From October 19 through 26, Montclair State University will be celebrating the sixth annual Women Entrepreneurship Week with speakers, conferences and other activities. At a time when many people are trying to tear down gender-based barriers, the divisions between men and women are still enough to warrant gender-specific events like this one, according to some experts.

“In general, women are more likely than men to face hurdles in launching a startup, with the biggest one being financing,” said Sharon Waters, interim director and program manager of the university’s Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship, and manager of Women Entrepreneurship Week. “Funders are still predominantly men and, whether intentional or not, the results show that male founders are more likely to secure capital than female founders. Access to funding has a huge impact on establishing and running a company.” [Waters is a former editor at NJBIZ]

Would-be women entrepreneurs also have fewer role models, “because there are fewer women entrepreneurs,” she added. “Of course, a woman can be mentored by a man, but if she wants advice about overcoming the funding obstacle, she has fewer role models. This is one reason why we created Women Entrepreneurship Week, so that women could be inspired by hearing the stories of successful female founders. At Montclair State, all of our WEW speakers are women, and we do that so the early-stage founders and college students in the audience can look at the stage and see successful role models who look like them.”

The good news, according to Waters, is that “Women entrepreneurs are increasing in number. But the area where improvement is still needed is that women-owned businesses employ fewer people and have lower revenues. This is why support is still needed for female founders, whether it’s a nuts-and-bolts training class or the chance to network during a Women Entrepreneurship Week event.”

Doing it their own way

Tyra Causey, owner of the business services company Amelioration LLC, can relate to that. “There is a difference between the way men and women approach the process of establishing and running a company,” said Causey, whose company provides human resources, administrative, bookkeeping support and other services. “I’ve heard it referred to as the 80-20 rule. Women often, but not always, think they must have at least 80 percent of the knowledge regarding a project or initiative before they move ahead. I see this a lot in women-owned startups that I consult with. They want to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t.’”

But it’s different for many men. “They have a 20 percent mindset,” according to Causey. “If they have small bit of knowledge, many still seem to be confident and they’ll move ahead quickly. They don’t worry about the ‘i’ or the ‘t’ or any letter. But the detail that women bring to the table is very important. For example, among other services, I’m able to help clients get organized, and get their books and records in better shape.” She thinks society and its view of a woman’s place has a lot to do with the situation. “Growing up, I was treated a lot differently than my brother was,” she said. “He was allowed and encouraged to do many more things.”

Causey began to develop her moxie during her 16 years in the U.S. Air Force. But even there, she found that “men are able to compartmentalize things more. They can say, ‘I have a mission to do’ and they can put their family and other considerations aside while they get it done. I’m still thinking about my family and trying to juggle the work-life balance.”

Still, the younger entrepreneurs she works with “shake that off,” Causey noted. “Younger men and women don’t want to be put in a box. When they were growing up, many were raised to expect they would accomplish great things regardless of their gender. As for me, I’ve shaken off many of the restrictions I grew up with, but not all of them. For example, even though I’ve got a successful, growing business, I still won’t take out the trash. I’ve got a husband and grown children to do that.”

Confidence and details

“I was coaching a woman that had her own perfume line, and she was having a hard time moving her inventory,” recalled Jasmine Cordero-West, an associate director at Rutgers Business School Newark and New Brunswick who focuses on entrepreneurship programs. “As we are talking, she tells me that she used to work in a jewelry store and she was able to sell the product successfully there. I realized that the issue she had was selling her own product. She lacked confidence.”

Once she realized that, the business owner was able to sell more, Cordero West said.

Society’s got a lot to do with it, she added. “Women are raised to freely express emotions and be nurturers,” she said. “The same difference we see with women and men in the workplace are similar to the difference we see in how they each run small businesses.”

But women “are usually more concerned about the details,” she added. “This helps them create a strong foundation for their businesses. Women are very good in created processes and procedures and build strong operations. Also, women tend to seek advice more often than men. More women seek out mentors and coaches. This enables them to get a lot more … perspectives, and pivot when they need to and make changes and adjustments that will help their businesses.” But that confidence issue can be a big drag. Said Cordero-West, “When it comes to their own business, women may not go after a good deal or negotiate better terms because they lack confidence.”