A team of researchers has been studying the St. Louis startup community for clues to why there is a lack of diversity and if there are some ways to improve inclusion of women and minority business founders. Olin alumna Karren Watkins, BSME’09, MBA’13, who is currently pursuing her PhD at Wharton and fellow researchers presented their case study of St. Louis on best practices for inclusion within innovation communities at a recent Venture Cafe session at CIC in the Cortex district.
The research team, with support from the Kauffman Foundation, based their study on more than 80 interviews and observations throughout the St. Louis startup community including support organizations such as accelerators, incubators, co-working spaces, and networking groups.
They found while there are many good practices for recruiting entrepreneurs in general to the innovation community, “invisible barriers” are keeping women and minorities segregated. The study proposes some best practices to improve diversity and shares the concerns and reactions of women small business owners who feel marginalized from the city’s main support organizations.
Read the study here: “Support Organizations and Remediating the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A Case Study of St. Louis”
Image: Karren Watkins at Venture Cafe presentation
