Education as Determinant of Motivation and Performance of Women –Owned Small Firms. Evidence from Poland Hanna Mizgajska
Abstract The purpose of the study is to diagnose the relation between education of women owners and factors affecting their decision to set up a business. Furthermore, the study researches the impact of education and participation in training courses on the performance of the companies. The research concerned the operation of companies from 2005 to 2007 in Wielkopolska province and 109 women- managed enterprises were polled. The empirical material was processed by means of descriptive statistics and Spearman’s method of rank correlation coefficient The study confirmed the hypothesis that education and professional experience of women were decisive in prioritizing by them the external and internal factors which impacted the decision of setting up a company. The study showed that a significant factor influencing company growth and company performance was training courses. ________ Introduction In Poland, in the period of so-called planned socialist economy, professional activity of women tended to be high – higher than in Western European countries. However, since the transition to market economy that is since 1989 bankruptcy of many companies, particularly in light industry, seems to have affected women more than men. With unemployment at high level, employers were more willing to take on men rather than women. According to the research by Lisowska (2004), the index of female professional activity after 1989 plunged dramatically, especially among women with primary education only. Economic activity factor in this particular group of women went down from 32.9 to 9.2 percent between years 1992 and 2002. Significant decrease of economic activity was reported among women with primary vocational education, secondary vocational education and general secondary education (a drop of 9-10 per cent). As for women with higher education, the decrease in the economic activity was smaller (in 1992 it was at the level of 80.5 percent and in 2002 at the level of 78.7 percent)
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(Kobiety, 2004). At present, twenty years into the transformation, according to the statistical data published by Central Statistical Office in 2010 (GUS, 2011 p. 83), the employment index for Polish women is 52.8 percent and thus lower than the employment index for men (66.1 percent). It is also lower than the average for EU countries, where it reaches correspondingly 58.6 and 70.7 percent. Lower demand for workforce in private sectors of the economy and harder access to managerial positions results in women being more interested in setting up their own companies. According to Central Statistical Office data (2010 p.89.), the decision to set up was taken by more women with secondary and higher education (60.5 percent). Also among employers hiring other people, women with higher and secondary education constitute the majority (83.8 percent). Furthermore, nearly a half of female employers have higher education (42.3 percent).
1. Purpose and Method of the Research The study comprises two parts. The first part deals with the relation between formal education, professional experience and factors impacting woman’s decision to set up a business. Education is understood herein as the level of formal education and professional experience prior to the set up of one’s own company. Professional experience concerned work which complied with the line of new company operations. The study assumes that women’s level of education and their professional experience are decisive as for the hierarchy of importance of the factors (both push and pull ones) impacting the decision to set up a business. To investigate the motives for setting up one’s own company, a set of factors was selected which, in the opinion of experts, are crucial for Polish economic conditions. The choice was also determined by the possibility to compare the data
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against the results of the research carried out by IPSOS-Demoskop in 2001, which were published in 2002 by Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP, 2002). The purpose of the other part of the study is to diagnose the impact of education and participation in training courses on company performance. Three hypotheses have been put forward with regard to this part of the study: 1. Better educated women and those participating in training courses achieved better results as for company performance. 2. The level of education and participation in training courses had a positive impact on company growth. 3. Better educated women and those participating in training courses used credit facilities and EU projects to get finance more often. Company performance was measured by means of the following indicators: the level of satisfaction with profits and solvency according to Likert’s five-step scale and the value of achieved revenue and turnover. The level of satisfaction with profits and solvency serves as an indirect measure of company performance. Companies are quite unwilling to reveal their level of revenues and turnover. Only some of women-owners offered this data in the questionnaire. Next, employment increase and the extent to which credits and EU funds are used were also recognized as indicators linked with company performance. According to Marlow and Patton (2005) access to credit is of great importance for small business and influences the results achieved. The empirical material was collected by means of questionnaires administered by undergraduates of MA and Bachelor studies in the form of a face to face interview in targeted enterprises whose owners are women. The research concerned the operation of companies from 2005 to 2007 in Wielkopolska province and 109 women- managed enterprises were polled. A vast majority of the polled companies were micro companies (98) and small ones
