The conference was opened by the president of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development. She quoted the results of the survey on the entrepreneurship among women in Poland conducted by the agency and stressed how important the role of women in the Polish economy is.
Women constitute 51.6% of the Polish society and more than 50% of the working-age population. Entrepreneurship among Polish women is one of the highest in the whole EU (9th place). The share of companies managed by women in the total number of businesses is 33.4% (31% in the EU), which means that one in three companies in Poland was set up and is run by a woman. – Said Bożena Lublińska-Kasprzak.
The president of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development drew everyone’s attention to the fact that there is no “male” or “female” entrepreneurship. Everyone who starts his or her own business has similar motivations, hopes, expectations and concerns. Everyone has to face similar institutional barriers and economic fluctuations. The only difference for women is that they have the obligation to look after their children and parents. Therefore, it is so important to create mother-friendly workplaces.
There is one thing I always knew for sure: there is a certain sphere of my life that depends solely on me. I personally tried and tested different options to find out that I can do anything if I want to. I worked in a corporation for 12 years and I couldn’t imagine myself being on the other side. Today I know that your own business means freedom and flexible working time. But you have to remember that women will always have to choose between running their own company and being a mother who has to combine work with family life. – Said Olga Kozierowska, president of Sukces Pisany Szminką.
Olga Kozierowska also stressed that she has a “chronic perseverance syndrome”, which makes her never give up and always have a long-term plan in her head. Professor Elżbieta Mączyńska, President of the Polish Economic Society, added: It doesn’t matter where you are but where you are going to. Nina Kowalewska-Motlik, president of New Communications, emphasised the need for system changes. In her opinion, there are still many stereotypes (e.g.: in schoolbooks) that stop girls who want to be enterprising from an early age. Beata Jarosz, vice-president of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, stressed that women have to be more self-assured and daring in aspiring for the highest positions in companies and supervisory boards and to compete with men with confidence.
The female debaters also talked about how important new technologies have become, how education influences developing creativity among children, about the need of cooperation between business and science as well as between large corporations and start-up firms. They also emphasised the need for women’s financial independence as well as mentoring and coaching support.
Women should take part in such debates as often as possible in order to network, communicate and share experiences. – Encouraged Anna Zawadzka, Managing Director at Better Leaders Academy.
Are Polish women enterprising? As Daria Gołebiowska-Tataj, president of Vital Voices Poland, said: There are three answers to this questions: “yes”, “no” and “who knows?” All people have entrepreneurship in their genes – the question is what they do about it…
The conference was organised by Teraz Polska magazine and Vital Voices Poland, with the support of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and the Polish Promotional Emblem Foundation.
More information: the Foundation of the Polish Promotional Emblem „Teraz Polska”.