Female business advisers for female entrepreneurs: the Swedish Review 1

Introduction

The indicators for female entrepreneurship, such as the proportion of women among the total of entrepreneurs and the start-up frequency, show similarities in most European countries. Differences between countries occur with regard to the different sectors in which women entrepreneurs operate. At the beginning of the 1990s, unemployment started to rise relatively rapidly in Sweden. This was combined with a large outflow of people, especially young women, from the sparsely populated areas to the cities. The suggestion that women entrepreneurship could enhance the development of these problem areas in particular inspired the Swedish Government to set up a special programme to stimulate female entrepreneurship in these regions. In this programme, a network of female business advisers has been set up with the aim of supporting women who want to start their own business. This programme was the subject of the second Peer Review. The successful programme started in 1993 for three years, was extended through 1997 and will continue into September 1999. More than 100 female business advisers are currently working within the programme. In this summary report of the review, an overview will be presented of the papers prepared for the meeting, plus the presentations given and the discussions that were held. First, the background of the situation for Swedish women entrepreneurs is outlined, as well as the policy considerations to introduce a special programme to enhance this entrepreneurship. Then the design and the delivery of the system will be described in more detail. The results of evaluation studies so far will be summarised in the following section. For these first sections, the paper prepared by the host expert1 has been the main source, plus NUTEK2 information brochures. The fifth section of the chapter deals with the needs analyses of the peer countries that participated in the review. To what extent do they need such a measure in view of their current labour market situation? And finally the chapter ends with a general impression of the transferability of the policy measure under consideration. For these last sections, the papers prepared by the peer experts and the discussions have supplied the input.

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Labour market background and policy considerations

When looking at the labour market situation of women in Sweden, we see a high participation rate, almost equal to that of men. Most women, however, work part-time. And most of them work in the social or health sectors. The fact that Sweden has an elaborate and relatively generous system for maternity leave probably influences the participation of women in the labour force. However, these facilities turn out to be more oriented towards the conventional employees’ situation and less so to the irregular and intense working situation of an entrepreneur. 1 2

For detailed literature references, see the bibliography. NUTEK is the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development. The information used is: NUTEK’s work to Promote Women’s Entrepreneurship in Sweden, NUTEK, September 1998, and Business advisers for women, NUTEK, 1997.

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What is the situation of female entrepreneurs in Sweden? Women entrepreneurs represent 25% of all entrepreneurs and women set up 30% of the newly started businesses. On average, a women entrepreneur works in services or trade, is aged between 30 and 50 and has children. More women entrepreneurs are found in regions with a large proportion of entrepreneurship. 50% of Swedish female entrepreneurs are married and have a husband as co-entrepreneur. They can mostly be found in the manufacturing- and retail sectors. Only 20% are single and run the business by themselves. Most of the time, this business is in services. The last 30% are married and run the business themselves; their husbands are not involved in their business as co-entrepreneur. When looking at the level of education, most women with higher education start consulting or high competence level businesses. They mostly settle in the larger cities of Sweden. The sparsely populated areas of Sweden have higher than average unemployment rates. The women who set up a business there mostly did so on account of unemployment. The proportion of women setting up companies increased from 17% to 28% during the 1990s. For a long time now, the support available for women entrepreneurs has been the support already being offered to men. Only a few organisations have offered special programmes or courses targeted towards the perceived needs of women. However, an increasing number of women indicated they were not treated in the same way as men by supporting organisations such as banks and advisers. They often felt a lack of understanding. Earlier studies also showed that women wanted to meet female advisers and that women strongly believed that female advisers could make women’s needs more visible and real. As described in the introduction, Sweden was confronted with rising unemployment at the beginning of the 1990s. This, combined with the risk of young people leaving the sparsely populated areas to go to the big cities, prompted the Swedish Government to take action. A special programme to support and stimulate female entrepreneurship was set up. The idea behind this was that (potential) women entrepreneurs are a stimulus for development of society, especially in the sparsely populated areas, and that the women were not allowed to use their full capacity. Because it was difficult for women to find a job in these problem areas, stimulation of women entrepreneurship was considered to be a possible way of making it more attractive for women to stay there. In 1993, NUTEK developed the programme Women Entrepreneurship – Business Advisers for Women. NUTEK is Sweden’s central public authority for industrial policy issues. Its main task is to stimulate industrial development throughout the country. Its overall goal is industrial growth and renewal. It was therefore very well qualified to develop the programme and was given overall responsibility for implementation.

