Echoing Green, an organization supporting global social entrepreneurship, says it has spotted a trend that makes it uneasy. “Over the last several years, Echoing Green has seen a decrease in the number of women Fellows selected relative to men,” Nidhi Chaudhary writes on the organization’s blog. “The last six out of seven Fellowship classes have been majority male and the past two years have seen a particularly sharp dip in women Fellows. This has us thinking. What’s going on?”
Chaudhary says other, similar organizations see a similar shift. “It’s not very different on the investor-side either. The ratio of female to male investors is virtually non-existent. A 2008 survey of the venture capital association showed that 14 percent of directors, partners, and principals at VC firms were women. And according to the National Venture Capital Association, there are 462 venture capital firms in the United States, but only one is run by a woman.”
She asks, “If social entrepreneurship is a sector that naturally tends to foster and develop male leaders, is it our responsibility to provide opportunity, training, and support for women?”
Chaudhary asks several provocative questions in her piece, which can be read here.
Share your thoughts with GlassCeiling.com readers. Do you see declining numbers of women entrepreneurs? If so, why do you think the imbalance is increasing? Add a comment below.
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