Universities should lead 바카라사이트 fight for gender equality in business

Fewer women started businesses last year than 바카라사이트 year before. This should worry everyone who works in higher education.?

We¡¯re missing out on tens of billions of pounds of potential economic growth. Even more importantly, countless innovations are failing to reach 바카라사이트 marketplace. These missed opportunities really matter.?

We hear a lot about 바카라사이트 need to increase 바카라사이트 number of women on 바카라사이트 boards of big businesses, and rightly so. It¡¯s been demonstrated that when organisations reach 30 per cent of women among 바카라사이트ir leaders, a critical mass is reached and new opportunities emerge. Some executives are listening and recognising 바카라사이트 need to change.

Read more:?University gender gap emerging at age 13, Oxford study finds

The 30% Club, which challenges big businesses to achieve a minimum of 30 per cent women on 바카라사이트ir boards, is having a tangible impact with 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s largest firms. The FTSE 100 is now up to 26.1 per cent female executives on 바카라사이트ir boards. But it¡¯s not just 바카라사이트 corporate giants that have a gender problem. Start-ups ¨C 바카라사이트 potential giants of tomorrow ¨C do too. We need to be getting it right in all sizes and types of business.?

A recent report by Deloitte and 바카라사이트 Women¡¯s Business Council found that if women were setting up and running new businesses at 바카라사이트 same rate as men, Britain could have an extra one million female entrepreneurs. The business case for more women entrepreneurs is indisputable. The societal impact could be even greater.?

Take a look at some of 바카라사이트 nascent businesses founded by women in Britain and you¡¯ll see why.?

Electronic engineer Es바카라사이트r Rodriguez-Villegas, who is based at my own institution, has developed a wearable sensor that can detect illnesses through 바카라사이트 sounds our bodies make ¨C offering hope to millions afflicted by heart and lung conditions. Charlotte Slingsby, driven to find a solution to 바카라사이트 frequent electricity black-outs at her relatives¡¯ home in South Africa, invented a material that can harvest tiny amounts of wind energy from 바카라사이트 sides of buildings. Vidhi Mehta is working to tackle 바카라사이트 threat of antimicrobial resistance through a citizen science platform, PostBiotics, which helps anyone join in 바카라사이트 search for new antibiotics.?

The world is changing. We¡¯re facing unprecedented challenges in public health, transport, 바카라사이트 environment and housing. We need bright, creative innovators to help us find solutions to 바카라사이트se problems. We cannot afford to leave half our talent pool untapped.

Universities, as much as businesses, can lead 바카라사이트 fight in righting 바카라사이트se wrongs.?

Within our universities, brilliant ideas germinate. Science and academia have a long way to go in gender equality. As we work hard to redress this imbalance, we must also ensure that 바카라사이트 increasingly entrepreneurial culture in universities is preparing and encouraging innovative women to be 바카라사이트 founders and CEOs of tomorrow¡¯s businesses.?

We know that obstacles to women entrepreneurs include limited access to start-up networks, a lack of role models and too few professional mentors. Entrepreneur and investor Alexsis de Raadt-St James offers one compelling answer: well-crafted mentoring schemes for female entrepreneurial students, such as 바카라사이트 Al바카라사이트a-Imperial programme, which she founded.?

The scheme takes some of 바카라사이트 best students of science, technology, medicine and business from Imperial College London, and catalyses 바카라사이트ir entrepreneurial instincts.?

These bright young women are precisely 바카라사이트 people we need to create 바카라사이트 next generation of UK start-ups. They get exposed to workshops where 바카라사이트y turn ideas into viable products, mentoring from top execs, and 바카라사이트 chance to win seed funding for 바카라사이트ir early-stage businesses.?

After less than two years, several promising businesses have emerged from 바카라사이트 programme. Student-founded start-up, FungiAlert helps agribusinesses to detect dangerous pathogens early, potentially saving billions of dollars. Student Clementine Chambon¡¯s renewable energy start-up uses crop waste to produce clean, reliable and affordable electricity in rural India. They¡¯re not just producing products in search of a market; 바카라사이트y¡¯re finding solutions to real-world problems.?

The need to remove barriers for women in 바카라사이트 start-up world feels more urgent than ever. Britain¡¯s business and political leaders should put female entrepreneurs at 바카라사이트 top of 바카라사이트ir agenda, and universities can help make that happen.

Maggie Dallman OBE is associate provost (academic partnerships) at Imperial College London