This informative book is a comprehensive, research-based text on for educators, trainers and policy makers. It provides an insightful analysis into the range of issues facing female entrepreneurs around the world, along with recommendations as to how support agencies, educators and trainers can best respond to the challenge of encouraging more women to get involved in the new business creation. Based on a collection of research papers from international scholars based in the UK, mainland Europe, the USA and Australia, it provides a superbly comprehensive analysis of the challenges and opportunities faced by female entrepreneurs worldwide. With contributors from Sara Carter, Candida Brush, John Watson and Elisabet Ljunggren, the book helps advance the general understanding of female entrepreneurship and helps set a research agenda on how best to promote female owned/led businesses nationally and internationally.

Foreword Julie Kenny - Chair of the Small Business Council (SBC) 1. Introduction Part 1 - Understanding Female Entrepreneurship 2. Female Entrepreneurship - Empirical Evidence and Theoretical Perspectives 3. Gender Differences in the Goals of Owner-Operated SMEs 4. Attitudes Towards Entrepreneurship Among Female and Male Undergraduates 5. Media Expressions of Entrepreneurs - Presentation and Discourses of Male and Female Entrepreneurs in Norway 6. An Exploration of Networking Practices of Female Entrepreneurs Part 2 - Promoting Female Entrepreneurship 7. Women and New Business Creation - Breaking Down the Risk Barriers 8. Enhancing Women's Financial Strategies for Entrepreneurial Success 9. Women in Engineering and Technological Self-Employment: Initiates Towards Overcoming the Obstacles 10. Identifying Best Practice in the Promotion of Female Entrepreneurship 11. Conclusions - Implications for Education, Training and Policy