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Don't patronise us with 'mumpreneurs' label, says poll of 500 businesswomen

Call male business owners 'dadpreneurs' if we are called 'mumpreneurs', a poll of 500 businesswomen has said.

A survey of women who had started their own businesses found more than half, 65 percent, viewed ‘mumpreneur’ as a negative term and 49 percent considered it ‘patronising’

The term, which was added to the Collins English Dictionary in 2011, was coined to describe “a woman who combines running a business enterprise with looking after her children”.

Jo Fairley, the founder of Green & Black’s chocolate, said: “I think nobody would call a father setting up a business on his own a dadpreneur. And so I think it is unhelpful and really rather patronising.

“I think to sideline mums and put them in a little corner labelled mumpreneur sort of suggests they are all making greeting cards and knitting presents to sell on Etsy.

Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Black's Chocolate, said she finds the term mumpreneur 'patronising' - Credit: Martin Pope
Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Black's Chocolate, said she finds the term mumpreneur 'patronising' Credit: Martin Pope

“But women entrepreneurs are much more interesting than that and could make a much more significant contribution to the economy.”

The results come as the Telegraph launched the Women Mean Business campaign earlier this year to boost female entrepreneurship in the UK.

The survey, commissioned by the international payments company Moneycorp, also found the majority of female business founders had experienced some form of gender discrimination.

A quarter said they had been subject to blatantly sexist comments, almost twice as many, 46 percent, felt they had been patronised and one third said they had missed out on a business deal as a result.

The survey also found regional variations in the barriers businesswomen faced. The worst region was London, where 61 percent said they had experienced gender bias, while the lowest region was the North East with 38 percent.