Hispanic Women Entrepreneurship: Understanding Diversity Among Hispanic Women Entrepreneurs
Susana Martinez-Restrepo, PhD., CoreWoman and Geri Stengel, Ventureneer
First published September 2017
Hispanic people are the most diverse ethnic group in the U.S. It is crucial to understand how that diversity influences the challenges and opportunities Hispanic women face in starting and growing their businesses, yet few studies have tried to understand the extent to which diversity affects the revenues, sales and job creation of Hispanic women-owned businesses.11 This report identifies the unique characteristics of Hispanic women entrepreneurs, reviews entrepreneurship training program practices that work to encourage successful business outcomes among this population, highlights specific programs that exemplify these practices and suggests targeted tactics to unlock their potential.
This report includes a review of the literature that shows that the Hispanic community is not homogeneous and how this diversity impacts business success. It analyzes quantitative information about Hispanic women and Hispanic women entrepreneurs from publicly available data and from the 2012 Survey of Business Owners and
Self-Employed Persons (SBO). The report also shows differences between Hispanic and White individuals. When relevant, it highlights information about other minority groups such as Asians and Blacks. Because of the large number of studies and databases used or cited in this study, there is no consistency between the use of the
ethnic categories “White” and “non-Hispanic White.” The report relies on the category definitions used by each individual study.