Women are much less likely to become entrepreneurs, also in gender-equal societies, although there is a better representation of women entrepreneurs in societies that focus on solving work-family conflicts, for example with subsidized childcare and paid leave. Still much more can be done to leverage the untapped potential of female entrepreneurship. However, it requires a holistic approach to deal efficiently with the barriers that women experience.

This paper presents five areas where initiatives can be made in order to increase female entrepreneurship: 1) Female role models, 2) Access to finance, 3) Access to networks, 4) Communication, and 5) Education.