Are Women in Business More Highly Educated Than Men in Business? Than Wage- or Salary-Earning Women?
Towards the end of 2006, self-employed women had caught up with men in terms of education and experience so overall there was little difference between the sexes. However, their remains a distinct difference in preparedness, experience, and training between self-employed men and women within certain male-dominated industries. As more women branch out into traditionally male industries, perhaps this disparity gap too, will close over time.However, when women entrepreneurs are compared with wage- and salary-earning women, self-employed women do have more education than other working women. Additionally, self-employed women also “increased their educational attainment at a faster rate compared to other working women.“
It was not stated when education was attained so it might even be considered that wage- and salary-earning women put themselves through school (which typically requires a slower educational pace) and go on later in life to form their own businesses.
I would remind women however, the correlation is not necessarily causation. By this I mean while a greater number of self-employed women may have more education than wage- and salary-earning women, it should not be interpreted that you must have a higher education to succeed in your own business. Also, the study in no way suggested that women entrepreneurs with more education where doing better than other women entrepreneurs with less education.
The study merely reported that statistically self-employed women do have more education than women earning salaries. How, and if this education was critical to self-employed women for greater achievement, or even was correlated to a stronger desire to start their own businesses, was not mentioned.
Gender lines are drawn early, and exclusions for women continue throughout adulthood. Not only are women discriminated against in private businesses, but also by the Federal government. Gender bias begins in elementary school continuing on into college. Even though more women overall now hold higher degrees than men, they are still passed over for jobs that go to less-educated and less-qualified males, and they also receive less compensation than men for the same job.
