Northern Ireland needs more female entrepreneurs

The Harvard Business Review said that the greatest point of untapped leverage in the world is the woman who could be an entrepreneur.

"After reviewing extensive research, a group of us made recommendations on how the United States could improve the outcomes of its development efforts and bring greater prosperity and stability to the world. We all agreed on one of them: Invest more in female entrepreneurs."

Unfortunately things aren't exactly great in Northern Ireland. On the state of entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor of 2009, available here, reported:

"Female entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland remains low and at 2.4 per cent is
now significantly lower than in the UK (3.7%). The level of entrepreneurial activity
for males has risen from 7.4 to 8 per cent. The female/male ratio is now less than
a third (30%) which is the same as in 2008 and the lowest in the UK."

As for the number of young people taking the entrepreneurship route:

"There is a now a slightly lower proportion of 18-24 year olds who are engaged in
early-stage entrepreneurial activity in Northern Ireland (2.3%) compared to the UK
average (3.4%). This is a fall of around half a percentage point in Northern Ireland
since 2008. There has been a 4-fold rise in TEA rates in the 55-64 year olds since
2008 but there has been a corresponding fall in the proportion of 35-44 year olds
engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity."

As for the number of Northern Ireland graduates converting into business-starters:

"Graduate TEA (total early stage entrepreneurial activity) rates in Northern Ireland are no different than those for non-graduates and at 5.2 per cent is lower than in the UK overall (8.5%)."

A 2013 research paper here found that in the UK, more female entrepreneurs could boost economy by 10%.

"A study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), called Inspiring Female Entrepreneurs, says that if there were as many female entrepreneurs in the UK as there are male, the economy could be boosted by as much as 10% by 2030. It draws this conclusion after having interviewed a number of leading businesswomen."

Business First Online reported that, 'CIPD warns Northern Ireland business – use top female talent or lose it.' Read that here.