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Women’s Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development:What Does Academic Research Tell Us?

  • 11 minutes ago
  • 8 min read

How women entrepreneurs are redefining success through purpose-driven, sustainable business - Thought Leadership by #SustXGlobal50 Awardee Dr. Jennifer Jennings, Canada


Jennifer Jennings, University of Alberta, Alberta School of Business, Entrepreneurs, Women Entrepreneurs and Sustainable Development, AI, Decarbonization, Carbon Accounting, Climate Finance, Indigenous Rights, Land Use, Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Sustainable Finance, Microfinance, Sustainability Career, Sustainability Professional, Employee Sustainability, Sustainability, Environment, Economy, Wildfire, Wildfires, Wildfire Season, Plastic Pollution, Microplastics, Climate Mitigation, Climate Strategy, Electricity, Fuel Supply, Industry, Buildings, Transportation, Energy, Agriculture, Forests, Carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Removal, Carbon Capture, Superpollutants, Business, Sustainable Business, Social Entrepreneurship, Purpose, Culture, Purposeful Leadership, Business Value, Business Growth, Corporate Sustainability, Business Sustainability, Sustainability Fragmentation, Sustainability Journalism, Climate Journalism, Climate Reporting, Climate Journalists, Sustainability Journalists, Communications, Sustainability Communications, Climate Communications, Sustainability Media, Climate Media, Art, Media, Books, Music, Painting, Crafts, Wellness, Wellbeing, Human Wellbeing, Environmental Wellbeing, Creative Expression, Global Challenges, Decarbonization, Thought Leadership, ESG, Carbon, Sustainability Consultancy, Sustainability Consulting, Carbon, Emissions, Global Warming, Climate Change, Sustainable Business, Sustainability Reporting Standards, Sustainability Disclosure Standards, ISSB, IFRS, Accounting, Sustainability Accounting, FSA Credential Holder, GRI, Resilience, Climate Adaptation, Climate Resilience, ESG, Industry, Sustainability Management, Sustainable Finance, Sustainable Investment, Sustainability Reporting, Capitalism, Policy, Data, Corporate Sustainability, Sustainability Plan, Corporate Sustainability Plan, Chief Sustainability Officer, Leadership, Sustainability Leadership, Renewable Energy, Management, Strategy, Sustainable Living, Climate Leadership, Climate Plan, Climate Strategy, Sustainability Strategy, Strategy, The SustainabilityX® Magazine

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Summary


In this thought leadership article, "Women’s Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development: What Does Academic Research Tell Us?" by Dr. Jennifer Jennings, Professor and Tier I Canada Research Chair in Entrepreneurship, Gender and Family Business, Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta, Canada, and a recipient of The SustainabilityX® Magazine Global 50 Women In Sustainability Awards™ 2025 , she examines what rigorous academic research reveals about women entrepreneurs’ contributions to sustainability. Drawing on large-scale data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2023/24) and meta-analyses from top entrepreneurship journals, Jennings highlights two key insights: women entrepreneurs are more likely than men to prioritize environmental and social goals over profit, and their firms often demonstrate higher survival rates and stronger financial performance—partly because of this commitment to responsibility. From B Corporations in the United States to enterprises across 46 countries, the evidence points to women as leading agents of change in reshaping market capitalism toward more just, inclusive, and sustainable outcomes.

In a world that has (sadly) become rife with misinformation, where can we turn for trustworthy data on topics that are of clear societal importance? My answer to this query is simple—the academic literature. This response may come as no big surprise given that I have spent my 25+ year career as a professor in a major research-intensive Canadian university. But as an award-winning scholar and former Associate Editor at one of the world’s top entrepreneurship journals, I also know just how rigorous an academic study must be in order to be accepted for publication in a reputable scholarly outlet.


In the remainder of this article, I will summarize some key findings from academic research on women’s entrepreneurship and sustainable development in particular. Why this focus? One reason is that most of my own work over the past two-and-a-half decades has been at the nexus of gender and entrepreneurship, so I know this literature quite well. Another is that I firmly believe in the power of women’s entrepreneurial activity—of various forms and in various contexts—to ‘move the needle’ in regards to environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Let’s take a peek at what scholars have discovered so far through their research on the following two fundamental topics: 1) whether women entrepreneurs are more committed than their male counterparts to addressing sustainability issues; and, 2) whether businesses founded by women are more sustainable than those founded by men. 


Are Women Entrepreneurs More Committed to Addressing Sustainability Issues?


Findings from global data


To shed light on the first query, I consulted the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s 2023/24 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report authored by Elam, Hughes, and Samsami (2024). The subtitle of the report, “Reshaping Economies and Communities”, hints at the findings regarding the commitment of women entrepreneurs to sustainability issues. Specifically, analysis of the data collected from thousands of entrepreneurs across 46 countries in 2023 revealed that: 

  • the women were more likely than the men to prioritize sustainability goals over economic goals

  • the women were more likely than the men to consider social sustainability and/or environmental sustainability in their business strategy

  • the women were just as likely as the men to have implemented either type of sustainability practices


Additional analyses showed that the women’s greater prioritization of sustainability over economic goals was more pronounced in high-income countries such as Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. That being said, it is important to note that 80% of the participating women entrepreneurs in the low-income countries of Brazil, Guatemala, India, and Thailand reported prioritizing sustainability. Recent findings published by Geiger (2024) in the Journal of Business Venturing Insights also warrant mention. Pooling data from numerous previously published studies, this scholar’s meta-analysis confirmed that the gender gap in socially responsible attitudes and behaviours observable between female and male entrepreneurs is highly statistically significant.   

