The Future of Business is Female

Workforce analysts predict that by 2018, more than half of American small businesses will be run by women.

Every March, Women’s History Month celebrates the storied accomplishments of women in American history. Successful women have played a vital role in shaping the course of life in America and around the world, and that role is only growing with time.

In business, it is no different, and that is reflected in our student body. Our female graduates have gone on to work as Chief Compliance Officers, business development executives and even started their own businesses. It is not surprising, then, that workforce analysts predict that by 2018, more than half of American small businesses will be run by women.

The numbers speak for themselves.

As of 2015, 9.4 million firms were owned by women, and those firms employed almost 8 million people.

Women play multiple roles; mother and career woman are no longer mutually exclusive. In fact, a 2013 Pew study showed in that 40 percent of households with children, the mother is the primary breadwinner.

NECB’s Janine Jacques, an associate professor and program chair, personifies this idea. In addition to having earned multiple degrees, including her doctorate, and working at NECB full-time, Jacques is a mother, an author and the founder of a nonprofit.

Females have an advantage, she thinks, in being better natural multi-taskers. But she emphasizes that women should be judged on an equal playing field to men – solely on their abilities. Women in business should not be celebrated for being women; they should be celebrated for being successful.

“It’s all about time management,” she explains. “Don’t have a life of excuses; have a life of action. Time is the only true currency.”

Every day, Jacques sets long-term goals and short-term goals, and positions her day to best achieve her priorities. She runs her life like a business, and her advice to women entering the business world is simple: be the CEO of your own life.

By setting clear goals and delineating methods to achieve them, women can continue to be successful, influential and have a clear impact on the world of business.

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