Middle East Tops the World In Women Internet Entrepreneurs

Middle East Tops the World In Women Internet Entrepreneurs

New findings reported in The Economist this week show the Middle East is leading the world in the percentage of tech entrepreneurs who are female.

According to findings by Startup Compass, a data collecting and consulting company focused on start-ups, the global average percentage of internet entrepreneurs who are female is 10%.

In the Middle East, women make up 35% of internet entrepreneurs, with factors such as the ability to work from home and the democratising effect of the internet given as reasons for the higher percentage of female tech entrepreneurs.

Although more than half of university graduates in many Middle Eastern countries (51% in Jordan) are women, the workforce is dominated by men (women provide only 21% of it overall, and a paltry 16% in Jordan).

The internet, however, is a new space that is more meritocratic and not as heavily male. The technology also lets entrepreneurs work from home, making it easier to raise children.

Many firms run by women entrepreneurs deal with what are labelled female issues (weddings, parenting advice, recipes), but even in other types of firm, male colleagues agree that woman tend to trump them in management skills.

The number of women entrepreneurs in the Middle East is likely to grow, including in the least likely places. Well-educated women in Saudi Arabia want to work, but their family often objects. Hence, running an internet start-up from home is the perfect compromise.

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