Colombia has recieved negative press following four decades of civil war and drug issues. The notion that lessons could be learnt from the country is dismissed. However, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Colombia has the 3rd highest percentage of female entrepreneurs in the world (when 'factor-driven economies' are discounted*). Colombia's economy has a higher percentage of female entrepreneurs than both the UK and the USA. Latin American women are stereotyped as strong, fiery and independent, whilst modern Western society seems unsure of how to further encourage female economic risk.

There are many reasons why Colombian women are more likely to start-up their own businesses; necessity-driven, wanting the opportunity to both raise a family and be economically independent, entrepreneurship is promoted heavily in the media and the fear of failure is lower than in the UK.

In this project Jennifer Quigley-Jones assessed these reasons further to see whch were most important and influential and to attempt to find lessons that the UK can take from a country, which is often viewed as a little more than chaotic.

Jennifer Quigley-Jones