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Design and implementation

In 1993, NUTEK, at the request of the Government, started this project for the promotion of female entrepreneurship, particularly in Northern Sweden. The objective was to employ female business consultants for women in the so-called regional policy support areas (Northern Sweden) and to support women who wanted to start their own business. The NUTEK programme was unique in its ambition, being by far the largest and most comprehensive programme on female entrepreneurship in terms of number of persons involved, resources used and geographical orientation. NUTEK was granted 20 million SKR (Swedish Crowns), which is about EUR 2.5 million, for the first three years of the project. 2

What is the content of the programme? The most import aspect is that women who want to start a business and need help are supported by female business advisers. The business ideas come from the women themselves. The female adviser is only there to facilitate the process of setting up a business by providing help, assistance, training and consultancy through her network. Because the business advisers do not have all the specific knowledge themselves, their network also helps them to find experts in the field the female entrepreneur needs support in. Many business advisers work part-time, combining their advisory work with their own company. This of course makes them all the more suitable for advising new female starters. During the review, a question was raised about a possible conflict of interest when two women asking for support have the same business idea. The business advisers explained that both women would receive the same services and that it would depend on the entrepreneurial quality of the women themselves who would survive competition. The advisers see competition as a healthy aspect of being an entrepreneur. The programme differs from other measures in Sweden in the following ways. First, it has a very open approach because one of the objectives is to create new forms of advisory services for female entrepreneurs. Furthermore the open approach allows local municipalities to adapt the measure to their local needs and ideas. On the other hand, there were no quantitative goals set at the start of the programme as a result of this open approach. Secondly, there is a strict gender segregation in the programme; both advisers and clients are women only. Thirdly, this is the first programme with a long time-span (3 years to begin with). And finally, the women business advisers also have to try to change the (local) attitude towards female entrepreneurship. Their goals thus extend beyond factual support of business start-ups by women. The programme was set up by NUTEK but the responsibilities are divided between the national, regional and local levels in the following way: ▲ At national level NUTEK has overall responsibility, including coordination of the programme. ▲ At regional level the county administration (Länsstyrelserna) finances the programme. ▲ At local level the municipalities (62) are responsible for executing daily operations. The programme has the following characteristics: ▲ The adviser’s main task is first of all to help women start up and continue their business. Secondly, they try to positively influence the general attitude towards female entrepreneurship. They try to build a more professional image of female entrepreneurs. In many municipalities, the business advisers also work with existing companies to set up networks and provide training and information. ▲ The advisers are continuously trained by NUTEK and receive a certificate before they start offering their services. A handbook with guidelines for female advisers was presented in 1999 by some experienced business advisers. ▲ The business adviser is employed on a project basis for three years, either part-time or full-time, and should preferably be a woman. ▲ To stimulate commitment at all administrative levels, each new business adviser is financed by the three levels involved; the local, regional and national levels pay 25%, 50% and 25% respectively. ▲ The local municipality is responsible for the organisational details, such as how exactly and where the adviser should be working. As already mentioned, municipalities are rather free in interpreting the programme.

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NUTEK as the overall coordinator should see to it that the advisers meet and exchange ideas regularly.

Although the programme started early in 1993, the first business advisers started at the end of 1993 in more than 40 municipalities. In the intervening period, NUTEK contacted all municipalities in the selected areas and invited them to participate, stressing the fact that their active involvement was necessary. They were asked to develop a plan for the activities and financing of their business adviser themselves. Those municipalities that already involved the business adviser in drawing up their plan had a more strategic and higher-quality plan. All targeted municipalities were very interested. After the initial 40 municipalities, the number of participating municipalities increased to 50 during spring 1994. At the end of the summer, all 62 municipalities involved had launched the programme and could offer the services of a business adviser for women. In this early phase, NUTEK established a support group to help the business advisers by providing training and education and setting-up an electronic network. Furthermore, two organisational networks were established. One was the group of business advisers themselves and the other consisted of the regional steering organisations, formed according to local needs. Networking has in the meantime become a factor of major importance to this project. During the review meeting, presentations were given by four different business advisers, who showed and explained that their work was very closely related to and influenced by the specific character of the region they are working in (for example, the employment structure). They could give the attendees a good insight into what the working week of a business adviser looks like. Their main tasks are networking, counselling and organising (and giving) different training courses, depending on what the women need. An important part of their job is to listen. The initiative and plans mostly come from the women themselves, they just support them. There were no explicit quantitative goals set for the programme. It was for instance not indicated how many new businesses should be established by women after a certain period of time. This was partly because of the open and long-term nature of the programme as it was drawn up. NUTEK’s idea behind this was that it is important not to force people to start companies. First there must be a good business idea, an entrepreneur and a market. As a consequence of the open and long-term nature of the programme, a quite extensive continuous evaluation programme was set up to monitor its development. More information on the evaluation results will be given in the next section.

