
BSSEC CIC: Embracing Equity and Leadership by Women in the Social Economy
8th March 2023
It’s International Women’s Day, and what a great day to be exploring ‘equity’ as this year’s theme. I’m challenged when given this topic as I want to be really positive regarding the achievements of the many female-led social businesses but what is the evidence?
There are some really, amazing women around doing fantastic work, creating huge amounts of social value but there are still so many barriers which make it especially hard for many women seeking to sustain themselves. Have we yet enabled a positive business and working environment for female refugees and those from minority groups, women with long term health conditions and disabilities, women with family responsibilities, women facing financial exclusion and social deprivation – to move easily into employment, start their own businesses or start a social enterprise, sustain their business? With reductions in funding its even less likely that these women will find an easy journey to financial independence.
What progress have we made?
In the UK the sectors with the most women in employment are health and social work [21% of all jobs Sept 2022], wholesale and retail trade [13%] and education 3%. We see these sectors represented in SEUK statistics regarding types of social businesses led by women. We still have a gender pay gap of 8.3% for women in full time employment however women in part time employment tend to be paid 3% higher than men which is progress! Current figures show that only 19% of businesses are led by women across the country but within the social enterprise sector it’s an amazing 47%! This evidence shows that social enterprise creates opportunities to foster gender balance in leadership with women choosing to create social value alongside profit.
What makes social businesses attractive to women?
Women often start businesses to establish a better work life balance. The social economy has a reputation for innovation and collaborative working and this could be significant to those starting a social business, but when working with female social entrepreneurs I found they were perceptive in identifying one or more social problem that they felt passionate about solving and this became the driving force to social entrepreneurship. Equity in society for everyone driving their work. Examples include youth clubs in regeneration communities, cookery classes for those using food banks or on low income and mental health support for women who’ve had a miscarriage.
Why are women-led social businesses successful?
Women tend to prefer lower risk opportunities, sticking often to lower turnovers with little borrowing, but in the current climate this could be seen as an advantage. Scaling up can be a challenge with many preferring to stay small and operating as a micro business. Access to finance continues to be a challenge across all social businesses, women report low levels of confidence in borrowing. Hopefully over the next year we will see new products which make this easier for everyone. Staff report female social business leaders offering family friendly benefits however increasingly we are seeing this being adopted across the sector especially following the pandemic.
My personal social enterprise female inspiration! Sophi Tranchell, formally CEO Divine Chocolate
It’s hard to start, grow and develop a social business and further to sustain it over a long period of time. Why has Sophie Tranchell inspired me in my work in the social economy? She created an empowering social enterprise for both producers and consumers using chocolate and by working ethically was able to invest in families, communities and the land. What more can you ask from a social enterprise!
She said when she received the Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year award: “I am a passionate believer that, in order to secure a sustainable future for many of the foods we take for granted, we need to develop new ways of doing business that put smallholder farmers higher up the value chain. Our dependency on them – to grow our foods, and look after the land, and in turn their dependency on enough income to invest in their families, farms and communities – needs to be properly recognised in the way global trade is done.”
She identified a problem concerning fairtrade cocoa bean farming and developed a social enterprise to solve it! She changed people’s lives!
We all have an important role in creating a fairer society, however, today is a great opportunity to celebrate those women who work very hard in the social economy tackling those issues that can make a difference to individuals, communities and society.
To new and older female leaders, and workers in the social economy, we salute you! #EmbraceEquity
Sarah Beaumont | Director
Connect with Sarah | Email | LinkedIn
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