     

Findings from US data on B Corps


The findings from a more focused study by Grimes, Gehman, and Cao (2018), published in the Journal of Business Venturing, are also enlightening. These scholars analyzed data from over 1200 firms in the United States that were seeking B Corporation certification. Adjudicated by the non-profit organization B Lab, this certification is only awarded to for-profit companies that have been verified as meeting rigorous standards pertaining to social/environmental performance and transparent governance. The researchers’ analysis revealed that women entrepreneurs were three times more likely than their male counterparts to receive B Corp certification—and that this propensity was greater in contexts with weaker sustainability norms and lower pressure to attain such certification. The scholars interpreted these findings as evidence that women entrepreneurs are “playing a leading role” in the “social movement” to “reshape market capitalism” (Grimes et al., 2018: 143). 


Reflection on the findings


As I reflected on the above-noted studies, I found myself thinking about the women I know who have prioritized sustainability goals within their businesses. It was very easy to come up with examples. My neighbour’s niece, for instance, founded a successful refillery business that now also sells items created by local emerging artisans. And one of my current PhD students had started a social enterprise prior to entering our doctoral program, which was dedicated to enhancing women’s digital literacy within her North African country-of-origin. I encourage you to take a few moments to think about the people in your own network who have started their own businesses. Do the women seem especially interested in tackling sustainability issues? What can you do help them attain their goals?

HAVE YOU READ?

Are Businesses Founded by Women More Sustainable?


Evidence of differences in business survival


To shed light on the question of whether businesses founded by women are more sustainable than those founded by men, I once again began by consulting Elam et al.’s (2024) 2023/24 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report. This time, however, I was looking for data on the relative survivability of their businesses. Some of you might be surprised by the findings: 

  • the women entrepreneurs from the 46 participating countries were less likely than their male counterparts, on average, to report a business exit

  • in general, the women were creating businesses at a higher rate than they were exiting them—and with an average exit-to-entry ratio 35% lower than men’s

  • the greater survivability of the women’s businesses relative to the men’s businesses was especially pronounced in high-income countries


Notably, the researchers interpreted these findings as evidence “suggesting that women are creating new sustainable businesses at a much higher rate than men” (Elam et al., 2024: 28). But what can help explain the observed differences? A plausible contributing factor, raised by the authors, is the tendency for women’s and men’s businesses to be in different industries. The findings summarized below point to an additional—and likely related—possibility.


Evidence of differences in financial performance


Could it be that women’s businesses also perform better financially, on average, than men’s businesses? The recent meta-analytic findings reported by Geiger (2024) indicate that this is indeed the case. Although these findings indicate that businesses led by women tend to be younger and smaller than those led by men, they also reveal that women’s businesses tend to do better than men’s on accounting and/or market-based indicators of financial performance (such as return on assets or return on equity). While additional analyses revealed that this performance differential disappeared when the sample was restricted to new/small firms, no evidence was found for the previously held belief that new/small ventures founded by women tend to ‘underperform’ relative to those founded by men (a conclusion also reached by Watson, 2020). Moreover—and of especial pertinence to the topic of sustainability—Geiger’s (2024) analysis further showed that the higher financial performance of the women-led firms overall is partially attributable to their stronger commitment to social responsibility.   


Reflection on the findings


Reflecting on the preceding findings, I am reminded of my very first academic study, which was published in the Journal of Business Venturing back in 1998 under my prior name of Jennifer E. Cliff. For that study, I had interviewed many owner-managers in the greater metropolitan area of Vancouver, Canada. When I asked them about their attitudes towards growing their business, I noticed that the women were more likely than the men to indicate that they wanted to do so—but only in a controlled and manageable manner that would not jeopardize the firm’s survival or the strong relationships that they had built with their customers and/or employees. Do you also know owner-managers (female or male) who operate their businesses with such a mindset? What can each of us do to better support these sustainability-oriented entrepreneurs?


Academic evidence leaves little doubt: women entrepreneurs are vital catalysts for sustainable development. By embedding social and environmental purpose into profitable business models, they are not only improving enterprise performance but also transforming the global economy toward equity, resilience, and long-term sustainability.

References:


  • Cliff, J. E. (1998). Does one size fit all? Exploring the relationship between attitudes towards growth, gender, and business size. Journal of Business Venturing, 13(6), 523-542.

  • Elam, A., Hughes, K.D., & Samsami, M. (2024) 2023/23 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report: Reshaping Economies and Communities. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

  • Geiger, M. (2024). Gender effects and firm financial performance: A SUMAD meta-analysis of social responsibility and family-to-work conflict. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 22, e00485.

  • Grimes, M. G., Gehman, J., & Cao, K. (2018). Positively deviant: Identity work through B Corporation certification. Journal of Business Venturing, 33(2), 130-148.

  • Watson, J. (2020). Exposing/correcting SME underperformance myths. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 12(1), 77-88.    

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The SustainabilityX® Magazine is an award-winning, digital, female-founded, and female-led non-profit initiative bringing the environment and economy together for a sustainable future through dialogue, and now transforming the environment and economy for a sustainable future through the power of women's leadership. Founded on May 8, 2016, and inspired by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals by Canada's Top 30 Under 30 in Sustainability Leadership awardee, Supriya Verma, the digital media initiative focuses on approaching the world's most pressing challenges with a holistic, integrated, systems-based perspective as opposed to the traditional and ineffective siloed approach with a single lens on interdisciplinary topics like climate and energy. This initiative ultimately seeks to explore how to effectively bring the environment and economy together through intellectual, insightful dialogue and thought-provoking discussion amongst individuals across sectors taking an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to untangling the intricate web of sustainability while championing women's leadership in sustainability.


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