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The following article was published in the Charleston Post & Courier's Business Major, a featured monthly column in the Business Review Section on December 18, 2000. Female entrepreneurs motivated by freedomBy DOROTHY P. MOORE Special to The Post and Courier Business Major The recent rapid rise in female entrepreneurship was preceded by several decades of social change. First came the movement of women into the labor force. This was followed by changes in family structures. Between 1950 and 1996 the number of the so-called "traditional families" - husband at work and the wife at home - shrank dramatically. According to recent figures from Catalyst and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 1950 slightly more than one family in five (20.4 percent) consisted of dual-earner marriages, in 1996, the figure was 40.5 percent. For many women who work, employment is a financial necessity. Surveys report that more than one-quarter of married working women feel their jobs provides more financial security for their families than their husbands' jobs. For many others, however, money is not the driving force behind reshaping of family life. More than two-thirds of both women (67 percent) and men (69 percent) say they would continue to work even if there were no financial need. For them the real attraction is the sense of freedom of a work career. Even if financial needs were removed, they would elect to continue to pursue careers working outside the home. In the workforce, women have to deal with any number of work/family issues. As one said in a focus interview, "Organizations force you to make an either/or choice: family or work life." Another said she left her former company when she found it difficult to explain why she could not take an international assignment. A third was forced to choose between a significant promotion and the desire to have a second child. A fourth had to choose between her marriage and a career ending in refusal of the job transfer. And research continues to show that in spite of the fact they may spend as much time at work as their spouse, women still assume the primary responsibility for home and child care and have less leisure time to show for it. A recently completed study from the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University has concluded that because women shoulder more of the burden of raising and providing emotional support for the family and also may have to opt out of career opportunities, they feel they have a more difficult time balancing personal life and work than men do. The stress can take its toll. As one study has pointed out, divorce rates are high owing to family versus career tension. The overwhelming majority of workers, both men and women, report they are satisfied with their jobs, but worry that work is taking too much time away from their families. This is not a minor matter. A variety of studies covering workers in the United States, Europe, and Japan have repeatedly shown that balancing work and family life is more important than any other employment factor. The rising generation of employees is equally concerned. According to a recent Price Waterhouse Coopers survey of graduating students covering eleven countries, a most important goal was to strike a balance in personal and professional development. Helping employees find work/family balance is cost effective and leads to higher productivity from harder working and more committed employees. The keys appear to be in finding ways for employees to increase flexibility and control over their work and providing dependent care services. But many firms are not interested in helping workers find a balance. This is one reason women and men have turned to entrepreneurship. Control over one's life, not making money, is the primary motivation women start businesses. Like men, many women spot an opportunity and move to take advantage of it. It is not uncommon to hear of businesses, like one catering service, that grew out of a home-based initiative. There are some important differences in the start-up problems women face. As University of Denver Professor Joan Winn has recently observed, some patterns of women-owned business differ from those of men. Few women inherit family businesses or purchase established firms. Many women entrepreneurs start their companies to solve problems that the workplace has failed to address in areas ranging from health and childcare to transportation and training. Some are moving from welfare to work. The problems of balancing work and family change when one starts up a business. And challenges of making a success of an entrepreneurial venture can be time consuming and overwhelming. The important key is the ability to maintain a level of balance in work and family. This is easier said than done. It is all too easy for a woman with a young company and young children to feel crushed for time. The configuration of the immediate family can make a difference in success. Entrepreneurs who are working mothers or a single mother trying to make it on their own face different challenges from those who benefit from the presence of spousal support or are members in a dual career couple or participate in a copreneur husband and wife venture. For Questions/Comments about this site, contact dot.moore@comcast.net. Site designed by Jackye Cocoros. |