How Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystems Incorporate a Gender Lens: Insights and recommendations from six European countries

According to the OECD, social entrepreneurship helps address social and environmental challenges, while promoting inclusive economic growth, shared prosperity and social inclusion. Given the need for women and gender minorities to be able to create their social entreprises and participate in sustainable growth in Europe, the Coop4Equality project was designed to allow for better consideration of gender-related issues in this ecosystem.

The Coop4Equality project, for Cooperation for a Gender-Equal Social Economy, is carried out within the framework of the Erasmus+ programme, in partnership with a consortium of 6 organisations based in Germany, France, Belgium, Romania, Greece and Portugal. 

In December 2024, Empow'Her published the Coop4Equality study, which analyses how the European social entrepreneurial ecosystem integrates a gender approach. This publication is a preliminary step to better understand gender mainstreaming in the field, and to propose methodologies adapted to each issue. Conducted among 92 organisations in the 6 countries of the project, the study provides a series of recommendations to strengthen gender mainstreaming in the European social entrepreneurial ecosystem. It reveals, in particular, that the predominance of women in the social entrepreneurship sector does not prevent the persistence of gender bias.

While individual commitment is essential, Empow'Her is also in favour of the dissemination of new methodologies to build an inclusive ecosystem and combat the systemic dimension of gender inequalities.