The phrase women in business refers to female businesspeople who hold positions, particularly leadership in the fields of commerce, business, and entrepreneurship. It advocates for their increased participation in business. Increased participation of women in business can be important for variation in business development, ideas, and business products. Participation also encourages the development of social networks and supports that have positive repercussions for women and for their social environment. The status of women in business varies significantly around the world. Sometimes a lack of adequate business capital, female education, and training programs in the use of technology can mean women are more constrained by their social and political environment than men.
History
Antiquity The earliest known well-documented businesswoman is the Sumerian Ama-e who was involved in various trades and real estate investments (circa 2330 BC). Another example of a well-documented businesswoman is an Assyrian businesswoman of the city of Assur named Ahaha, who operated in the 1800s BC. She is known for pursuing the resolution to an issue of financial fraud committed against her. Funeral monuments, inscriptions and other archeological remains demonstrate that women could be active within a number of different professions and in the business world: from builders to factory workers, from market salers of anyting from beans to nails to perfumer, business agent and medical doctor. The Ancient Roman city of Pompeii, which gives an unusually rich documentation of women's range of professions and business opportunities, gives a number of examples of individual Roman women with a wide range of professions. A number of businesswomen are noted among the citizens of Pompeii. Among them were Naevoleia Tyche, a former slave, businesswoman and investor, who became rich enough to build a magnificent grave monument; the real estate owner and landlord Julia Felix; the money lender Faustilla; the vine producer Caesia Helpis, whose vine were sold by the female vine merchant Vibia; the fish sauce seller Umbricia Fortunata; the perfumer Gavia Severa; and the very successful Eumachia, who was both the owner of a factory as well as a Priestess and the Benefactor of a professional Guild organization.
Medieval and early modern age In Medieval Europe, the majority of business professions in the Medieval city was monopolised by the Guilds. The Guilds could differ from city to city, but the vast majority of them did not admit women as members. However, the widows of guild members were by custom allowed by the Guild to continue the business of their late husband. Hence almost all businesswomen in the Middle Ages were widows. Nevertheless, it was not uncommon with successful businesswomen in the Medieval Europea cities, such as Gertrud Morneweg, who in a typical way took over the substantial banking business of her late spouse in the Hanseatic city of Lübeck in 1286, and Jeanne la Fouacière of France, who dominated the linen trade in Paris in the late 13th and early 14th-century. The Guild system continued in Europe until the 19th century, as did the system of European businesswomen mostly being widows who inherited the business of their late husband. However, during the early modern age, the Guild system was undermined by more and more new professions that were not included in the Guild system. Early modern Europe had many examples of rich and successful businesswomen. Gracia Mendes Nasi (1510–1569) was a Sephardi Jewish businesswoman who became one of the wealthiest and most influential women of Renaissance Europe, managing a business banking and trading empire, Casa Mendes-Benveniste, which operated throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. In the 18th century, the French fashion merchant Rose Bertin (1747–1813) became an internationally famous French fashion designer and is widely credited with having brought fashion and haute couture to the forefront of popular culture, being the fashion designer of Queen Marie Antoinette.
19th and 20th centuries In the 19th century, the Guild system in Europe was abolished. This made it legally possible for all women, as well as men, with ideas and funds necessary to start a and develop a business enterprise from the start. Businesswomen therefore no longer had to be widows who inherited the business from their late husband, but could now be unmarried women, who started a business from the start. The century can give many examples of pioneering self-made businesswomen, such as the flower seller Madame Prevost of Paris, and the perfurmer Antoinette Nording (1814–1887) of Sweden. However, despite the abolition of the Guild system, the 19th century was still a problematic time period for a woman to start a business. Married women were under legal guardianship, so in practice, the new freedom to start ta business was primarily open to unmarried women and widows. In parallel, there were prejudices against women being active in business during the Victorian era, as the ideal for Women in the Victorian era was that of domesticity, and not a woman involved in public life and high business, where she would have to deal with men. During the 20th century, women were technically legally given the same rights as men to participate in business. The century gives many examples of successful businesswomen who achieved high positions in business all over the world. However, informal hindrances such as prejudices and discrimination remained a factor.
Women in corporate leadership
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