From “Fix the women” to “Fix the system”
Professor Helle Neergaard from the Department of Management has been appointed as a Distinguished Senior Innovator at Aarhus University, and she is going to set up the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs.


Let's just make one thing clear from the start: There IS a difference between men and women.
At least when it comes to entrepreneurship, and at least if you ask Professor Helle Neergaard from the Department of Management at Aarhus BSS.
Focusing on female entrepreneurs, Helle Neergaard has spent many years working on entrepreneurship and with entrepreneurs: as a researcher, an advisor and as a self-employed winemaker.
"Men and women approach the world differently, and they have different motives for starting their own business. While men typically focus on profit and growth, women typically focus on creating something that’s sustainable and long-lasting," says Helle Neergaard, although she is well aware that she is generalising. There's a reason for this, and we'll come back to it.
On women's terms
Helle Neergaard has been appointed as a Distinguished Senior Innovator (DSI) at Aarhus University. The position was created by the Aarhus University Board and, so far, seven researchers from the five faculties have been appointed to the position.
As a DSI, Helle Neergaard will be taking her work on female entrepreneurs behind Aarhus University walls.
The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) will be somewhere female researchers and students with an idea and an entrepreneurial spirit can flourish. And on their own terms. There is a strong need for this, and it explains Helle Neergaard’s generalisation earlier on.
“Existing counselling environments and initiatives in the entrepreneurial field are typically made by men, for men and on men's terms. And women have to adapt. But if one gender has such a dominant position within an area, there will be an imbalance, and this imbalance will have to be corrected," says Helle Neergaard.
Paradoxically, gender equality means we have to treat genders differently, because they are different.
Professor Helle Neergaard, Distinguished Senior Innovator, Department of Management, Aarhus BSS
A personal choice
Initially, it is not just about encouraging more female researchers and students to take an entrepreneurial path. It's just as much a question of giving women who are already entrepreneurs a sense of not being “wrong”.
"It's about training them better and supporting them better. We can hope that more people will choose this path if conditions for female entrepreneurs improve and become more attractive. But by choice and not on the basis of quotas, for example, which so many women dislike," says Helle Neergaard.
Helle Neergaard hopes to see the work at the AWE spread to the rest of entrepreneurial Denmark.
"One goal is also to create a gender-intelligent counselling system that recognises the differences between male and female entrepreneurs. Paradoxically, gender equality means we have to treat genders differently, because they are different. The entire system must be able to accommodate this. We have to move away from 'Fix the women' and towards 'Fix the system'."
Collaboration models for women
One challenge is that many female entrepreneurs refuse venture capital because venture capital comes with a number of requirements that do not appeal to women. They don’t want to give up ownership, and they want to maintain control over the pace of growth. This is one of several reasons why many female entrepreneurs prefer to go solo, and it is one of the biggest challenges facing women according to Helle Neergaard.
"That's why it would be good to develop collaboration models that better suit women," she emphasises.
And this is where Helle Neergaard sees opportunities for female researchers at Aarhus BSS, which differs from the more STEM-orientated faculties because research at BSS does not focus on developing specific products.
"Female researchers at Aarhus BSS obviously have a deep understanding of industry, business and society and would be good at facilitating processes and contributing the insight in business, economics, law and so on that start-ups need. That's why it makes sense to include them in collaborations."
A question of mindset
Whether you work with products, spreadsheets or analyses, what is most important, according to Helle Neergaard, is 'mindset'. The ability to see entrepreneurship as a possible career path on a par with other career options. This applies in particular to the abundant fixed-term employees in the university world.
"Researchers can put their knowledge into practice in so many different ways. It's about seeing yourself from a different perspective and opening your eyes to everything we humans are capable of. As a young PhD student, postdoc or assistant professor, you should keep as many career paths open as possible, and realise that entrepreneurship could be one of them," says Helle Neergaard.