tasks. As women get older, the probability of them starting socially focused businesses drops, with the low being 38.6 years of age. It is only when they get into their late 50s and 60s that they feel freer to pursue their true ambitions.

Social enterprise and gender inequality

Globally, women lead half of social enterprises, and they are three times more likely to start a social enterprise than a traditional one. Social enterprises make up 3% of all businesses worldwide, supporting 200 million jobs. They place a strong emphasis on creating social and environmental value in addition to economic value.

Until recently, social entrepreneurship was being heralded as a possible answer to levelling up gender inequality in entrepreneurship. However, this study shows that time spent on caring and household responsibilities, alongside financial concerns, means that women must choose between creating social value and other priorities.

 “The ‘motherhood penalty’ is still alive and kicking,” comments Ute Stephan, an associate at the Centre for Sustainable Business and Professor of Entrepreneurship at King’s Business School, King’s College London, who co-authored the research. “Women want to create positive change, but they are denied opportunities by time and financial constraints. Until these barriers are removed, women must make tough trade-offs between their ambitions and responsibilities.”

 “Our findings have profound implications for governments, policymakers and anyone involved in promoting social entrepreneurship and inclusivity,” adds Professor Stephan. “Addressing systemic barriers, such as the cost and availability of childcare and elderly care, is crucial. Without these changes, women will not be able to harness their full potential to create social value during the very years where their potential to create successful businesses is greatest.”

‘Entrepreneurship, age, and social value creation: A constraint-based individual perspective’ by Professor Ute Stephan, associate of the Centre for Sustainable Business and Professor of Entrepreneurship at King’s Business School, and co-authors Brigitte Hoogendoorn, Lorraine Uhlaner and Peter van der Zwan was published in The Journal of Small Business Management.

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