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(11).The empirical material was processed by means of descriptive statistics and Spearman’s method of rank correlation coefficient. 2. Aspects of Research on Entrepreneurship of Women in Poland. In Poland, research on „female entrepreneurship” started with the transformation period that is in 1989. Before that time, it had been believed that the issue of gender in management is non-existent. The study of entrepreneurship among women in Poland focuses mainly on issues connected with the job market. Prevailing are the studies on female workforce which accentuate low indexes of professional activity, as well as high unemployment (Rollnik-Sadowska 2009, Lisowska 2008). Some of these studies refer to the examples from other countries, like Hungary and the Czech Republic (Lisowska 2001). In the job market analyses, prevailing are studies concerning professional segregation of women, differentiation of career paths, inequalities in remuneration between men and women and, what follows, the problem of “glass ceiling” in access to decision-making positions (Budrowska, Duch-Krzysztoszek, and .Titkow, 2003, Balcerzak-Paradowska, Graniewska, Głogosz, Hebda-Czaplicka, Kolaczek, and Usciska 2003, Lisowska 2008, Mandal 2007, Niemczewska, Mrowiec, and Paterek 2007, Gawrych,Wasilczuk, and Zwiech 2007, Mrzygłód 2008). There are fewer studies on company management in cases where it is women who manage the company. These issues are dealt with in the analysis of motives for setting up companies by women, barriers, and a so called „female management style”. There is a relative abundance of studies concerning the motives for setting up companies by women, as well as economic and educational barriers (Zapalska 1997, Raport 2001, Lisowska 2001, Mizgajska 2008a, Rollnik – Sadowska 2010). The problem of internal and external factors influencing the decision to set up and the problem of barriers was initiated by Zapalska’s studies (1997) and by IPSOS- Demoskop in 2001 (PARP, 2002). Studies on comparing the importance of these factors as an incentive to set up a company in
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Poland, Ukraine and Latvia were further continued by Lisowska (2001). Also Mizgajska (2008a p. 183-195) researched the impact of external (pull) and internal (push) factors on the decision of women from Wielkopolska province to found a company. Studies on the barriers in running a small business have a more diversified character. Beside research on economic, administrative and educational barriers in setting up small and medium size companies, which started in 2001 (PARP 2002) and which repeated, among others, in the research by Mizgajska (2008 a), other studies began to appear. According to Rollnik-Sadowska (2009 p.136), the main factor hindering the move to set up a company was lack of capital and difficulties in raising it, and according to Auleytner (2007 p.25), also lack of qualifications or expertise. The notion of “female management style” was in turn the focal point of research by Zapalska (1997), Mizgajska (2008 a), Lisowska (2009) and Kupczyk (2009). Zapalska (1997 p. 76-82) concluded that men and women have different aims in managing the company. For women, these were: long-term profitability, personal satisfaction and profit, which was usually reinvested. Similar conclusions were reached by Mizgajska (2008a p.183-195). Her study reveals that women with higher and secondary education, as well as women participating in training courses declared profitability in the long-term and allocated less financial means for consumption while investing to increase tangible assets of the company. Studies by Lisowska (2009) and Kupczyk (2009) concern the success factors among women. Lisowska (2009 p.127-131) compared the success factors for female owners and female managers. According to her research, issues like a good image in the professional environment, previous professional success, or some school or university training were of less importance to the owners than to the managers. Instead, female company owners attached significantly greater importance than female company managers to issues like readiness to implement life changes, support from the family, coincidence or chance. Kupczyk (2009 p.
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95-120) studied the success factors for women in management, as perceived by middle and high managers. The respondents in her research identified the following notions as success factors: skills, knowledge, psychological features, and behavior patterns. Education, ethics and psycho-physical condition ranked lower on the list. Anglo-Saxon literature on the notion of female entrepreneurship is far vaster. It includes studies on the theory of female entrepreneurship, which are absent in Polish literature of the subject. According to Brush and Edelman (2000 p. 445-484), the most popular theories explaining the way business is run by women comprise psychological theories such as the theory of motivation, traits and competence, as well as feminist theories; moreover, the theory of careers and institutional theory. According to the above mentioned authors, within the literature on female entrepreneurship published between 1982 and 1995, over 50 percent of the research concerned demographic characteristics of women, experience, education, personal factors, motives, attitudes and their impact on the decision to set up a company. 25 percent of the research dealt with the organizational activity or strategy of the companies which the women ran. The organizational activity concerned internationalism, alliances, joint-ventures and strategies. Less, for only 15 percent of the studies published, concerned entrepreneurial process. And the smallest number of studies, only 10 percent, dealt with defining the impact of the environment on the entrepreneurial process. Most researches concerning female entrepreneurship take the form of comparisons against male entrepreneurship, fewer concern women as such. Studies whose subject is female entrepreneurs compare groups of women identified according to demographic criteria.
