According to Endeavor, one of the barriers to achieving greater diversity is the lack of contact networks in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, access to financing through capital and financial, technical, managerial or administrative education.
To create more diverse organizations and with a greater presence of women in management positions, it is necessary that both companies as leaders work togetherin order to develop inclusive policies and generate more opportunities for women in the labor market, highlighted entrepreneurs and businessmen during the forum “Challenges to finance the growth of your business”, held by HSBC and Endeavor.
During the event, the specialists pointed out that in order to close the gender gap in leadership or entrepreneurship positions, there are three major areas to address: First, convince everyone that diversity generates better results. Second, generate a talent pool for positions led by women. Finally, publicize success stories of women in leadership positions to promote a truly diverse labor ecosystem.
Luis Cervantes, General Director and Head of Office at General Atlantic, specified that diversity in entry-level positions has progressed, but there is still much to be done to achieve the gender equality in leadership positions.
“We are seeing it in entry-level positions: 55% of all those positions globally are women, while 40% of all mid-management positions are held by women, so I think we are making progress there. Where we are in diapers is in leadership positions, because if we don’t have success stories, it becomes very difficult to promote a diverse ecosystem”.
In addition, data from the study Gender gap in the technology sector, carried out by Endeavor Mexico, indicates that there are still very few women in the high-impact entrepreneurial ecosystem: only 1% are unicorn CEOs and soonicorns and only 6% are part of the founding teams, without being CEO.
Despite the fact that 99% of women who have access to financing pay it on time and properly, only 13% have access to this resource, reveal data from HSBC. In addition, 62% of women in the country have a financial product, but 85% do not have tools to manage their money.
Importance of investing in women
Helena Polyblank, co-founder of Mendel, noted that companies that have women on their leadership teams, especially on their founding teams, can have up to 2.5 times more women on their payrolls and in managerial roles.
Among other advantages of investing in women entrepreneurs, is creating diverse teams and generate a better return on investmentbecause companies led by women exist: creativity, design and better identified market niche.
According to the panelists,some of the best investments They occur in companies founded by women, but greater actions are required to promote the participation of women in management positions or as founders of startups.
