*Note:

This is a joint EPA/SBA program: EPA conducts technical review of applications; all loans are awarded by SBA.

METHODOLOGY

The report of the Task Force on Women Business Owners was developed from the research efforts of eight member agencies. Each agency contributed staff and resources to research the major issues which the Task Force had identified as obstacles facing women business owners. The identification of these obstacles came from an initial literature review, research, meetings with business owners and congressional and government personnel, and position papers from professional women's organizations.

In order to assure that it received the maximum amount of public input in a limited time frame, the Task Force held a Conference of Women Business Owners in late April. Representatives from women's organizations and individual entrepreneurs were invited to review and comment on tentative recommendations of the Task Force. Additional input was provided through a special meeting of minority women business owners, held by The Equity Life Assurance Society. The Task Force also conducted a written inquiry of women business owners and received a special study of successful women entrepreneurs conducted and contributed by the American Management Associations' Survey. Added to these data sources were the hundreds of letters received by the Task Force from individual women business owners who outlined their views on business ownership. The details of the methodologies used by the agencies and those of the special studies follows:

The Task Force Inquiry

In order to develop new information on women business owners and their problems, the Task Force conducted a mail inquiry during the month of January. The development of both the questionnaire and the data analysis techniques was donated by National Analysts through the offices of Sally Leiderman. The

Bureau of the Census did the actual data processing. Distribution of the survey instrument was accomplished through public service announcements, notices in universities and women's resource centers, the regional offices of the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration, and numerous women's organizations. A total of 27,000 questionnaires were distributed, of which 3,454 were returned in time for data processing. Of those responding, 2,973 were women and 189 were men business owners, while 292 were from women who were not currently business owners. Due to the time constraints of the Task Force, only the data on women business owners were analyzed. The American Management Associations' Survey

Data Assessment Section (Department of Labor and the Bureau of the Census)

This research included both a a computer search and review of pertinent literature related to women and entrepreneurship. An examination was also made of existing statistical data on women in the work force, the self-employed worker, and women-owned businesses. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census provided the basis for this analysis. In addition, information from both the Task Force inquiry and the AMA study were utilized in this section of the report.

These bank roundtables were organized with the help of the National Association of Bank Women and were held in five geographic regional banking centers--Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York--and in Washington, D.C. A total of 70 bank officers (67 women and 3 men) who finance small business loans and many women entrepreneurs participated in the roundtables. Additional structured interviews on lending policies were conducted with bank officers who were either in charge of the banks' commercial lending or who had direct knowledge of commercial loan

policies and practices. All the banks surveyed had deposits in excess of $100 million. However, to avoid concentration on the largest banks, approximately half of the interviews were conducted with those banks whose assets ranged from $100 million to $950 million, while the remainder were with. those having over $1 billion in assets.

Education Section (Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare)

The research in this section dealt primarily with the impact of educational discrimination and sex-stereotyping on the potential for entrepreneurship by women. The research entailed a three-pronged effort which included: 1) a review of relevant literature and studies on educational sex-stereotyping; 2) an assessment of studies and information on existing educational programs under the principal operating components, particularly the Education Division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW); and 3) a survey of DHEW program managers from the principal operating components that reviewed their funding and programs directed toward overcoming sex stereotyping and occupational segregation, or which aided business management and entrepreneurship.

Management Training and Technical
Assistance Section (Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare and
the Small Business Administration)

The research in this section was concerned with identifying and assessing those federal programs which were business related and either serving, or potentially able to serve, women entrepreneurs' needs for management training and technical assistance.

Both in-depth management training programs and short-term technical assistance programs offering seminars, counseling and/or information were reviewed. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, which lists all such programs within the federal government, was used to identify the programs. A total of 22 specialized service or technical assistance programs were reviewed, as well as the major management training programs. In addition, DHEW & SBA program officials were surveyed to assess both what they were current