3. The Notion Studied and Literature
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Studies of reasons for setting up a business, as carried out in Poland, were mainly in the context of comparison against companies run by men (Zapalska1997, PARP 2002, Lisowska 2001, Mizgajska 2008a). Studies of factors influencing setting up a business concerned the importance of factors classified as external (push factors) and internal (pull factors) ones. The key factors in setting up a business in 2001 (PARP 2002) for both men and women were: lack of other possibilities, favorable market conditions and unemployment. According to the research from 2005 (Mizgajska 2008a), however, the factors were: favorable market conditions, dissatisfaction with current job and unemployment. Anglo-Saxon literature shows many kinds of classifications and studies of factors motivating women to set up a company. The best known one is the theory of “push and pull factors” (Shapero, and Sokol 1982; Hisrich, and Brush 1985). As “push” factors, the authors classified the following items: frustration, dissatisfaction with the job, burnout and being bored with previous job. The following items were classified as “pull” factors: independence, self-reliance, education, and family security. According to the research by the same authors and the research by Clain (2000) and Orhan and Scott (2001), the push factors constitute the main incentive for women to set up a company, whereas the pull factors constitute an incentive for men. On the other hand, according to recent studies by Kirkwood (2010), carried out in New Zealand, the decision of both men and women to set up a company was influenced by a nexus of push and pull factors. Another classification, according to Bartol and Martin (1998) is a division into factors concerning as follows: personal profile of the entrepreneur, life path or environmental factors. Partboteeach (2000) classifies motivation in a very similar way, into features connected with the experience of the entrepreneur, personality of the entrepreneur and the environment of the entrepreneur.
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Relations between education of women and their motives to set up a company were not too frequently studied. Relations between education of women and psychological traits motivating women to set up a company were researched by Okhomina (2007p.10). Okhomina concluded that the level of education moderates the relations among the three psychological traits, such as: the need to achieve, commitment to gain inner control and tolerance of ambiguity, as well as entrepreneurial orientation. This means that the entrepreneur with a high level of internal motivation combined with high level of education is more innovative and competitive than the others. Education and its connection with the motivating factors for setting up a company were researched while analyzing the socio-demographic characteristics of female company owners. According to Uhlaner and Thurick (2007) women’s decisions to set up a company depend, among others, on such demographic characteristics as age, or number of small children. Kuratko and Hodgetts (1995) concluded that lack of experience and managerial skills is the key motivation standing in the way of setting up a company. As for the relation between education and company performance, there are several studies dealing with this theme. Vesper (1983) in his study stressed the positive relation between the level of education or professional experience and the success in setting up a new company. Also many other authors concluded that there is a positive relation between the level of education prior to the company set up and the performance of the new company (Box, White, and Barr 1993, Brush, and Hisrich, 1991). Jo and Lee (1996) in Korea found that, as for their focus group of new companies, founder’s level of education impacts company profitability. Similar conclusions were reached by Sapenza and Grimm (1997) when they studied the impact of founder’s education on the performance of the new companies. Studying the focus group of 220 women-managed companies in Israel, Lerner, Brush, and Hisrich 1995) found that human capital and education have a decisive influence on company
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performance. Their research showed that most women entrepreneurs had a bachelor or master degree. The results of other studies stress the influence of managerial experience and training courses on the success or failure rate of the companies (Steinem, and Solem 1988, Batjargal 2005). Segal, Borgia, and Schenfeld (2009) found that human capital, as measured by the level of education and managerial experience, had a positive impact on company performance. Also the research by Inmyxai, and Takahashi (2009 p.29-47) carried out in Laos among 378 entrepreneurs confirmed that the level of entrepreneur’s education is positively correlated with company performance as measured by annual turnover and the level of sales. 4. Profile of the Companies Studied 109 companies managed by women took part in the research carried out in 2008 in Wielkopolska province. Most of the women polled were managing service companies (56 percent of women), 34.8 percent were managing trading companies, 17.4 percent were managing mixed profile companies, that is production-service and trade. Only 1.8 percent was managing production companies. About a half of the companies polled (45 percent) had been operating on the market for over a decade. A vast majority of women managed micro companies (89.9 percent) which employed up to 10 workers. The rest of the women (10.1 percent) managed small businesses (from 10 to 49 workers). The size structure of companies managed by women in the herein study was similar to that in Poland. In Poland, the women who decided to run their own business in Wielkopolska province were well educated. Almost a half of them (48.6 percent) had higher education and 37.6 percent - secondary education. Yet, the women, entrepreneurs from the polled companies, lacked experience. Only 23.4 percent of women used to work on a managerial position before setting up their own company, and over a half of them had a job which was not connected with their present business. While industry trainings in 2005-2007 were taken
