By: Susan Price

The gender pay gap remains all too real, but women around the world are closing the entrepreneurship gap. The divide between male and female founders has shrunk by 6% since 2012, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2014 Women’s Report.

The bi-annual report from Babson College and three other universities took a broad view of women’s participation in business creation, something that is increasingly recognized as crucial for the health of a nation’s economy. As more women participate in the workforce, their success ripples through the economy, as a woman’s income tends to go toward supporting children and education. And couples with two incomes are less likely to fall into poverty.

The 2014 report, which studied 83 economies, up from 61 in the previous report, shows that women are increasingly driving the world’s economies. But all is not rosy. Women are still being hampered by societal constraints and attitudes. As the report notes:

Subtle biases exist in many societies that suggest women have lower ambitions or are less capable, or that running businesses is inappropriate for them. This can, for example, inhibit their ability to gain access to growth capital. These biases need to be identified and eliminated so women entrepreneurs have the same opportunities as men to grow their businesses.

Women started more businesses.  In 2014, more than 200 million women were starting or running new businesses, a 7% increase.  Women in the United States were among the most likely to start companies (11% vs 26% of men).

Women were increasingly innovative. Women entrepreneurs in nearly half the surveyed economies were selling products and services that were new to consumers and not generally offered by competitors at rates equal to or higher than men.