FLYING HIGH Biotechnology consultant Topaz Conway on how women can make their mark in the entrepreneurial world.
Biotechnology consultant Topaz Conway, here as part of the Vogue Codes series, writes about how women can make their mark in the entrepreneurial world.
Tales of paths travelled always deliver enduring anticipation, where the expectation is for triumph to reign and the pioneers to reap the benefits of their journey. The battleground of gender diversity has been fought by fearless trailblazers to create equal opportunity, where women are recognised for their contribution and efforts to business and economic development.
And it’s the work of Springboard Enterprises Australia, along with its parent affiliate in the US, co-founded in 2000 by prominent American businesswoman and visionary Kay Koplovitz, that has created an opportunity for entrepreneurial women, an avenue to turn their dreams and ideas into reality.
Sixteen years on, the path forged is vastly different, the landscape has changed, and although the grind has been slow and tumultuous, it’s been gathering momentum – women are now more actively involved in the entrepreneurial space, thanks to Koplovitz’s vision.
But there’s still more work that needs to be done before the landscape of equality is genuinely balanced.
A recent report by Fortune magazine showed why women remain the better bet in business compared to their male counterparts. And just as those statistics show how successful women are, there still remains only 4.4 per cent of all CEOs in S&P 500 companies represented. It’s those female-led companies that produce a 226 per cent higher return on investment than those run by men. In the Fortune 1,000 group, there are only 80 female CEOs and their companies average three times greater return compared to those run by men. The US experience is just such a tale, yet it reflects the Australian experience.
There have been many battles fought, but it’s the issue of entrepreneurship that’s the new frontier of gender bias and inequality. And it’s the pitch of ideas that make clear just how far the chasm of inequality exists between the sexes.
The reality is that men are 60 per cent more likely to raise capital to fund their businesses than women and for every dollar a woman raises, a man will get $34. Studies show that by simply swapping pitching voices from male to female – same company, different voice – ideas pitched by men have a greater chance of succeeding.
It’s the inequitable bias – the belief of a lack of fair go – that sees them keep women’s businesses under the $1 million revenue mark.
Springboard Enterprises Australia Accelerator is tackling the issue of undervaluing head on, working on the woman’s own selflimiting biases – deep-seeded, hard to recognise and her business. It’s about empowerment, vision and recognition – helping women to see and think bigger, scalable and global.
I still find myself confronted with the biases of gender: how the bar for performance and merit is defined by men who assume they control boards or investment.
Women need to be given opportunity when they’re qualified, smart and have a desire to contribute. They need to be recognised for their capabilities and talents.
Board positions aren’t a rite of passage or entitlement, yet there’s the belief among some men that they are.
Consider the resumes of many public company board members, politicians or managing directors – most were appointed early in their career without any formal qualification. Yet women are now expected to have years of experience, without the opportunity being afforded to them at any time along the way. The hurdles are entwined with degrees of difficulty engineered to ensure the path travelled remains a constant challenge.
But thanks to Koplovitz and her foresight, and the women who are graduating as fully fledged entrepreneurs from the Springboard Enterprises program and enjoying the fruits of their now international businesses, the success of these women will be the hallmark legacy of future generations standing equally alongside their male counterparts. Topaz Conway is the chair of Springboard Enterprises Australia.