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by 23.9 percent of companies, and management and accountancy trainings were taken by 15.7 percent, every third company managed by women (35.7 percent) declared that it did not take advantage of any training in the researched period. Not even Occupational Health and Safety training. Yet, as compared against earlier studies carried out by the author (Mizgajska 2007), the situation improved slightly in Wielkopolska province: in 2005 the trainings were not used by as much as 45.7 percent of the respondents, still, the frequency of taking training courses, as measured by the number of the days allocated for the training, is low. Within the three years which were analyzed, statistically 8.6 days were allocated for trainings by the female business owners. 7.8 days were allocated for the industry training and only 0.9 of a day was allocated for management and accountancy training. Female business owners who did not participate in trainings managed very small companies, employing some three workers. Also, their education was worse, as compared to the education of the owners who did participate in trainings: only 35.9 percent of them had higher education as compared to 55.7 percent. Moreover, before setting up a company, one third of the owners had worked in their professions, but only 10 percent of them on managerial positions. 5. Education and Motives for Setting up a Company Education of women are defined by the level of their education and professional experience before setting up a company. Professional experience concerned work experience which complied with the profile of the new business. For the purpose of the study, the set of selected factors is the same as the ones which, according to the study carried out by PARP and published in 2002 (PARP 2002), were important for Polish reality. External factors, as researched, comprise: favorable market conditions, lack of other work perspectives, unemployment, parental example, family relations, and the „glass ceiling” effect. The above factors were classified as external, since
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they belong to business environment and tend to take the shape or external motivation to become self-employed. These motivation kinds may be forced: unemployment, no other perspectives or free: favorable market conditions or parental example. In the researched period, the key motive to set up a company for all groups of women was favorable market conditions. This factor was suggested by most respondents with higher education (77.4 percent), secondary education (63.4 percent) or those with some professional experience in current occupation (72.2 percent). This is good news, as it proves a marked improvement in the conditions conducive to the development of entrepreneurship. To compare, in 2001 (PARP 2002 p.290) the key reason behind setting up a company was „ lack of other possibility to earn a living” (41 percent of women). “Favorable market conditions” were ranked second as a reason behind the decision; however it was declared by only one third of the women polled. No satisfaction with previous job was second most important factor for women with higher education (32.1 percent), secondary education (39.1 percent) and for the women whose job was compatible with their future business activity (33.3 percent). Unemployment ranked as the third most important factor behind the decision to set up a company. It was so for both women with higher education (24.5 percent) and those with secondary education (36.6 percent). Also women who had no previous professional experience compatible with the profile of the company they set up (36.4 percent) declared unemployment as a reason behind their decision to set up a company. “Unemployment” is still an important reason behind becoming self-employed, which is revealed also by the Demoskop 2001 studies (PARP, 2002 p.290). A similar percentage of women in both studies (Demoskop study: 34 percent) declared it was a threat of unemployment which made them set up on their own.
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This means, that the job market, ever difficult for women, forces them to become selfemployed, and thus drives business development and entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the role of family impact as a reason behind setting up a company increased. Parental example was an important factor, especially for women with secondary education (17 percent) and those having professional qualifications (14.8 percent). The role of family relations, in turn, was essential for women with higher education (17 percent) and women with no professional qualifications (18.2 percent). According to the Demoskop study from 2001, only 13 percent of women declared parental example as the reason, and only 9 percent of them said so about family relations. The increasingly influential impact of family enterprise on the decision to set up a company means, that the culture and lifestyle of entrepreneurial social stratum is passed on from generation to generation. The ability to operate on the market, which needs expertise arising from experience, also plays an important role in the development of entrepreneurship. Thus, it is in families, that the predispositions to be self-employed develop. The last factor to be analyzed is the „glass ceiling” effect. So far, this factor has not been an important motive in the decision to set up a company in Polish environment (Mizgajska, 2008). Presently, its role is decreasing. It was pointed as a motivating factor by 11.3 of women with higher education and 10.9 percent of women whose qualifications were not compatible with the profile of the company they were setting up. The effect of the glass ceiling concerns especially well-educated women who, in comparison to men, have less access to good positions and remuneration. Table 1. External factors influencing the decision to set up a company ( percent) according to education and previous employment. No.
