Researchers have hailed a “landmark moment” for Scotland after a study showed that women accounted for around half of all entrepreneurs last year.

The global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM), an annual measure of entrepreneurship, found 8.6% of working-age women in Scotland were running or setting up a new business in 2023 compared with 9.8% of men, something the report describes as “statistical parity”.

This compares with 7.2% of women and 10.5% of men in 2022.

The survey of 2,060 adults and 40 experts in Scotland also found that last year a fifth of all entrepreneurs in Scotland were non-white and that just under a quarter of the 250,000-strong non-white population was engaged in some kind of entrepreneurial activity.

Read More:

Overall, the study found an estimated 300,000 people in Scotland were engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity in 2023, or 9.1% of the working-age population of 3.3 million.

This is a small increase on the 8.8% figure from 2022.

Dr Samuel Mwaura, of the University of Edinburgh Business School, said: “The two major developments in 2023 are the record high rates for non-white individuals and women, reflecting a growing diversity amongst the countries business community.

“Effectively, of the 300,000 or so early-stage entrepreneurs setting up a business in Scotland in 2023, roughly half were women. This is a landmark moment of significant consequence for female entrepreneurship discourse and policy in this country.”

The survey found significant regional differences in the proportion of female entrepreneurs compared to their male counterparts.

In the north-east of the country, 9.6% of women were engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity compared with 18.6% of men whereas southern Scotland saw the figures at 8% of women compared with 6.5% of men.

The study also found that with 9.1% of its population involved in starting or running new businesses, Scotland scored the lowest of the four home nations.

Wales was top at 11.5%, followed by England with 10.8% and Northern Ireland with 9.7%.

The survey found that fear of failure is the most significant barrier to entrepreneurial activity in Scotland, with 60% of those who saw good start-up opportunities in their area saying this would prevent them from starting a business.

The experts questioned as part of the survey also rated 12 out of 13 conditions for entrepreneurialism in Scotland as “barely satisfactory”.

These include entrepreneurial education at school, ease of financing and government policies.

Professor Sreevas Sahasranamam, of the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow, said: “Over the past three years, the early-stage entrepreneurial rate in Scotland has settled at around 10% of the population – broadly similar in the last three years since Covid-19.

“However, it is worth highlighting that a panel of entrepreneurship experts judged the context for entrepreneurship in Scotland to be generally mediocre, with the level of support for women’s entrepreneurship worryingly evaluated as less than satisfactory, scoring less than three out of ten.”

Employment and Investment Secretary Tom Arthur said: “People must be given the right support and encouragement, regardless of gender or background, to make business ideas a reality, and this report shows strong entrepreneurial activity in Scotland. I am encouraged by the progress on female participation and remain committed to ensuring women-led businesses reach their full potential.

“The Scottish Government will continue to play a prominent role in enabling entrepreneurship. The Deputy First Minister recently announced a £5 million package of support, including a £2.6 million investment across programmes which enhance early-stage entrepreneurship, with further targeted support for those from under-represented backgrounds.”

GEM is a consortium of national country teams, primarily associated with academic institutions, that carries out survey-based research on entrepreneurship around the world.

Its annual population surveys provide analysis on the characteristics, motivations and ambitions of individuals starting businesses, as well as social attitudes towards entrepreneurship

The GEM report for Scotland was compiled by researchers at the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Strathclyde.