In the light of a report recently prepared by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, the participation of Polish women who see business opportunities in the environment is higher than the participation of a Polethat (75 percent vs. 73 percent). Still, women less often believe that they have qualifications and skills needed to start their own business (45 percent against 51 percent). It is similar in other countries.
Learning from an early age
– There are a lot of research showing how Several-year-old girls perceive themselves as they believe in their skills and possibilities, and as at a very young age-5-6 years – They lose this faith in themselves, they begin to give up their dreams – says Ewa Łapińska.
According to her, the problem is extremely complex and difficult to solve.
– As Mars in 2022, we also globally carried out a study among 10,000 women from over 80 countries, In which we asked a simple question: “What must change so that more women can use their full potential?” The collected answers, from respondents of different ages, with different nationalities, from different cultural circles, turned into specific recommendations for business – says Ewa Łapińska.
One of them is particularly close to the general director of Mars Wrigley, because she has two daughters herself.
– At a very early stage of upbringing and education, we must change gender -related stereotypes, because then they are perpetuated in our heads. And they become such unaware patterns of action that affect how we evaluate women and men, for example in the same positions performing very similar duties – says Ewa Łapińska.
Women connect roles
The second important issue is to enable women to combine private and business roles. Much depends on what maternity and parental leave look like in a given country, and whether mothers are systemically supported in returning to work.