1
External factors
Favorable market
higher
77.4
secondary vocational Used to work in their profession 63.4
46.7
72.2
Did not work in their profession 63.6
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conditions 2
No other possibilities
7.5
22.0
33.3
9.3
23.6
3
Dissatisfaction with current job
32.1
39.0
20.0
33.3
32.7
4
Lack of development perspectives
22.6
22.0
13.3
22.2
20.0
5
Unemployment
24.5
36.6
13.3
18.5
36.4
6
Parental example
13.2
17.1
0.0
14.8
10.9
7
Family relations
17.0
7.3
13.3
7.4
18.2
8
”Glass ceiling” effect
11.3
7.3
0.0
5.6
10.9
The following were classified as internal factors: pursuing independence, inner need to be active, the need of decent pay, the need to be one’s own boss, the need to fulfill one’s personal ambitions, the need to dominate, wish to prove one’s value, tendency to take risks. Table 2. Internal factors influencing the decision to set up a company ( percent)
according to education and previous employment. .
No.
External factors
higher
secondary vocational
Used to Did not work in work in their their profession profession 88.9 65.5
1
Pursuing independence
83.0
78.0
53.3
2
Inner need to be active
49.1
36.6
46.7
44.4
43.6
3
Need of decent pay
43.4
61.0
40.0
48.1
50.9
4
Need to be one’s own boss Need to fulfill one’s personal ambitions Need to dominate
39.6
41.5
46.7
42.6
40.0
50.9
31.7
26.7
48.1
32.7
9.4
9.8
6.7
9.3
9.1
5 6
The internal factor to be most frequently quoted by all the women, regardless of their education level and previous professional experience, was „pursuing independence”. This factor proved to be the most important one also in the research on female entrepreneurship carried out in 2001 (PARP p. 291).
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The order of importance for the remaining factors depends on education and the professional situation of women. For women with higher education, the key motivation to set up a company was: the need to fulfill one’s personal ambitions (50.9 percent), inner need to be active (49.1 percent) and the need of decent pay (43.4 percent). For women with secondary education this was: the need of decent pay (61.1 percent), the need to be one’s own boss (41.5 percent) and the inner need to be active (36.6 percent). As for the women with primary education only, the factors ranked as follows: the need to be one’s own boss and inner need to be active (46.7 percent) and the need of decent pay (40 percent). The need of decent pay was second most frequently mentioned motivation factor both for women whose previous job complied with the profile of their newly set company (48.1 percent) and those who did not work in their profession (50.9 percent). The data resulting from the research was compared against the data from the researches carried out in Anglo-Saxon countries. In several studies, the highest ranking internal motivation factor is pursuing independence (Gofee, and Scase, 1985, Buttner, and Moore 1997, Humbert, and Drew 2010). The wish to receive decent pay is also frequently stressed as one of the reasons behind the decision to be self-employed (Orhan, and Scott, 2001, Humbert, and Drew 2010). The need to achieve higher remuneration is connected with the country’s level of economic development and the standard of living of its citizens. Thus, expectations of women in Poland, especially in the polled groups of entrepreneurs, focus on the financial factor. 4.Education and Company Development Spearman’s rank correlation was applied in order to verify the hypotheses concerning the impact of education level and participation in training courses on the development of the enterprise. As a result of the study the hypotheses were partly confirmed.
