Women's Business Centers in the United States: Effective Entrepreneurship Training and Policy Implementation

Abstract

In the US, the passage of the Women's BusinessOwnership Act of 1988 (HR5050) provided seed funding for women's businesscenters through the Small Business Administration. Women's business centerswere targeted to provide technical assistance to women for business formation,particularly women who were socially and economically disadvantaged. Thisresearch examined women's business centers in the US to ascertain the successof a policy initiative targeted to provide training, technical assistance andsupport for entrepreneurship by women. We found that women's business centers in the United States are successfullyaccomplishing their mission. The success of women's business centers can beattributed to shared practices targeted specifically to women's situational andsocial capital needs. Tailored programming, a relationship-oriented approach,and activities that develop social capital are key practices consistently usedby women's business centers nationwide. US women's business centers provide aneffective model for entrepreneurship training and assistance for women.(Publication abstract)

Keywords: Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988, Social capital, Startups, Business assistance programs, Entrepreneurship education, Female business owners, Female entrepreneurs, Females, Gender, Program evaluation, Public policies