A hard-hitting fact has surfaced as a result of this research. Gender bias does prevail when UK bank officials offer business loans to women entrepreneurs.
November 21, 2006 (Press Release) --
The latest findings of an extensive research done at the University of Glasgow and University of Stirling are quite astonishing.
The research was conducted to:
• determine the impact of gender on the lending decisions of a UK bank
• study the experiences and perceptions of existing business owners of both sexes regarding lending of business loans by UK banks
A hard-hitting fact has surfaced as a result of this research. Gender bias does prevail when UK bank officials offer business loans to women entrepreneurs. The bank officials show reluctance in sanctioning business loans to women borrowers. This hinders women entrepreneurs from starting up a business.
It is very surprising that such gender bias exists despite the public policy initiatives undertaken in the UK in recent years for increasing female self-employment. Only 15 per cent of the total UK businesses are owned by women and the share of self-employed women has not changed from the stagnant 26 per cent in 15 years.
The general perception is that women possess less human and social capital prior to setting up their businesses than men. So, banks perceive more risk while giving loan to women entrepreneurs.
The latest findings of an extensive research done at the University of Glasgow and University of Stirling are quite astonishing.
The research was conducted to:
• determine the impact of gender on the lending decisions of a UK bank
• study the experiences and perceptions of existing business owners of both sexes regarding lending of business loans by UK banks
A hard-hitting fact has surfaced as a result of this research. Gender bias does prevail when UK bank officials offer business loans to women entrepreneurs. The bank officials show reluctance in sanctioning business loans to women borrowers. This hinders women entrepreneurs from starting up a business.
It is very surprising that such gender bias exists despite the public policy initiatives undertaken in the UK in recent years for increasing female self-employment. Only 15 per cent of the total UK businesses are owned by women and the share of self-employed women has not changed from the stagnant 26 per cent in 15 years.
The general perception is that women possess less human and social capital prior to setting up their businesses than men. So, banks perceive more risk while giving loan to women entrepreneurs.
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