Viewpoint February 4, 2010, 12:15AM EST

Addressing the Dearth of Female Entrepreneurs

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Indian divisions of some of the world's foremost financial institutions, including HSBC (HBC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), UBS (UBS), and Fidelity International are run by women, Heather Timmons of The New York Times points out. "Half of the deputy governors at the Reserve Bank of India are women," she writes.

India's finance industry is newer, and women there may contend with fewer entrenched players, says Cindy Padnos, managing director of Illuminate Ventures, who has been researching the role of women in high tech.

Padnos is optimistic that the tide will turn in the U.S. as more people recognize that having women at the helm makes good business sense. Women-led high-tech startups generate higher revenues per dollar of invested capital and have lower failure rates than those led by men, her research shows. Women are also more capital-efficient; the average venture-backed tech company run by a woman was started with one-third less committed capital than those led by men, yet achieved comparable early revenue levels.

Support Networks

More cause for hope: Women in technology have begun forming their own support networks and groups, including Women 2.0 and the Young Women Social Entrepreneurs.

But much more needs to be done to encourage talented women to pursue tech entrepreneurship. "If we want more women starting these companies, let's encourage them, invite them into new partnerships, and support them financially," Sanders says. "This is a critical innovation imperative for our country and our world; women have compelling technical ideas to contribute, and we can't afford the deafening silence their noncontribution creates."

I concur wholeheartedly, and hope that when I revisit this topic in subsequent years the percentage of women launching IT companies rivals the percentage of women going into law, medicine, and higher education. The outcome would benefit us all.

Wadhwa is senior research associate at the Labor & Worklife Program at Harvard Law School and executive in residence at Duke University. He is an entrepreneur who founded two technology companies. His research can be found at www.globalizationresearch.com. Follow him on Twitter "@vwadhwa".