Cyprus Ranks Last in EU for Women Managers as Startup Push Stalls

Women held just 25.3 percent of managerial positions in Cyprus in 2024, the lowest share among all 27 EU member states and far below the bloc's 35.2 percent average, according to Eurostat figures cited in Cyprus Mail reporting. The number sits at the center of an awkward contradiction: a country marketing itself as a technology and innovation hub while using barely half of its entrepreneurial talent.

The data behind the gap is blunt. An OECD assessment covering 2019 to 2023 found 6 percent of women in Cyprus involved in early-stage entrepreneurship, against 12 percent of men. A separate European investment study counted women as just 14.5 percent of founders across a sample of 152 technology companies on the island.

What did the Dublin assembly conclude?

Policymakers, entrepreneurs and business experts from across Europe examined the problem at the SME & Clusters Assembly 2026, held from November 2 to 4 at the Convention Centre Dublin. Tuesday's Women in Business session put Cypriot women in working groups alongside participants from other member states, comparing experiences and testing what governments, investors and business organisations could do differently.

The session featured Dana Puia Morel, senior policy lead at the European Commission's DG GROW.A.2; Brendan Rowan, managing consultant at BluSpecs; and Gerardo de Luzenberger, adjunct professor at the University of Trento, associated with CoCreativeFlow. The format was deliberately practical: participants were pushed past familiar complaints toward concrete measures.

The working material came from a European Commission report published in June, which produced five policy recommendations on barriers facing female entrepreneurs. Its findings were not flattering.

• Women account for only 33 percent of EU business owners, roughly half the population.
• 74 percent of women entrepreneurs operate without employees, compared with 66 percent of men.
• 48 percent of women entrepreneurs hold tertiary degrees, against 34 percent of men — yet women express less confidence in their entrepreneurial abilities.

That last pairing is the mechanism worth watching. Women are more educated on average but less likely to believe they can build companies. The Dublin groups asked whether mentoring, stronger industry connections and exposure to successful businesswomen could close that gap.

Why does the money question matter?

Access to finance dominated much of the discussion. Participants explored diversifying investment decisions, widening access to funding and helping women identify suitable sources of capital. The distinction matters: a promising idea goes nowhere without capital, especially in industries with high upfront costs and investors demanding rapid growth.

The European Investment Bank has already moved. On October 21, it approved a €500 million financing framework for women-owned and women-led companies, alongside social enterprises. The money will flow through financial intermediaries rather than direct grants, so its success depends on whether the finance actually reaches eligible businesses — a real test for smaller economies such as Cyprus, where specialist investors are scarce.

The workshop also covered childcare, parental leave and tax disincentives, plus the extra disadvantages facing rural entrepreneurs. In October, earlier reporting raised concerns about Cypriot women in rural areas, including funding gaps, weak infrastructure and limited professional networks.

What is still missing from the picture?

Data. The final recommendation called for better gender-disaggregated statistics, with consistent definitions and reliable information at both company and individual level. Participants examined the role of the OECD and questioned how well existing financial and entrepreneurial data is actually used. Governments cannot judge whether policies work if they cannot establish who receives support and where the gaps remain.

Cyprus illustrates the outreach problem specifically. The OECD identified weak promotion of existing business support schemes, meaning eligible entrepreneurs may miss assistance that already exists. The programmes exist; the question is whether enough women know about them.

The stakes are large. The Commission estimates Europe could gain 5.5 million additional women entrepreneurs if women aged 30 to 49 participated in entrepreneurship at the same rate as men. The EU is now preparing its Action Plan for Women in Research, Innovation and Startups, due by the end of 2026, alongside the 2025 Roadmap for Women's Rights and the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy — a package that will test whether Cyprus can convert its ambition into participation.