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Evaluation results

As already mentioned, the objectives for the programme were deliberately not very clear-cut. This had consequences for its evaluation. An ongoing evaluation was started which provides a predominantly qualitative assessment of, for example, the implementation process. The evaluator indicated that the measurement of changes in attitudes towards female entrepreneurship calls first of all for a qualitative approach. As a result of this qualitative focus of the evaluation, there is not much quantitative information available on the results and effects of the programme. Some representatives of the peer countries indicated, however, that concrete evaluation results are indispensable when considering the implementation of a 4

comparable measure in their countries. One of the quantitative results worth mentioning is that between 1994 and 1996 around 1 000 companies were started in the project area with help from the business advisers. The original programme objectives defined were: Increase female entrepreneurship. Change the general attitude towards female entrepreneurship. Develop a new type of support for women. Increase employment. Stop the outflow of women from the sparsely populated areas.

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

When the evaluator asked the business advisers what they thought their goals were, more specific objectives were mentioned: ▲ More women entrepreneurs. ▲ Change in attitudes. ▲ Increase the employment opportunities in sparsely populated areas. ▲ Strengthen the entrepreneurial role for female entrepreneurs. ▲ Make women entrepreneurs visible. ▲ Improve the municipal business climate. ▲ Increase the involvement of women in communities. ▲ Increase the cooperation between women in and between municipalities. ▲ Create more role models for younger women. ▲ Increase competence among women. The advisers see it as their long-term objective to try to change the existing attitudes and organisational patterns that women currently see as a hindrance to their entrepreneurship. However, the representatives of municipalities, with whom the business advisers cooperate, are part of these existing institutional structures and are therefore less eager to change this. Another hindrance to this long-term goal could be the rather conservative attitude towards women and female entrepreneurship in the geographical areas involved, although this has been changing, slowly but surely. There are several reasons why scarcely any quantitative information is available. The evaluator indicated that this is partly due to the absence of any clearly defined targets. For example, the desired increase in the number of business start-ups by women had not been specified. Of course this was a result of the open approach, which was chosen explicitly when developing the programme. Besides, the evaluator noted that not all effects of this measure can be reflected in figures. Another impediment to measuring the concrete effects of the programme is that no referencepoint for the measurement of these effects is available, as there is no information on the number of women starting a business of their own during the years before the programme was started. Statistics on ongoing businesses are not subdivided by gender in Sweden3. A third problem referred to by the evaluator concerns the measurement of its net effects. Owing to the multiple and also abstract goals of the programme, its net effects are difficult to define. One consideration might be, for example, to what extent the attitude towards female entrepreneurship became more positive. But how can one measure changes in this attitude and conclude that these are a direct consequence of the programme under consideration? Another possible net effect has to do with the question how many women started up a business of their 3

However, statistics on new starters can be subdivided by gender at regional level.

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own as a direct result of the programme? This has not been measured, partly because it is a difficult aspect to measure. But despite all the limitations regarding the measurement of net effects, the evaluator estimated on the basis of information from the business advisers that the advisers have supported in total more than 1 000 business start-ups during the first three years of the programme. This does not, however, indicate the net effect of the programme, as it is not clear whether these businesses would also have been established without the help of the business advisers anyway. For the advisers, these 1 000 companies established were no more than a function of what they tried to accomplish, namely improving and developing the attitude towards female entrepreneurship and the support-structure for the target group. In their view, this would of course enhance the creation of new companies. The overall impression of the programme is positive, according to the evaluator. Even though it is hard to measure, there are indications that the business advisers have not only developed their own competencies and know-how but also have helped to create at least 1 000 new companies. Moreover, they seem to have initiated a change in attitudes towards female entrepreneurship. The development of a network between the business advisers themselves, both regionally and for the whole group, is considered to be an important aspect of the success of the programme by the evaluator. Some criticism of the programme has already been mentioned. Firstly, there is a lack of clearly defined goals from the beginning and as a consequence no clear quantifiable targets are set, which makes evaluation difficult. It also caused confusion and discussions when the programme was implemented. Second, it might have been better if the business advisers had been employed by national authorities instead of local authorities. The business advisers have to try to change attitudes toward female entrepreneurship and to change gender relations. Some of them met serious resistance at the local level; being employed by national bodies might give them a stronger position in the local arena. It could be the case that business advisers employed by a national authority would encounter less hindrance from existing attitudes towards female entrepreneurship.

