Centre for Applied Research of the Faculty of Digital Media & Creative Industries

The Position of Female Entrepreneurs and Women in Tech

A research aimed at identifying obstacles and opportunities for female entrepreneurs and women in tech in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

Report

English: In the Netherlands female entrepreneurs and women in tech have structurally less opportunities than men. The latest numbers from October 2020 show that only 1 percent of all venture capital went to female entrepreneurs.

The percentage of non-white entrepreneurs that received financing is even below 1 percent. Remarkable numbers if we look at the demographics of the Dutch population and a clear signal that bias is a structural problem in financing start-ups. Additionally, there remains an underrepresentation of women at all levels in the tech industry.

As part of the Rise project, this whitepaper will focus on the question ‘What needs to be done in the coming years to improve the position of female entrepreneurs and women in tech? Building on an expert session, a review of annual reports and a short survey amongst a selected group of support organizations, we focus on the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA) and show a clear trend towards ‘women only’ programs for female entrepreneurs and an increase in the support structures for female tech workers. In this report, the results of a baseline analysis for the state of the field for Female Entrepreneur and Women in Tech in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area will be presented by the professorship of Entrepreneurship from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS).

Dutch: WOMEN Inc., HvA en We Rise hebben een rapport geschreven over de positie van vrouwelijke ondernemers en vrouwen die werken in de tech-sector. Er is onderzocht wat er momenteel wordt gedaan om de positie van vrouwelijke ondernemers en vrouwen in tech te ondersteunen en wat er de komende jaren kan veranderen om dit te verbeteren.

Reference Stoker, S., Wakkee, I., Martens, J., Lucassen, I., Visser, V., & Steeman, S. (2021). The Position of Female Entrepreneurs and Women in Tech: A research aimed at identifying obstacles and opportunities for female entrepreneurs and women in tech in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Lectoraat Ondernemerschap.

Publication date

Nov 2021

Author(s)

Jeanne Martens
Isabella Lucassen
Vivian Visser
Suzan Steeman

Publications:

Research database