What obstacles do BIPOC female founders currently face?
BIPOC female founders commonly have less access to higher education than their white counterparts and are also more limited in their access to business networks and resources. At most UK universities there is a BIPOC attainment gap. In 2017 it was as high as 34% at the University of Oxford and as high as 22% at the London School of Economics in 2017.
Furthermore, in the US, discriminatory public policies, rooted in the era of slavery, reinforce the image of black women as workers and caretakers. As a result, black women receive significantly less governmental support than white women and are generally more likely to be employed in low-wage jobs involving cooking, cleaning and caregiving.
What is the result of this inequity?
This results in BIPOC female founders being likely to be less financially stable, which limits them in funding their own startups. Furthermore, minority female founders may struggle to secure external funding due to prejudices and biases in loan lending decisions. Since funding is absolutely essential to kickstart any startup, such obstacles immensely constrain the potential of BIPOC female founders.
Nonetheless, an article by Fast Company revealed that in the US minority female entrepreneurs generate an astonishing amount of 422.5 billion dollars in revenue for the national economy. In addition to that, women of colour are starting new businesses faster than anyone else, accounting for 89% (1,625) of new businesses opened over the past year.
Furthermore, we gathered 4 stories of BIPOC female founders you should know about!
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