Why Women Entrepreneurs Must Build Communities & Demand Equity - Across All Generations

While more women than ever are launching businesses and stepping into leadership roles, the entrepreneurial pay gap remains wide—and it's not felt equally across generations. Younger women, especially Gen Z and millennials, are building businesses with bold purpose but face a lack of access to capital, mentorship, and institutional support. Meanwhile, Gen X and baby boomer women entrepreneurs often battle erasure, ageism, and exclusion from digital or innovation-forward funding ecosystems.

In short, gender equity in entrepreneurship is not just an issue of sexism—it’s also an issue of generational disparity. If women are to close the wealth and influence gap, they must build powerful cross-generational communities and collectively demand systemic change.

A Persistent, Multigenerational Pay Gap

Entrepreneurship doesn’t free women from pay disparity. A 2023 report from FreshBooks found that women entrepreneurs still earn 28% less than male business owners. But within that number lies a generational divide:

• Millennial and Gen Z women (ages ~18–40) are starting businesses at record rates, often in industries like coaching, digital services, or content creation. They face skepticism due to age and inexperience, making it harder to secure funding or charge premium prices.

• Gen X and boomer women often pivot to entrepreneurship after long careers, but experience age discrimination and difficulty accessing venture capital, accelerators, or tech-focused networks skewed toward younger founders.

Data from AARP and Guidant Financial shows that while more than 50% of women over 45 express interest in starting a business, fewer than 20% actually do, citing access to funding and age bias as key barriers.

The VC and Capital Divide—Widened by Age

It’s well-known that women receive less venture capital: just 2% of VC funds go to women-led startups. For women of color, it’s less than 1%.

But what’s less discussed is how ageism intersects with this inequity. A report by Digital Undivided revealed that founders under 30 or over 50 are often dismissed as “risky” or “out of touch”, despite qualifications. This results in funding disproportionately flowing to white male founders in their 30s and early 40s, leaving many capable women on the margins—especially those building outside of tech or Silicon Valley norms.

Burnout Is a Cross-Generational Reality

The Women in the Workplace 2023 report by McKinsey and LeanIn.org found that 43% of women leaders—regardless of age—report feeling burned out. But the reasons differ by generation:

• Younger women often face hustle culture, underpricing, and the pressure to “do it all” on social media. Many are building brands while managing student debt and lack of savings.

• Older women may juggle caregiving responsibilities (for aging parents or grandchildren), health challenges, and rebuilding after corporate burnout or redundancy.

Each generation is carrying a different load—but the system isn’t built to support any of them.

Community: The Bridge Between Experience and Energy

While challenges differ, one solution applies across the board: community. Strong, intergenerational networks can be a powerful counter to systemic inequity.

A KPMG study found that 67% of women entrepreneurs say that building relationships with other women in business is crucial to their success. But those relationships are often limited to peer groups in the same age range.

Bridging generational gaps in entrepreneurship creates benefits for all:

• Younger founders gain mentorship, wisdom, and access to institutional knowledge

• Older founders gain insight into tech trends, digital marketing, and access to younger audiences

• Both gain collaboration opportunities, cross-promotion, and a broader client network

Too often, women are siloed by age in business spaces. Dismantling these silos is a radical act of progress.

Equity Must Be Demanded—By All Generations

Women entrepreneurs often assume independence will shield them from workplace inequities. But systemic bias shows up in:

• How women are funded

• How they are perceived as experts

• How they are paid

• How they are credited in collaborations

• How their age affects assumptions about their relevance or legitimacy

To fight this, women must advocate collectively for:

1. Transparent Pricing Across Generations

Whether you’re 25 or 65, your expertise has value. Transparent pricing benchmarks, rate sharing, and refusing to undercharge are essential strategies—especially for new founders influenced by imposter syndrome or age-based doubt.

2. Inclusive Mentorship

Cross-generational mentorship should be bi-directional. Younger women don’t just need guidance; older women can benefit from reverse mentorship around new platforms, digital strategies, and cultural shifts.

3. Age-Inclusive Visibility

Platforms and media often showcase a narrow image of “success”: young, trendy, and Instagram-ready. Real success stories come from women at all stages—and all of them deserve to be seen and heard.

4. Collaborative Advocacy

Whether it’s pressuring policymakers to fund women-owned businesses, organizing networks for women over 50, or lobbying for better procurement inclusion, advocacy should span generations. Equity is not a niche issue—it’s a business imperative.

We Are Stronger TOGETHER

The challenges facing women in entrepreneurship are compounded by generational biases—yet they’re rarely addressed together. Building a business as a young woman and building one at midlife are radically different experiences—but both are shaped by outdated systems that undervalue women’s labor, ideas, and leadership.

The future of equitable entrepreneurship depends on bridging generational gaps, pooling our power, and refusing to normalize inequality—at any age.

Women entrepreneurs aren’t just starting businesses. They’re building an economic ecosystem of mutual value and visibility. When they unite across generations, they don’t just survive systemic bias—they dismantle it.