Industries With the Most Women-Owned Businesses (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Survey of Business Owners: Women-Owned Firms)
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in 2002, nearly 1-in-3 women-owned firms operated in health care and social assistance, and other services, such as personal services, and repair and maintenance. The number of women-owned businesses grew 20% between 1997 and 2002, which is twice the national average for all businesses.
Topic: Should the new administration offer incentives for investing in women-owned businesses?
Category: Institutional Press Release (Image)
What is it? A graph depicting the six industries which have the most women who own at least 51% of a private firm’s interest or stock of the business.
Publication Information: U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Survey of Business Owners: Women-Owned Firms
Location:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/img/womenbus.png
2002 Survey of Business Owners: Women-Owned Firms
Accessed: March 10, 2009. 18:30 PST
Support:
U.S. Census Bureau- According to Census.gov, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation’s people and economy. We honor privacy, protect confidentiality, share our expertise globally, and conduct our work openly.
Survey of Business Owners- The Survey of Business Owners (SBO) provides periodic data for all U.S. businesses based on the 2002 Economic Census and estimates of business ownership by gender, Hispanic or Latino origin, and race based on the 2002 SBO.
The SBO is part of the 2002 economic census and combines survey data from 2.4 million businesses with administrative data. The data collected in a sample survey are subject to sampling variability as well as errors. Sources of non-sampling errors include errors of response, non-reporting and coverage.
Audience and Agenda: The United States Code, Titles 13 and 26, authorizes these data collections and provides for mandatory responses. The Freedom of Information Act provides the American citizens with a means to access federal agency records. According to quantcast.com, Census.gov receives an estimated monthly traffic of 3.6 million U.S. viewers.
Usefulness: The graph formulated by the U.S. Census Bureau provides a clear indication of the industries women tend to have at least 51% of company stock. The fact that businesses owned by women grew by 20% between 1997 and 2002 shows the trend within the past two decades of steady increase in women business ownership. The analysis of the graph gives some credence to the idea that women simply have some catching up to do as far as business ownership is concerned. The authors of Why Women Mean Business- Understanding the Emergence of Our Next Economic Revolution, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland claim on a Videoblog about their book that women are not represented in business leadership to a sufficient degree.
2002 is the latest data that has been published by the SBO about women-owned businesses. At the rate they grew between 1997 and 2002, it would seem that women are on their way to achieving as many leadership positions as men currently have.
Works Cited:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/img/womenbus.png
http://www.inform.com/U.S.+Census+Bureau
http://www.census.gov/econ/overview/mu0200.html
http://www.quantcast.com/census.gov
http://www.whywomenmeanbusiness.com/view/0/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-GfEn2CeDs&feature=related
Filed under: Institutional Sources, Source Notes Tagged: | women-owned businesses
[...] Industries with the Most Women-Owned Businesses [...]