A new study from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation reveals that women-led startups have the potential to transform our current economic landscape and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Their research reveals that women create high-growth businesses at lower rates than men do potentially as a result of gender expectations. The report also points to a possible lack of meaningful mentorship as an explanation for low female participation in entrepreneurial pursuits. “If we’re looking for an answer to jobs," Kauffman vice president Lesa Mitchell explains, "it’s right in front of our face." If women can become more active in starting businesses, we could see a significant increase in job opportunity.

In an article, Fast Company reports:

While there are plenty of women in science and technology--the fields that spin off high-growth companies--the paper says, and while women form 46% of the workforce and over 50% of college students, only 35% of startup business owners are women.

“Research has shown that startups, especially high growth startups, are the keys to job creation and leadership in new industries,” the paper says. “With nearly half the workforce and more than half of our college students now being women, their lag in building high-growth firms had become a major economic deficit…Women capable of starting growth companies may well be our greatest under-utilized resource.”

Read the article in its entirety here.