why are there more male entrepreneurs than female ones?
When it comes to thinking up new ideas upon which to found a business, and having the skills to turn a startup into a success, men and women begin on a level playing field. But in practice, men still heavily outnumber women in the high-risk world of entrepreneurship and venture-capital backed startups. Which leads to the obvious question: Why?
The answer, says Wharton management professor Ethan Mollick, is multifaceted, but at its core can be traced to a few fairly simple points of personality and gender tendency on the one hand, and the broadly human tendency for birds of a proverbial feather to flock together on the other. In an interview on the Knowledge@Wharton show on Wharton Business Radio on SiriusXM channel 111, Mollick spoke about a recent research paper that he coauthored with Venkat Kuppuswamy from the University of North Carolina— titled, “Humility and Hubris: Gender Differences in Serial Founding Rates” — and how not just women, but many disadvantaged groups, can overcome impediments to success. (Listen to the podcast at the top of this page.)
An edited transcript of the conversation appears below.
Knowledge@Wharton: Ethan, please explain your research to us.
Ethan Mollick: If you look overall at the chance of someone starting a company, it turns out that gender is a really strong predictor of whether or not they will become an entrepreneur. Women are less likely to be entrepreneurs than men, and this has been a big puzzle, because women are as innovative [as men and] companies run by women are as successful. So why aren’t women launching companies at the same rate?