Women, Wealth, and Entrepreneurship
Under-representation is a word I became all too familiar with early on in my professional life. Yet prior to entering the workforce I was (perhaps naively) convinced that, as a woman, there were no limits to what I could achieve.
Under-representation of women in several areas – politics, business, science and technology, has consequences for growth, economic prosperity, and for the future of work. There are also regrettably societal consequences, feelings of ‘being not enough’, ‘being less than’, ‘being invincible’ which at their extreme lead to women being harmed. According to the World Economic Forum’s latest annual Global Gender Gap Report, it will take another 134 years to reach gender parity, which roughly translates to five generations.
Maximising women’s potential and contribution will require concerted efforts by government, business and investors, to address the gaps in representation and participation, across key areas discussed below. According to research by Boston Consulting Group, wage equality, entrepreneurial activities, and leadership advancement are driving the creation of women’s wealth globally.
Women and the Workplace
An all too familiar story: even as more women are coming out of higher education that should technically be ready for the skilled workforce, when they try to access the labour market their progress is interrupted at different stages of that journey.
Women’s workforce participation remains below men’s across nearly every industry and economy, with women accounting for 42% of the global workforce and 31.7% of senior leaders. Whilst significant numbers are hired early on as part of an early career intake, and they are occupying nearly half of entry-level positions, they fall short of representing just one-quarter of C-suite roles.
Worryingly, the hiring rate of women into leadership roles began to deteriorate in 2023. It reached 37.5% in the lead to, and during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, both the 2023 hiring rate (36.9%) and the early 2024 hiring rate (36.4%) ended up below 2021 levels. Recent research suggests that worsening labour-market conditions are systematically associated with smaller shares of senior leadership hires being women.
The significant gaps in terms of formal protections and provisions for parental leave, as well as perceptions of men’s and women’s participation in equal caregiving will magnify these trends. Research has found that increased parity in leave allocations is positively correlated with female labour-force participation.
When it comes to skills for the future and the technology transition, women are systematically underrepresented in STEM employment in comparison to men and overrepresented in non-STEM occupations. This gives women a double disadvantage with regards to technological and workforce transitions as they continue to occupy the lower-growth, lower-paying jobs that likely to be negatively affected in the short term. Nevertheless, there are some positive trends in terms of the share of women with AI Engineering skills albeit as a share of the overall industry workforce has a smaller industry presence than male talent in 2023.
Women and Entrepreneurship
Despite comprising nearly half of the world’s population, women still contribute to less than 40 per cent of global GDP.
Whilst female entrepreneurship is on the rise, structural barriers, such as limited access to capital persist. According to the 2025 Gender Index report, male-led companies dominate funding across all major sources in 2024, especially Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Corporate Venture Capital. Female-led companies also face hurdles in accessing secured debt (14.2% compared to 61.1% of male-led companies) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) funding, where only 17.7% secured backing in 2024.
For early and growth-stage female founders, the slow fund-raising pace and gaining investor traction are identified as the top challenges. Whilst the number of funding rounds for female-founded companies has declined over the last five years, bigger rounds remain resilient.
Despite the funding challenges, globally, one in four women entrepreneurs expect to see growth within five years by employing six or more people. This points to women building successful, innovative businesses but gender-specific obstacles such as societal norms, access to finance, act as a glass ceiling that prevents them from reaching their full potential. Despite challenges, female-led companies recorded remarkable turnover growth in 2024, from 14.8% in 2023 to 24.6% which outpaced turnover growth of male-led companies at 21.6%.
Women and Wealth
The significant wealth transfer that is already taking place, will result in women controlling more than 50 per cent of the world’s assets, according to Forbes. Women in the US are projected to control $30 trillion in assets by 2030, according to research by McKinsey.
Nevertheless, in 2021, women were significantly under-represented in investing, with only 48% participating in the stock market, compared to 66% of men. However, by 2024 that number climbed to 71% of women investing, with Gen Z leading the way compared with GenX women. Despite this progress, a confidence gap persists with only 26% of women identifying as “investors” compared to 45% of men.
To address the gap, the wealth management sector has begun to recognise the opportunity and the need to move beyond old assumptions and engage women investors based on their individual knowledge, needs, and financial ambitions. A culture of conscious inclusion should ensure that deep-seated biases are addressed.
According to analysis by McKinsey’s PriceMetrix, simply by retaining baby-boomer women as clients, firms could see one-third higher revenue potential.
The Opportunity – missed?
So, we can see that whether at the workplace, in entrepreneurship or as investors women are coming up against barriers that limit their ability to contribute to their maximum potential.
I welcome the progress that has been made, but let’s remind ourselves that women are almost 50% of the population, and maximising their potential is a win for business, economy and society.
According to McKinsey, if women participated at the same level as men in the global economy, they could add an astonishing $28tn to annual global GDP.
Isn’t that an opportunity not to be missed?
Resources
The Global Gender Gap report 2024. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2024
The Gender Index reports 2025. https://www.thegenderindex.co.uk/reports
The Female Innovation Index 2025. www.femaleinnovationindex.com
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2022/23 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report: Challenging Bias and Stereotypes
The Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-alison-rose-review-of-female-entrepreneurship
Managing the Next Decade of Women’s Wealth. Boston Consulting Group, 2020 https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/managing-next-decade-women-wealth
Women as the next wave of growth in US wealth management https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/women-as-the-next-wave-of-growth-in-us-wealth-management
Women & Investing Study 2024. Fidelity Investments
What’s Next for Women and Wealth-Building? Forbes, 2025 https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrarojas/2025/03/13/whats-next-for-women-and-wealth-building/
About the author
I founded Metochi Consulting Ltd to create tailored and impactful people strategies that unleash potential for sustainable growth.
I have a deep belief that the right combination of people strategies and solutions can have a compounding effect in solving those seemingly intractable problems that leaders, owners and founders face during key transitions.
With Metochi Consulting Ltd we are your strategic people partner, connecting the dots to unleash your business’s potential.