Gender export gap in Scotland: research

5. Policy recommendations

Based on the evidence from data collected for the report, there are several ways for the Scottish Government to address the gender gap in exporting which will foster gender equality, help close gender wage gaps, and contribute to not only economic growth but also more inclusive economic growth. We propose that the Scottish Government undertake further investigation with women exporters (and those who have previously exported and those who wish to do so in the future) to understand their needs and how to meet them. For example, work needs to be done with women across varying sectors to help them understand the exporting landscape in Scotland.

Opportunities for increasing the number of women-led SME exporters in Scotland are related to the current growth barriers that are historically recognised, such as accessing finance, networks, and support. Specific recommendations for women-led SMEs in Scotland that can reduce barriers and increase opportunities to exporting include:

1. Running an export awareness campaign for women-led SMEs

A promotional and awareness campaign can showcase women exporters within the current enterprise support ecosystem events. Working with current partners such as Investing Women and Scottish Chambers of Commerce to provide relevant and reliable role models can increase awareness of export opportunities amongst the wider business base. Examples of women exporters conducting business from diverse markets and sectors are important to highlight that it can be achievable for all SMEs. The export campaign to generate awareness could be an annual event that integrates all stakeholders of the exporting process. This event could feature stands and speakers discussing the services and support they offer at each stage of the export process (e.g., logistic and shipping companies, banks, successful women exporters presenting their case studies, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, investors, accelerators, universities, etc.). This could provide transparency for entrepreneurs about the existing support and planned activities focused on exporting each year.

2. Providing a foundation programme of training and information on e-commerce for women-led SMEs

Providing training on the foundations for exporting products and services, platform sales, and social media marketing as a core offering can increase exposure to export opportunities and provide basic information as an initial step for women entrepreneurs. Piecemeal advice and support exists in Scotland, so avoiding duplication and ensuring that all business in Scotland have access to this is key. For example, a set programme delivered through Business Gateway’s Digital Boost, specifically for women-led businesses, would ensure a coherent and accessible offering of training such as (but not limited to) training in logistics, negotiation terms, pricing regulation and legal aspects to export. There should also be further information and training regarding the negative impact that SMEs have faced because of Brexit which could create information packs regarding trading in EU, regulations, market opportunities, tax implications etc. for women-led businesses.

3. Providing a programme of trade missions for women-led SMEs

This would involve three strands. Firstly, to introduce virtual trade missions which represent a cost and time effective way for women to begin to export, get to know international markets, and meet other business owners also considering export. They can be a steppingstone for joining physical trade missions. Existing ESOs, such as Investing Women and Scottish Africa Business Association, have had success delivering virtual missions. It is important to have a sector specific (e.g. retail, technology, manufacturing, health etc.) focus when organising these missions, but not exclude the potential from non-priority markets.

Secondly, expanding the current programme of women’s trade missions. There are currently very few women-only SME trade missions in Scotland. Increasing the programme of these missions to wider markets and diverse sectors would help women to access export markets. Partnering with current organisations that organise trade missions, such as the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, and organisations that run gender-specific trade missions, such as Investing Women, is the best route to this.

Finally, improving women’s participation in current trade missions through cohort mentors. Organisations like Scottish Chambers of Commerce and Scottish Development International run trade missions in various markets which report strong returns on investment for SMEs. Having a better representation of women-led SMEs would be beneficial to these trade missions. Having an experienced women founder as a mentor to guide a cohort of women on a trade mission would enable this and encourage greater participation.

4. Expanding existing export advisory services to cover all of Scotland for women entrepreneurs

Current services such as Highlands & Islands Export Advisory Service help SMEs plan to export and help to connect business to other programmes. Ensuring that these services are available across Scotland is key, specifically ensuring that they are available to women-led businesses. Considering the economic potential of exporting, these services should not be exclusive of specific sectors and markets and target SMEs with smaller turnover than generally currently looked at as exporting can be a trigger for early growth.

5. Increasing the international exposure of women’s networks

Having Scottish representation in women’s international networks, such as International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) Foundation, can improve the connections of Scottish women-led SMEs. Funding existing organisations initial membership and cohorts of women to participate in international conferences and missions can improve access to markets. Consider hosting the IWEC conference in Scotland to boost awareness of exporting, promote women’s enterprise, and provide international networking opportunities.

