Made in Canada. Feminist entrepreneurship policy

The Organizational for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recognizes Canada as a good practice nation in supporting women entrepreneurs. The federal government is lauded as a champion of feminist international assistance policy. The Liberal party has moved gender issues to the front of policy debates. It is now time for the federal government to construct feminist entrepreneurship policies. This article identifies priorities for next generation policy. ?

Policy landscapes

In 2021, working with OECD colleagues and Drs. Colette Henry and ?Dr. Susan Coleman, we published a 27-country study of women’s enterprise policies and programs. We learned that—internationally—most ?programs to support women entrepreneurs are fragile, time-limited, small-scale, pilots, and symptom-oriented. Policies without programs and programs without policies. This practice leaves market interventions vulnerable to changes in political priorities, the loss of champions in the bureaucracy, and changes in government.

We observed that selection criteria of many mainstream small business programs are gender biased, and do not account for characteristics of diverse women-owned businesses. Arbitrary assessment criteria, such as firm size, longevity, or revenue, exclude many women from benefiting from elite accelerator programs.

Like Canada, few countries support integrated small business policy. There is remarkably little evidence about the effectiveness of tax-supported measures to support women-owned and other under-represented small businesses. Next generation policy must be more inclusive, transparent and underscored by clear performance targets.

What else constitutes feminist entrepreneurship policy? ?

Feminist entrepreneurship policy

In 2020, YWCA Canada and Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE) at University of Toronto published A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada. The informative report recommends that all policies incorporate the needs of gender-diverse women. Next generation entrepreneurship policy must include the needs of women, Two-Spirit, non-binary people, Indigenous peoples, women who are Black, aging out of foster care or have a disability, or who are an immigrant, migrant, refugee, transgender, lesbian, low income, the young, seniors and students.

Increase access to public contracts

Canada’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Strategy spotlighted the need to increase access to financial capital. However, the spotlight on access to federal contracts has dimmed. The Government of Canada is the largest customer in Canada. Programs to increase bids submitted by women-owned and other underrepresented entrepreneurs are disingenuous. Contracts—not bids—drive business growth. Measures to increase federal contracts to women and underrepresented groups of entrepreneurs are needed. These infers large-scale versus pilot programs, transparency of adjudication processes, and reporting on the number and percent of contracts awarded to women-owned and other under-represented entrepreneurs, by sector.

Incorporate gender-smart entrepreneurship education and training plus

As a generalization, entrepreneurship and small business training reproduce inequality. Diverse entrepreneurs are not reflected among participants nor in terms of content, resources, and role models. Leaders of entrepreneurship and innovation intermediaries are seeking insights about equity diversity and inclusion in the context of small business and venture creation training. Policy must focus on building inclusive entrepreneurship education ecosystems across federally funded accelerators and incubators and other small business support agencies. Funding to undertake program assessments and create inclusive training resources is required.

Couple entrepreneurship policy with social policy

Policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises must be underpinned by enhanced access to quality and affordable healthcare, daycare, eldercare, and other social services. The regressive impacts of the pandemic have been disproportionally borne by women. Many women continue to juggle caregiving while scrambling to save their businesses. Provision of robust family, health, eldercare, and other social services must align with entrepreneurship policy. ?

Hold agencies accountable using equity and inclusive metrics

Criteria employed by funded entrepreneurship and innovation intermediaries should prioritize the goals of equality and economic empowerment. Organizational performance metrics should extend beyond simplistic—but important—economic outcomes as job creation, revenue growth. Performance criteria should address criteria associated with personal agency, enhanced skills and competencies, and social outcomes—including enhanced health and well-being.

Engage grassroots experts?

Good policy design requires expertise. Our OECD study documents the tendency of government to engage global consulting firms—such as McKinsey—in policy design. To inform policy, bureaucrats ironically assume advice from grassroots feminist, gender, and women’s enterprise experts should be free. Governments’ strategies should include ecosystem funding to strengthen Canada’s grassroots entrepreneurship policy expertise, and to compensate these experts’ time.

Challenge

Below are resources to learn more about supply chains in the context of feminist entrepreneurship policy. This International Women’s Day, read one or more of the reports, then voice your ideas about feminist entrepreneurship policy with others, including politicians, and policymakers at all levels of government.

Please also join us at WBE Celebrate Women. In business. In supply chains. In our communities

March 8, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. to 4pm ET via Zoom

SPEAKERS

Minister Remarks – Hon. Mary Ng, P.C., M.P., Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development

Rising Through the Ranks in a Family Business – Margaret Hudson, Burnbrae Farms Ltd.

The State of Women Entrepreneurship and DEI in Canada – Magdalena Sabat, Diversity Institute, Toronto Metropolitan University

The State of DEI in Supply Chains Internationally – Dr. Barbara Orser, University of Ottawa

Supplier Diversity in Canada: Public and Private – Jamie Crump, The Richwell Group

Why Supplier Diversity Matters – Sherrie O’Doyle, BMO

Building Equitable Supply Chains for THIS Generation – Silvia Pencak, WBE Canada

REGISTER HERE

SUGGESTED READING

OECD (2021). Entrepreneurship Policies through a Gender Lens. (Eds.) C. Henry, B. Orser, S. Coleman, J. Potter, D, Halabisky, D. OECD, Paris, France, OECD Studies on SMEs and Entrepreneurship, https://doi.org/10.1787/71c8f9c9-en [Free online reading]

Orser, B., (2022). Building back better through feminist entrepreneurship policy, International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 14 (4): 468-488. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-05-2022-0089

Orser, B., Liao, X., Riding, A. L., Duong, Q., & Catimel, J. (2021). Gender-responsive public procurement: strategies to support women-owned enterprises.?Journal of Public Procurement,?21(3), 260-284.

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