This morning I stumbled across an article that was published at the beginning of the year on L’Entreprise titled “Business creation appeals to women.”
I found it interesting that according to this survey in Paris, the majority of women in France want to start a business but feel that it will interfere with their personal time. And even though there is are inequalities between men and women in the workplace, only a small number of women feel that being a women is at their disadvantage when starting a business. The article is in French, so here is a summary in English.
The article begins by telling us that 69 percent of women in France believe entrepreneurship to be more fulfilling than earning a typical wage. Since 61 percent of women consider job fulfillment to be their primary objective, why are not more women taking the plunge?
The main reason that most do not start a business are because they fear not being able to balance family and professional life (60 %), running a business will mean less personal freedom for managing their time (42 %), they do not have the required skills (35 %), and being a female is a disadvantage (33 %).
Three percent of women have an ongoing creative project, or a creative project that will begin within the next two years, and their primary goals are professional growth (51 %), independence (47 %), and making money (27 %). Of these women, 86 percent have a bachelors degree, 67 percent live with a partner, 67 percent are between 25 and 49 years old, and 52 percent don’t have dependent children.
Tallulah says
Fascinating stuff! Funnily enough, a lot of mums in the UK say they start their own business precisely so they can spend more time with the kids, do the school run, etc!
French Mamma says
Same as in the US, so I was surprised by this. I think it is because when you start a business, it is very time-consuming. In some cases, it is difficult to leave the office when you are working at home or for yourself. I work more hours now than I used to when I worked for companies (and I used to pull in major overtime!). My husband and I usually work seven days a week… he is always on call for work, and I fit in every moment to write that I can squeeze in. We are on a three week vacation, yet we are working at least a few hours each day.
I think one of the major benefits of working for yourself is having flexibility with your schedule, but I think overall, you end up working more hours as you build the business.