Partnering with women specific networks in countries, such as the Women’s Business Centre in the United States, the Women’s Enterprise Initiative in Canada, the West Africa Women in Energy network in West Africa offer important opportunities for Scotland. There are also organisations in the current enterprise support ecosystem that have access to these international networks.

6. Providing adequate finance and promoting financial literacy for women entrepreneurs

Tackling the barriers in access to credit and equity in export finance by introducing a programme which addresses underfunding faced by women by providing equity capital to support growth in global markets. Alongside this, would be the support to promote financial literacy through working with financial institutions to raise awareness and educate women entrepreneurs.

7. Investigating the links between exporting and productivity for both men and women-led SMES

SMEs who export in Scotland generate a higher turnover with a seemingly lower proportion of employees compared to non-exporters. This indicates that productivity in SME exporters is higher. Further research is needed to explore the links between exporting and business productivity to confirm and explain this.

8. Collating gender-segregated data for exporting in Scotland

Gender segregated data in self-employment and entrepreneurship has always been an issue but understanding what determines trade participation helps to ascertain how well gender equality and women’s empowerment is achieved, and whether the underlying conditions allow women and men to participate in trade equally and fully in Scotland. In 2018, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development developed a conceptual framework for gender-in-trade statistics. The framework aims to help policymakers identify the key issues relevant to gender and international trade measurement and support national statistical offices to review existing data. The framework considers four elements:

1. preconditions for the participation of women and men in trade: motivations, aspirations, resources, and constraints (this information could be pulled from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor which is country specific and also via a large-scale qualitative/quantitative scaling study);

2. outcomes reflecting the degree of involvement and roles of women and men in trade (a large-scale study would be required to capture the elements of this);

3. impacts including the effects of trade on employment, division of labour, income, empowerment, and wellbeing (there is the UK LSBS, the Office of National Statistics and the Export Performance Monitor (albeit this is fairly outdated with a 3-year lag) data available to begin the building of a national database); and

4. trade policy and other government interventions that may influence gender equality (the information is already being compiled at various levels re. entrepreneurial ecosystem by different agencies such as Scottish Enterprise, Interface etc. but this would be collated via secondary data collection). This could be adapted by the Scottish Government to collect data evidencing how women and men participate in international trade and how trade affects them.

This recommendation could be undertaken by using the framework as a boiler template for the Scottish context. This would require a Scotland-wide study to collate and combine the information e.g., pre-conditions with the current available data like employment. Furthermore, there is data available to the Scottish Government from the agencies who are part or fully-funded by the Scottish Government, but this would require a breakdown of gender of the compiled information e.g. how many attended the webinar on exporting to USA – is there a breakdown of how many women attended the webinar?

9. A mapping exercise of exporting support initiatives to be undertaken

A mapping exercise of the currently available support initiatives, policies, mechanisms and funding on both the wider support ecosystem and then specifically exporting would be a way of analysing internationalisation/exporting (between men and women). It would focus on areas of support with the potential for development. This recommendation would need to be undertaken in collaboration with the ESOs who offer exporting/internationalisation support and advice. A starting point would be to collaborate with Scottish Enterprise who collates an entrepreneurial ecosystem guide every year. This exercise would also provide some of the information and data needed to support Recommendation 8.

10. Aligning policy priorities for women-led SMEs

The policy recommendations can be met by aligning exporting support with the Women’s Business Centre, which was announced by the then First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon (Sturgeon, 2021), and with the Pathways Report (Stewart & Logan, 2023) to undertake several recommendations derived from the data. Furthermore, the recommendations align with the National Economic Transformation Strategy (Scottish Government, 2022a) where the Women’s Business Centre and the Women in Enterprise Framework are key to the “Entrepreneurial People and Culture” strand alongside the Scottish Government’s “A Trading Nation export growth plan” (Scottish Government, 2022b). This can be done by bringing together the Directorate for Economic Development and the Directorate for International Trade & Investment to work together, share data and to align their policy priorities to meet the key criteria of increasing and growing women-led businesses.