The Power of Role Models: Inspiring the Next Generation of Women Entrepreneurs
Across Europe, women continue to transform industries, launch innovative businesses, and create solutions that address pressing social and economic challenges. Yet despite this progress, women remain underrepresented in entrepreneurship, particularly in sectors traditionally dominated by men and among startup founders seeking investment. While structural barriers still exist, a growing number of European initiatives are proving that entrepreneurship can become more inclusive when education, mentorship, and visible role models come together.
One such initiative is Entrepreneurial Herstory, an Erasmus+ project involving the Center for Social Innovation (CSI) Cyprus alongside partners from Greece, Spain, Romania, the Netherlands and Cyprus. The project was developed to strengthen the entrepreneurial mindset of young people while challenging traditional stereotypes about who can become an entrepreneur. Rather than presenting entrepreneurship through a conventional business lens, the project highlights inspiring stories from women belonging to underrepresented communities, demonstrating that innovation flourishes through diversity and different life experiences.
Entrepreneurship Beyond Traditional Stereotypes
For many aspiring entrepreneurs, the greatest obstacle is not the lack of an idea but the absence of relatable examples. When young women rarely see founders who share similar backgrounds, experiences, or challenges, entrepreneurship may appear inaccessible.
Entrepreneurial Herstory addresses this gap by placing women’s stories at the centre of entrepreneurial learning. Through interviews, podcasts, educational materials, a serious game and an online learning programme, the project showcases entrepreneurs whose journeys reflect resilience, creativity and determination rather than a single “ideal” entrepreneurial profile. The initiative also introduces the concept of intersectionality, recognising that gender often interacts with other factors such as migration background, disability, ethnicity or socioeconomic status to shape entrepreneurial opportunities.
This approach sends a powerful message: successful entrepreneurs do not all follow the same path. Innovation emerges from diverse perspectives, lived experiences, and the courage to challenge established norms.
Why Role Models Matter
Research by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), 2024/2025 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report, highlights that women’s participation in entrepreneurship is influenced by a range of factors, including access to skills, resources, supportive networks and an enabling entrepreneurial ecosystem. At the same time, academic research shows that exposure to entrepreneurial role models can positively shape entrepreneurial intentions by increasing confidence and helping aspiring entrepreneurs perceive entrepreneurship as an achievable career pathway (Wannamakok & Chang, 2020). Together, these findings underline the importance of initiatives that make women entrepreneurs more visible and create opportunities for future generations to learn from their experiences.
One powerful learning methodology is to embrace storytelling. Instead of focusing exclusively on business plans or financial models, participants engage with authentic experiences that include both achievements and failures. By normalising setbacks as part of the entrepreneurial journey, the project promotes resilience and lifelong learning, qualities that are essential for every entrepreneur.
This emphasis on human-centred entrepreneurship complements the broader European vision of building innovation ecosystems that are inclusive, socially responsible and sustainable.
Connecting with the TRIANGLE Vision
The objectives of Entrepreneurial Herstory strongly resonate with the mission of the TRIANGLE project. Both initiatives recognise that entrepreneurial education should extend beyond technical business skills and cultivate creativity, collaboration, inclusion, and innovation.
Higher Education Institutions play a pivotal role in this transformation. Universities increasingly act as innovation hubs where students, researchers, businesses and communities collaborate to address real-world challenges. However, creating truly inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems requires ensuring that women and other underrepresented groups have equal opportunities to participate, lead and innovate.
Projects like Entrepreneurial Herstory demonstrate practical ways universities can achieve this by integrating diverse entrepreneurial role models into curricula, promoting experiential learning, and creating educational resources that reflect the realities of today’s entrepreneurial landscape.
For TRIANGLE, these experiences reinforce the importance of designing innovation ecosystems where diversity is viewed not as a target to achieve, but as a driver of creativity, competitiveness and social impact.
Building the Next Generation of Women Innovators
Europe’s innovation capacity depends on unlocking the full potential of its talent. Encouraging more women to pursue entrepreneurship is not only a matter of equality, but also an economic and societal opportunity.
Supporting women entrepreneurs means investing in mentorship programmes, entrepreneurial education, networking opportunities and inclusive innovation policies. It also means recognising that entrepreneurial success can take many forms, from technology startups and social enterprises to creative industries and community-based innovation.
As TRIANGLE continues working towards strengthening innovation and entrepreneurship within Higher Education Institutions, the experiences generated through projects like Entrepreneurial Herstory provide valuable inspiration. They remind us that inclusive entrepreneurship is built not only through knowledge and skills, but also through representation, confidence and the power of stories that encourage others to take the first step.
Together, European collaboration, higher education and social innovation can create entrepreneurial ecosystems where every aspiring entrepreneur, regardless of gender or background, has the opportunity to transform an idea into meaningful impact.
More information about Entrepreneurial Herstory and its educational resources are available at: https://entrepreneurialherstory.eu/
Maria Evgeniou
EU Executive Project Manager & Entrepreneurship Specialist
Center for Social Innovation (CSI), Cyprus