Publication
Growing Pains: Supporting Inclusive Growth Through Understanding Women-led Business Exporting
Published: 18 November 2025
Research Paper No 122
Associated Themes
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Business Growth -
Diversity -
Entrepreneurship -
Productivity and performance
This study employs a mixed-methods approach to explore the extent of, and factors influencing, the gender gap in exporting activity in the UK. We empirically analyse how being women-led influences exporting activity, using UK data between 2018-2023, and subsequently utilise a decomposition analysis to understand the factors contributing to observed gender gaps. We complement this with personal interviews with a small purposive sample of women led firms.
Our findings support the existence of a gender gap in exporting. Our decomposition results suggest gaps are influenced by factors such as firm sector and region. Women-led firms engaging in innovation and accessing business advice seems to contribute to narrowing the gap. Our qualitative findings highlight how gender may inform demand-side discrimination in foreign markets given cultural attitudes toward women in management and leadership roles in some country contexts.
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