The technological 'startup', a challenge in feminine

The technological 'startup', a challenge in feminine

Innovation and entrepreneurship will be two of the axes of debate in the next Santander WomenNOW Summit

In Spain, the entrepreneurial activity of women has increased in the last year and it reduces distances with respect to men. However, the presence of women in the technology sector still records low figures and a similar trend is expected in the medium term. Santander WomenNOW Summit, the conference promoted by Vocento to give a voice to women, wants to open the debate to innovation, entrepreneurship and technology in women.

'Time is now', the moment is now. It is no coincidence that this is one of the slogans of Santander WomenNOW Summit , the event that will bring together the most renowned national and international experts to discuss and create opinion on the situation of women in the world the next 28, 29 and 30 March in Madrid. The congress has the support of important partners who have joined Banco Santander, among others, the official sponsors, Reale Seguros and the Community of Madrid, but also companies such as IKEA or L'Oreal and institutions such as the European Commission, the Parliament European Union, the Madrid City Council or the Women's Institute.

In this debate, innovation, entrepreneurship and technology will be featured on the agenda of the congress as it is now that we must encourage and support female digital talent, at a time when the Spanish entrepreneurial activity rate (ASD) , which measures initiatives with less than 3.5 years of life in the market, has increased one point in relation to last year (from 5.2% to 6.2%) and, for the first time in eight years, has exceeded 6%, approaching figures prior to the crisis (7.6% in 2007), according to data from the latest report 'Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Spain 2017-18'.

This source indicates that the TEA has rebounded in Spain and although the percentage of men (55.1%) predominates compared to women (44.9%) entrepreneurs, the gap is narrowing. Despite this good data, and as far as the Spanish 'startups' are concerned, only 33% have a woman among its founders. Why this situation?

In Spain, the technological and digital sector has low figures for female participation and the trend is to continue this way, says Alicia Richart, general director of the Spanish Association for Digitalization (DigitalES) and one of the participants in Santander WomenNOW Summit. One of the causes, according to Richart, is that "in Spain there is a problem of attracting talent".

The expert points, with data from the study developed by DigitalES 'Women in the digital economy in Spain 2018', that of the total of the graduates superior 15% of men are in technology studies while women barely reach 3%. "We must attract women to this type of studies and improve the educational approach," he concludes.

Glass roof
The inequality that exists in the digital sector "has a cost in economic terms that we can not afford," according to Richart. And that inequality also contributes to the fact that women have not yet managed to break the "glass ceiling" of the sector. Although women in the ICT sector earn 3.1% more than their counterparts in similar positions in other sectors, they often opt for lower-paid positions than men. This situation, however, has not occurred in the case of the researchers of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).

According to the report 'Women Researchers 2017' prepared by this body, the glass ceiling index for CSIC researchers - calculated by comparing the proportion of women in three research categories: senior scientists, scientific researchers and research professors - is 1,44. This figure stands out positively to be less than 1.8 European average.

The women who decide to undertake what they usually do in the service sector. Specifically, 85% of those who work on their own account do so in this sector, compared to 65% of men (INE). The profile of the female entrepreneur corresponds to a woman between 25 and 35 years old who, in 50% of cases, has university studies, according to the GEM report.

70% of the entrepreneurs do it when they detect a need in the market and see, therefore, a business opportunity. Although the percentage of women they undertake is lower than that of men, this study also indicates that if the company is headed by a woman, the percentage of the company that failed will be 14% lower. For the general director of DigitalES, "studies show that teams with higher levels of diversity are more innovative and that companies with a high female presence are more competitive and more resistant to the crisis".