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Guidance supporting Europe’s aspiring entrepreneurs
Policy and practice to harness future potential

2.2.2. Profile of entrepreneurs in Europe
European entrepreneurs are a heterogeneous group (European Commission,
2003). They come from diverse backgrounds and represent people from all walks
of life. However, a typical entrepreneur in Europe is male and educated to upper
secondary level. A recent Swedish survey showed that a total of 94% of the
survey respondents associated the word entrepreneur with a man, rather than a
woman (Tillväxtverket, 2009).
The gender gap is very clear. According to Eurostat data (2010), in 2009,
70% of EU entrepreneurs were male, compared to just 30% of females. In
Portugal, 40% of entrepreneurs are female, the highest across Europe. There are
also higher levels of female entrepreneurs in Lithuania (38%) and Latvia (37%).
Conversely, in Ireland and Malta, just 19% and 17% of entrepreneurs are female.
The proportion of entrepreneurs who are female has remained relatively constant
since 1999.
There are many reasons for why fewer women than men wish to set up and
run their own business. The Eurobarometer household surveys on
entrepreneurship have found that women seem to be less attracted by the idea of
becoming entrepreneurs, and many have never thought about setting up a
business: according to the survey 39% of women prefer to be self-employed
compared to 51% of men (The Gallup Organization, 2009).
Men’s and women’s motivations for becoming entrepreneurs are also often
different. For women, the motivations to avoid unemployment, to combine work
and private life and the age of any children seem to be more important than for
men (Schrör, 2006). Women also experience more difficulties than men in
dealing with banks and entering informal financial networks (GHK and
Technopolis, 2008). The lack of access to networks that provide information,
advice, and finance and business contacts are another barrier (Allen, et al.,
2008). The fact that women have less managerial experience, training and skills
than men when they start as entrepreneurs is also a challenge (The Gallup
Organization, 2009). The lack of visible female role models in business may also
hinder women seeing entrepreneurship as a viable career option. Finally, some
women are reluctant to take the risk of setting up their own business when they
have young children (Graham, 2005) and generally speaking women are more
risk averse than men (GHK and Technopolis, 2008).
A growing share of European entrepreneurs are highly educated; just over a
quarter (28%) of European entrepreneurs are educated to a tertiary level (see
Figure 6). This illustrates an increase of 32% from 2000. Conversely, while one-
third of entrepreneurs had only a basic education in 2000, by 2009 this had

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