Access to finance in small business : does gender count?

![CDATA[According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2007 there were 1.9 million business operators in Australia, of whom one third were female (ABS, 2008) and, on average, had been in business for less than four years. Compared to their male counterparts, women are more concentrated in the industries of retail trade, health care and social assistance, accommodation and food services. Men, on the other hand dominate the construction, transport, postal and warehousing and manufacturing industries. Female operated business earn less; have less business support; have lower growth aspirations and tend to be more educated when compared to men. An identified factor contributing to these discrepancies is access to finance, with more women than men fearing that a lack of finance and a fear of debt would prevent them from starting a business. Gender-based differences in access to finance may explain why female-owned firms tend to be smaller and concentrated in highly competitive sectors with low entry barriers (Carter and Marlow, 2006; Brush et al., 2010). If women are unable to access business finance on equitable 'terms, the growth of their firms may be constrained, with flow-on implications for economic growth. This pattern of access to finance raises interesting issues when viewed against the available state-based support for emerging entrepreneurs. The Australian and State/Territory governments have introduced a number of programs to fund small business by way of grants, low interest loans and equity finance. Additionally specifically targeted business support programs such as Women in Business Mentoring Program, have been put in place. This paper will present the results of a review analysis of recent submissions to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services review (2011) coupled with a qualitative survey of policy markers, advisers, and small business operators in Australia in mid 2011. The findings provide evidence that access to finance is a major barrier for women entrepreneurs. Additionally there are inherent and systematic barriers to accessing information concerning the available government support programs. The paper will conclude by providing policy direction to minimise the obstacles for women operators of small business given their important role in this sector.]]