2018 news enterprisewisebecomesenterprisewomen centred 883x432 1

EnterpriseWISE becomes EnterpriseWOMEN

8 March 2018

The article at a glance

The new EnterpriseWOMEN programme at Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre features a Saturday format and new focus on sharing real-world practical guidance and …

The new EnterpriseWOMEN programme at Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre features a Saturday format and new focus on sharing real-world practical guidance and inspiration to reach a broader range of women entrepreneurs.

The EnterpriseWISE programme has been delivered by the Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School since 2012. In 2018, the Centre is re-launching the programme as EnterpriseWOMEN to reflect changes to the format and content that will appeal to a wider range of women with entrepreneurial ambitions. The announcement coincides with International Women’s Day.

The new EnterpriseWOMEN programme will be run on two Saturdays, compared to the previous full-weekend format running on two Saturdays and two Sundays, which will allow more busy career women with families to attend. The programme’s content has also been enhanced to focus more on sharing real-world practical guidance, information and inspiration, offering a much broader educational entrepreneurship foundation for women of various backgrounds and ambitions.

The content of day one will include Barriers and Expectations, Negotiation, and Women Entrepreneurs as Role Models; day two will include Creativity & Innovation in Cambridge, Money Matters: Getting Funded, and The Art of Pitching.

While women comprise more than half of Europe’s population, they account for just one third of the self-employed workforce and less than a third of startup entrepreneurs. Only 5% of British women identify with being entrepreneurial at all, and many startups now founded by women lie in the lifestyle sector that often has more limited scope for growth.

Rebecca Myers.
Dr Rebecca Myers

Dr Rebecca Myers, Head of Entrepreneurial Learning Programmes & Engagement at the Entrepreneurship Centre, said: “Women are innately creative, yet the great reserves of entrepreneurial potential we possess remains under-nourished. There are very real barriers to female entrepreneurship: being able to secure funding for our ideas; access to networks to help us get going; and the importance and influence of our family and the expectations this brings to bear on our business aspirations. EnterpriseWOMEN aims to spark a fresh enthusiasm and business confidence to encourage the next generation of female entrepreneurs.”

EnterpriseWOMEN aims to spark a fresh enthusiasm and business confidence to encourage the next generation of female entrepreneurs.

The next two-day programme runs on Saturday 12 May and Saturday 9 June 2018. Participants will learn how to nurture their inner entrepreneur through lectures, workshops and activities, networking and a closing dinner. It is open to women of all ages across the University of Cambridge including MPhil and PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, junior research fellows and other early or later stage career women. There will also be places for women in industry from across the Cambridge ecosystem who are keen to develop their entrepreneurial business ideas.