Last year was the country's best for entrepreneurship yet, according to a new report produced by Babson College.
The year 2018 saw early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) rates of 17.7 percent for men and 13.6 percent for women. What's more, those numbers also represent a narrowing of the gender gap between male and female entrepreneurs—their respective TEA rates are closer than ever before.
Babson College, the Wellesley-based institution whose undergraduate entrepreneurship programs have been ranked No. 1 by U.S. News and World Report for 23 years running, produced the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report as part of a global consortium of more than 500 researchers.
"Entrepreneurship can fill employment gaps in the economy and enable people to pursue the career they desire," Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) U.S. team leader and Babson College professor Julian Lange said in a statement. "It is therefore imperative to equip people with the ability to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities and start businesses when they need or choose to do so."
As part of the report, GEM researchers surveyed 31 high-income countries' entrepreneurial rates. The United States showed among the highest at 15.6 percent, with only Chile and Canada showing higher rates.
The GEM researchers also examined TEA rates by age, gender and race.
Although entrepreneurial activity was strong across the entire adult age spectrum from age 18 to 74, the 35-to-44 age group was the most active of all the studied age groups at 39.2 percent.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurial rates by gender are steadily increasing as these rates increase overall: Since 2015, researchers have noted a steady rise in the TEA rate of both men's and women's entrepreneurship in the United States. In 2015, the rate of men's TEA was 14.6 percent, while for women, it was 9.2 percent.
The year 2018 marked an all-time high with TEA rates of 17.7 percent and 13.6 percent, respectively.
And researchers found significant differences in TEA rates by race and ethnicity. African-Americans start businesses at a higher rate than both white and Latino people: 26.4 percent.
Gone are the days when people were launching businesses out of pure necessity, according to the report. A "great majority" of entrepreneurs were motivated by opportunity in 2018. Given last year's low unemployment rate, researchers noted in the statement, Americans have enough job options, but entrepreneurship represents a viable career path for many. A full 63 percent of Americans now believe entrepreneurship is a good career choice.
The full report is available online here.
Looking for a job in a local startup? Check out some of the firms that are hiring this month.
