Not surprisingly therefore, research suggests that the social, political and cultural expectations regarding a women’s responsibilities for the home and family is one explanation as to why women-owned businesses do not grow as large as those owned by men (Ernst & Young, 2009). In general, women are less confident than men about whether they have the knowledge, skills and experience required to start and run a new business (Kelley et al., Differences between genders are particularly stark in developed economies, such as Japan, Western Europe, and the United States. In addition, women tend to be more risk-averse than their male counterparts and more likely to let fear of failure prevent them from starting a business (Kelley et al., Not surprisingly, there is a direct correlation between capability perceptions and the rates of early-stage entrepreneurship. In other words, in those economies where women have less confidence in their ability to startand run a new business,they are.infact,starting and running fewer businesses.