The report "Research on the situation of women entrepreneurs and professionals in Lanzarote and La Graciosa" has just been presented, a pioneering study whose objective has been to analyze the situation of businesswomen and professionals from the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa and guide public administrations in making decisions that help close the gender gap in entrepreneurship.
The realization of this research has been promoted by the Atria Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Lanzarote and La Graciosa and the one in charge of carrying it out has been the Data Center of the Cabildo of Lanzarote.
The presentation ceremony was attended by the councilor of the Data Center of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Ascensión Toledo, the head of the department, Miguel A. Martín Rosa, the treasurer of Atria, Natasha Meah, and the representative of the Canarian Studies Cabinet company, Eva Arranz.
Toledo positively valued the report, highlighting its importance in understanding and addressing gender inequalities in the local business environment. “This study provides us with a solid basis for implementing effective policies that promote equal opportunities. It is a necessary roadmap that better guides us, the public administrations, in making decisions about those policies that should be applied to help women entrepreneurs,” said Toledo.
For her part, Natasha Meah, treasurer of Atria, expressed her satisfaction with the culmination of this project. “This research is a crucial step to make visible the reality of women entrepreneurs and professionals in our islands and to promote significant changes.”
Meah also wanted to thank the Cabildo of Lanzarote “for supporting this initiative of our Atria, which we understand as something historic, significant, since it is surprising that until now there had not been a study on the quantification of women entrepreneurs, self-employed and entrepreneurs on the island. This study, for us, is something more and marks a new paradigm in feminism in Lanzarote,” concluded the representative of the group.
For the elaboration of the study, two methodologies were used: a quantitative one (analysis of statistical data and secondary sources) and a qualitative one (40 interviews with professional and entrepreneurial women), the latter being commissioned by the Data Center to the specialized company Gabinete Canario de Estudios.
Regarding the profiles of women entrepreneurs, the research describes the typical profile of women entrepreneurs in Lanzarote as a professional with higher academic training, who returns to the island after a period of studies and experience in other cities, and who seeks a better quality of life and work-life balance.
Motivations, brakes and lines of action
Among the main motivations for undertaking the study, it concludes that they are the desire for economic and personal independence, work-life balance and flexibility, and personal and professional development.
Likewise, among the most discarded brakes to undertake are the costs and administrative complexity, the lack of institutional and financial support, the low risk culture and the low recognition and visibility of female entrepreneurship.
On the other hand, the lines of action proposed to improve the situation of women professionals are those already mentioned of promoting training and entrepreneurial education, facilitating access to financial resources, promoting work-life balance and family support policies, strengthening support and mentoring networks, and making female entrepreneurship visible and promoting it.
