‘Feminist Economic Recovery Plan’ Will Highlight Covid’s Impact On Women Entrepreneurs
HALIFAX–The Centre for Women in Business (CWB) is preparing a three-year research study to dig into Covid-19’s effect on women entrepreneurs in Nova Scotia.
“Covid has adversely impacted women, especially women business owners,” says Tanya Priske, CWB‘s executive director.
In 2020, the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub released the findings from a national study titled The Impacts of COVID-19 on Women Entrepreneurs.
Priske says the study reflected what she was hearing from Nova Scotian women. Many were concerned with issues like mental health, revenue loss, bankruptcy, workplace safety, and the move to an online business model.
So the CWB and Mount Saint Vincent University submitted a proposal to Women and Gender Equality Canada for a project of their own. They aim to develop a feminist economic recovery plan for all women-owned businesses in Nova Scotia and determine the impact of the pandemic.
Priske and her team will focus on Nova Scotian women entrepreneurs, specifically those who belong to under-represented groups.
“We want to make sure we aren’t leaving any woman behind,” said Priske.
Participants will be asked to reflect on the pandemic over three years. The study is currently in progress, with 52 interviews already completed. The same women will be invited to participate in two more interviews over the next two years.
In a later research phase, Priske says researchers will meet with focus groups to get detailed feedback from women who can share their experiences and opinions in depth.
“We know all women face the same challenges, but the underrepresented groups face additional challenges and that’s what we really want to know,” said Priske. “How can we impact that; would there have been something different we could have done through program services to help; and is there something else that we can inform the province as they move forward to develop new programs and policies?”
In the initial surveys, women identified barriers like the time and money needed to move businesses online, personal services being unavailable or difficult to move online, and homeschooling responsibilities.
“I think juggling that paid work, family caregiving, [and] homeschooling really were put on the shoulders of women [during the pandemic],” said Priske.
The survey found that 70 percent of women entrepreneurs accessed federal aid programs, while only 30 percent accessed provincial aid programs. Priske wants to dig deeper to find out why provincial programs were not accessed at a higher rate.
“In all fairness to both federal and provincial governments, they came out rapidly with programs and there wasn’t a lot of time to develop them,” she says. “Was it because a gender lens wasn’t being used when they developed these programs?”
Priske says the study will help assess how the CWB can make a greater impact while offering solutions to the government. Their findings will be released this spring.
“We want to make sure we inform, especially our provincial government, on how they can help,” said Priske.
Mary Allan is an intern with Huddle in Fredericton. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].