EU Project Aimed at Developing Female Entrepreneurship

Regional reports of the EU project aimed at developing female entrepreneurship, in which ITU GINOVA is a partner, have been published.

Within the scope of the WeRIn – Women Entrepreneurs in Regional Inclusive Ecosystems project, in which ITU GINOVA is one of the partners, regional reports were completed by the project partner universities.

WeRIn – Woman Entrepreneurs in Regional Inclusive Ecosystems Project, coordinated by FH Münster University of Applied Sciences (MUAS), Germany, aims to make entrepreneurship education and support programmes more inclusive for women in order to increase the share of female graduate entrepreneurs and ensure they are firmly integrated in regional entrepreneurial ecosystems across Europe.

The reports that present the current state of gender inclusivity of entrepreneurial support programs were prepared for Turkey, Germany, Croatia, the Netherlands and Ireland. The Turkey report was prepared by Prof. Dr. Şebnem Burnaz, Dr. Zeynep Erden Bayazıt and Beril Gül. 

In the Turkey report, barriers stemming from structural inefficiencies as well as funding problems and access to investment were the most underlined problems of the ecosystem, which is relatively young with respect to other countries. In field research carried out with women, it was observed that gender bias was not explicitly put forward as a problem, but there were strong stereotypes in the ecosystem towards entrepreneurs. It was seen that character traits such as courage, decisiveness, risk-taking and resilience attributed to men in the literature, which are especially matched with the characteristics that an entrepreneur should have, were widely emphasized. Furthermore, in the report where it was established that women entrepreneurs who work in male dominated industries face more difficulties in proving their technical knowledge than women who are in more female industries, this leads women to use their education or market knowledge to prove their authority and thus to hold on in the sector. The existence of strong science parks, incubation centers and public support and grant programs in the field of technology in the ecosystem has been observed as a major driving force for women entrepreneurs.

Click for more information about WeRIn – Woman Entrepreneurs in Regional Inclusive Ecosystems Project.