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The level of satisfaction with revenues and solvency grew with the level of education of women managers. However, there was no significant correlation between the level of education and the declared level of revenues or turnover. This may have resulted from a too small number of women who actually filled in the questionnaire section with regard to the latter values. The women who participated in accountancy courses were more satisfied with the revenue and solvency; they also declared higher revenues and turnover. Participation of women owners in accountancy courses also impacted the growth of their companies as measured by the increase in employment. There was no marked correlation between the level of education and company growth, use of credit facilities or applying for EU funds. However, the use of credit facilities by women owners is correlated with participation in management courses, while applying for EU funds is linked with participation in industry courses. A higher level of managerial skills helps the women owners to better discern credit opportunities as well as to achieve higher credibility at banks. Also, it is the women owners who participated in industry training that applied for EU funds. A low percentage of companies applying for EU funds (6.5 percent) was a result of a specific line of business managed by women. Mostly, these were trading companies or commercial services companies such as hair-dresser’s, restaurants, chemist’s, beauty parlors and small corner shops. Most of them answered the question of why they did not apply for the funds saying that there was no need for that (45.9 percent) or that they lacked the information about the EU funds (23.9 percent). Table 3. Results for Spearman’s correlation Variables
Level of satisfaction with revenues
Education level
0.2221266 *
Participation in industry training
Participation in accountancy courses
Participation in management courses
0.05786
0.263768*
0.158120
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Level of satisfaction with solvency Revenue value
0.245180 *
0.084574
0.241383*
0.091324
0.290965
-0.060745
0.328067*
0.276215
0.260370
-0.153050
0.328067*
0.276215
0.074340
-0.111182
0.224967*
0.237200*
0.136437
0.128238
0.134321
0.246336*
-0.148201
0.199459*
0.089573
-0.002911
Turnover value Employment increase Credit facility use Applying for EU funds
* the correlation is relevant at the level of p< 0.05 Research showed that qualifications are an important factor influencing the development of companies run by women. It also revealed that the key factor was participation in training courses (table 4). The research did not confirm any link between the level of women’s education and participation in training courses, an issue which was often raised in other researches. From research by Kołaczyk [2003 p.281], which was carried out for private business sector, the training courses were more often participated by women with secondary or higher education rather than primary education only. Her research showed that better educated women used training courses more often. As for herein study, interest of women entrepreneurs in their own development did not prove to be directly connected with university education. There was, however, a significant connection between participating in management or accountancy courses and experience of work at managerial position prior to starting a company. Management or accountancy courses were also participated by women who had some professional experience complying with the line of the new business. Table 4. Impact of education and professional experience on participation of women in training courses. Variables Level of education
Participation in industry training 0.068073
Participation in accountancy courses 0.118739
Participation in management courses 0.155317
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Women with managerial experience Women with professional experience
-0.154476
0.197639*
0.311438*
-0.083127
0.231945*
0.089390
* the correlation is relevant at the level of p< 0.05 Conclusion The study revealed the changes in the importance of factors impacting women’s decision to set up a business in 2007 as compared against the results of the study carried out in 2001 by Polish Agency for Entrepreneurship. An important result of the research is the analysis of relations between education and company performance as for companies managed by women after Poland’s accession to the EU. However, any generalization of the studied connection must be treated with caution, due to insufficient number of the companies studied. The study confirmed the hypothesis that education and professional experience of women were decisive in prioritizing by them the external and internal factors which impacted the decision of setting up a company. The hierarchy of importance based on external factors was less diversified than that based on internal ones. Favorable market conditions proved to be the most important external motivation to set up a company, regardless of women’s level of education or their experience. Pursuit of independence, on the other hand, was the key internal motivation. Unemployment as an external factor remained an important reason behind setting up a company, especially for both women with higher or secondary education or those declaring lack of professional experience. Influences of the family and the “glass ceiling effect” were among factors whose role increased as compared against the results of earlier studies carried out in Poland (PARP 2002).
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Family influence was important especially for women with secondary or vocational education and those who had some professional experience. The „glass ceiling effect”, in turn, was important for women with higher education. As for the remaining internal factors, an eminent position is occupied by the need of decent pay, which was declared by most groups of women. This factor is an important reason behind the decision to set up a company with regard to women with secondary or vocational education. The study showed that a significant factor influencing company growth and company performance was training courses. Better educated women and those who took advantage of training courses were more satisfied with revenues and solvency. Female entrepreneurs who participated in courses used credit facilities to a greater extent. They also applied for the EU funds. Accountancy courses have a very special role here. Knowledge gained through these courses is truly useful for managing a company. It is especially so, as small and micro businesses do not maintain their own accountancy department but use the services of accounting agencies instead. As for the accounting agencies, they cannot serve as expert advisors for lack of suitable competence. Thus, accountancy courses are essential for female entrepreneurs. However, participation level of female managers from small business sector in training courses, especially management ones, is far from satisfactory. Institutions supporting small business and medium companies face a major challenge. An option of free trainings or trainings vastly subsidized with EU funds is worth considering here. Another issue which needs mentioning is the role of a coach, who would be familiar with problems and hardships facing small business. Training of future coaches and advisors for small business is a task for economic universities. Economic universities should also launch postgraduate studies in
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