A new study shows that half of women entrepreneurs have been denied credit to finance their new business, even as the government promises ambitious growth for the UK economy.
About 53% of women in the UK have experienced difficulty accessing finance to start their own business. According to a survey by the financial platform Tide, this is more than two-thirds of black women. UK ahead of International Women’s Day on Wednesday.
The study runs counter to the government’s current goals of encouraging business investment and accelerating national growth in times of economic uncertainty.
Samantha Senior, founder of aesthetic medicine accounting firm The Aesthetic Accountants, is one such person who has struggled to get her business off the ground.
She told Tide that she struggled to access finance to start her business and that she felt it was partly due to outdated views on gender.
“Some established male accountants believe that female professionals take the industry less seriously than their male counterparts,” Senior said.
“We may be viewed as a suitable part-time job for our children, but we are working hard to dispel those misconceptions.”
This gender disparity comes from the top down as a separate analysis shows that women hold less than 9% of leadership and chair positions in the UK financial services industry.
A new study by labor law experts Fox and Partners shows that, overall, women hold only 14.8% of senior positions in financial services companies.
Progress is at a snail’s pace and the company estimates it will take 70 years at the current pace to achieve gender parity in leadership roles.
Caroline Field, partner at Fox and Partners, said: “Financial services are only part of a long journey towards equality in leadership.
“It has long been known that the “boy club” atmosphere in companies repels women. This will be addressed more gradually, but if more women want to rise to top positions, jobs need to be more inclusive.”
Field also says companies should review their methods of reintegrating employees returning from maternity leave to make sure they are informed and don’t feel left out, which could be a major roadblock to progress.
Wage inequality can also be a major deterrent, as companies where older men earn more than their female counterparts can hinder women’s growth.
The study also found that women are more likely to hold non-executive positions in senior management positions than key decision makers.
Of the 13 monitored positions (which require regulatory approval), the largest gender gap was for the chief operating officer, with only 3.6% of chief operating officer positions in financial services held by women. Now that I’m chairman of the risk committee and an independent director, the rules are much closer together.
Source: I News
I am Moises Cosgrove and I work for a news website as an author. I specialize in the market section, writing stories about the latest developments in the world of finance and economics. My articles are read by people from all walks of life, from investors to analysts, to everyday citizens looking for insight into how news will affect their finances.