What Is The Best Country in the World for Women Entrepreneurs?


gedi index 2014

If you expected us to say anything other than the U.S., well, you’d be wrong.

A recent study shows women entrepreneurs in the U.S. have the best chance of success. Other countries seen as favorable for women entrepreneurs include Australia in the number 2 position, Sweden at number 3, France and Germany tied for the fourth and fifth positions and Chile taking up sixth place.

The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute, a non-profit research group focused on economic development, creates an annual index measuring potential for economic development worldwide based on a variety of factors.

In a brief explanation of its annual index, the institute explains on its website:

“The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index was created to provide a more complete understanding of economic development by capturing the contextual nature of business formation, expansion, and growth. It is based on analysis of comprehensive data sets from more than 120 countries that marshal information about the “3A’s” of development: entrepreneurial attitudes, aspirations, and activity.”

This is only the second year the index has included a gender ranking, a part of the report specifically commissioned by Dell.

In an official announcement releasing the findings, Karen Quintos, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer said:

“At Dell, we are committed to empowering people everywhere with technology solutions to fulfill their ambitions and reach their full potential. The Gender-GEDI Index provides key insights designed to help countries advance female entrepreneurship and ultimately bolster the global economy. We believe awareness of the current landscape for women entrepreneurship is the first step toward change.”

The gender portion of the study, which looked at a total of 30 countries around the world, took into account such factors as access to capital, education, women’s rights, and other aspects connected to women’s social and economic empowerment.

However, in the summary, Dell pointed out that even those countries that scored well still had considerable room for improvement.

A hard copy or Kindle version of the full report is now available on Amazon. In conjunction, Dell is offering a free download of the e-book Forget the Glass Ceiling: Build Your Business Without One, a case study of 10 female entrepreneurs who maximized opportunities and overcame challenges to find entrepreneurial success.

Image: GEDI


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Shawn Hessinger Shawn Hessinger is the Executive Editor for Small Business Trends and a professional journalist with more than 20 years experience in traditional and digital media for trade publications and news sites. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and has served as a beat reporter, columnist, editorial writer, bureau chief and managing editor for the Berks Mont Newspapers.

3 Reactions
  1. It’s a shame that some countries don’t really give women as much opportunities as some of the countries mentioned here. Here, Internet marketing is a male dominated field. There is a severe lack in women gurus and it seems like people don’t respect them as much as they respect the men, it’s frustrating.

    • I can imagine how frustrating that is, Aira. I hope in time, the tide turns where everyone in the internet marketing industry is treated respectfully and not because of their gender.

  2. I wonder where UK is on the list. I’m also wondering how age, race, class, etc, contribute towards the level of success a woman entrepreneur experiences in these countries.