Fomentando el emprendimiento universitario entre mujeres en disciplinas STEM

Abstract

Women are still underrepresented in STEM-related fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), especially in senior leadership roles. This is very problematic as STEM disciplines represent an essential employment niche. Employers seek out professionals with proven STEM related skills. In fact, according to the report “The future of work in Europe”, STEM sector will account for 25% of labor market growth by 2030 (Smit, 2020). Moreover, these disciplines play an increasing role in entrepreneurship, which is one of the drivers of the current economy (Gomes, 2022). The “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Spain 2019-2020” report also revealed the existence of a gender gap in entrepreneurship, especially in STEM areas (Peña-Legazkue, 2020). In this context, a pilot study has been carried out with the aim of training women in entrepreneurship in order to close this gender gap. This work has been funded by the “Instituto de la Mujer” (ref: PAC2021- 18/15ACT/21 y ref: 48-13-ID22) A total of 20 female pre- and post-doctoral researchers from STEM disciplines at the Complutense University of Madrid participated in this study. The participants received training in entrepreneurship provided by the Business and Professional Women Association (BPW, Spain). In addition, they received individual mentoring with leading women entrepreneurs in this area. After the training, the degree of satisfaction of the participants and the impact of the training was evaluated with an online questionnaire created with “Google forms”. It should be noted that 75% of the participants had no prior knowledge of entrepreneurship, but all of them were able to present a complete business plan at the end of the training. In addition, all participants showed a high or very high degree of satisfaction with the training received, indicating that it had allowed them to strengthen their competences (self-confidence, communication skills, and strategic vision among others). In fact, 50% of the participants indicated that they considered entrepreneurship as feasible within 5 years.