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Needs assessment - peer countries

Five peer countries attended this review meeting: Finland, Portugal, Greece, Belgium and Spain. Unfortunately, due to circumstances, there was no representative present from the Belgian Government. But a peer expert from Belgium was present to explain the labour market situation in that country. There was no Portuguese peer expert participating. At first sight, the labour market situation of women (entrepreneurs) in Sweden shows similarities with Finland. It is quite different, however, from the southern countries Spain, Portugal and Greece, which is caused by several, mostly culturally linked, reasons. Belgium seems to occupy a somewhat intermediate position. In this section, we will summarise the opinions and comments of the peer country representatives and peer experts present at the meeting. When looking at the situation in Finland, we see a lot of similarities with Sweden. Finland is also faced with the problem of an exodus from already sparsely populated areas. The situation of the female labour force is similar as well. The Finnish Government has already started two 6

relatively small programmes especially for women entrepreneurs. It would be best to first have a good evaluation of the current Finnish programmes. Only then can it be decided if (parts of) the Swedish policy should be implemented in Finland as well. But as in Sweden, there is a lack of data and information on the situation of women in sparsely populated areas. In Belgium, there are similarities to the situation of female entrepreneurs in Sweden as well, although not as regards the institutional context. Differences occur in the cultural background of both countries. Belgium does not have a history of gender equality awareness, nor is there a clear public policy directed at achieving this. There is no real network between women (entrepreneurs) in Belgium. Furthermore, those women involved in family businesses are mostly seen as the spouse helping out and not as female (co-)entrepreneur. Finally, women are less firmly integrated in the Belgian labour market. When looking at the needs for a Belgian policy aimed at women (entrepreneurship), we see that women have a higher rate of long-term unemployment than men, which calls for activation of women in particular. Secondly, there is a need for stimulating entrepreneurship in non-traditional sectors. And finally, women need to be offered employment opportunities in agricultural regions to prevent them from leaving these areas. All in all, there seem to be several reasons for seriously considering the Swedish policy, according to the Belgian peer expert present. The situation of women on the Greek labour market looks rather different from the one in the countries described above. Greece has the lowest employment rate in the EU, especially for women. There is a high rate of unemployment, more than half of the group of unemployed are long-term unemployed. Youth and female unemployment is very high. And finally there is a very high level of seasonal unemployment. Several aspects of the Swedish programme seem to address additional problems encountered in Greece, such as the image of female entrepreneurship. However, a lot of cultural differences exist as well, which might need attention first before thinking about implementing the Swedish programme in Greece. The situation in Portugal too is very different from that in the Nordic countries. The labour market situation of women is not very favourable. In general, they have low qualifications. Besides, the mentality toward working women is different as well. Those women wanting to start up their own business encounter serious problems. The Government has started measures to support these women, for instance in helping to combine work and care responsibilities. Providing information and a network of advisers for women as in Sweden could be a helpful instrument for improving the participation of women in entrepreneurship. In Spain, the situation is rather similar to that in Portugal and Greece. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the EU and faces a large gender gap as well. This problem has been addressed before, so specific programmes for women do exist, even programmes that are quite similar to the Swedish programme. The Spanish programme does not have such a longterm perspective, however. Furthermore, the focus on an elaborate network within the Swedish programme is something that needs to be considered for Spain as well. The Spanish peer expert stressed that a programme aimed at women should be part of a broader mix of measures and programmes and it is not considered as the only solution for female unemployment in Spain.

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Transferability

One of the most interesting aspects of the review meeting was to discuss what the possibilities are of transferring the measure to the peer countries. It should be noted that it might be more interesting to look at the relevance of the general setting of the programme and the ideas behind it rather than trying to transfer the measure itself. All peer countries involved indicated they already have implemented projects or programmes targeted at women, with varying results up till now. The Swedish programme has a lot of interesting aspects and is considered to be very interesting by the representatives of the peer countries. All peer countries that attended the meeting indicated their intention to discuss the possibility of implementation of a similar programme in their own country. Some specific elements were mentioned as being particularly interesting for a possible transfer to other countries. First of all, the fact that women are being advised by women is new and attractive. The Belgian peer expert said that she had been sceptical about this aspect at first but was more convinced about the advantages now. The Spanish expert thought this reinforced the commitment to the programme objectives and especially the attitudinal change aimed at. A second appealing element of the programme mentioned by almost all peer representatives was the (electronic) network which had emerged. It had been stimulated by NUTEK, but because of the advantages felt by the business advisers themselves, it had further developed and turned out to be a very important part of the (success of the) programme. Other countries, such as Spain, mentioned that they had developed a network as part of women programmes as well. However, these networks had not (yet) evolved into such widespread and integrated networks. It was suggested that this might be due to cultural differences and to the threat such a development might pose to men. Other aspects highlighted as positive and helpful by the peer countries were the long-term perspective of the programme and the fact that an ongoing evaluation was being carried out from the start. The long-term perspective is interesting, as changes in attitudes are not brought about at short notice. The perceived merit of ongoing evaluation lies in the possibilities it offers to take corrective measures while implementing the programme. For some countries with a strong regional orientation, such as Belgium, the local flexibility of the programme was welcomed too. The regional orientation also allowed for women to be helped in their own region, which the women themselves were very pleased about. At the end of the meeting, all countries expressed their intention of giving serious consideration to the possible transferability of (parts of) the Swedish programme. This will be an ongoing process during which the exchange of information between the countries involved will continue.

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