Boosting Women’s Participation in the Mexican Economy

Startups play an essential role in economic growth by creating jobs and spurring innovation. This growth could be even larger with the full participation of women, but the gender gap among both entrepreneurs and investors has been holding the sector back. To help to address this problem, crowdfunding platform Arkangeles held its first ArkWomen event, which is an open space focused on the needs of the female entrepreneurial ecosystem that aims to increase the number of female investors.

In Mexico, 26 percent of working women are entrepreneurs and of those, 82 percent work in the informal sector, representing over 4 million women. Female participation in companies is also low, reaching 36 percent among companies listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. Women represent 21 percent of positions in legal departments, 10 percent in finance departments and 4 percent in general management, found a study by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO). The same study also found that 27 percent of the companies analyzed have no women on their boards of directors.

There is a close relationship between gender and entrepreneurship since the activities carried out in this field are also articulated through gender identity codes and are framed within different symbolic spaces. Throughout history, it has been observed that the business world is based on practices and symbols corresponding to the male gender, according to Region y Sociedad's "Emprendedoras en México en Tiempos de Pandemia" study. Female entrepreneurship can be increased by improving women's access to new technologies, financing, training and support networks and partnerships with other women. 

The ArkWomen event hosted: Karina Ojeda Valle, President, Women Investing; Cecilia Ezquerro from 500 LatAm; Rebeca Alvarez, CEO, Loxical; Carolina Pastrana, Co-founder, Envera; Zaira Lorena Zepeda Huerta, CEO, LOCAL TRENDY; and Marcela López Lozano, Board Member, IMEF Oficial.

The event focused on encouraging women to build their own future, providing education in investment and spaces where women interested in becoming entrepreneurs or investors could ask questions and connect.