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Social enterprises and gender empowerment – a programme with the University of Westminster

Social Enterprise UK is working in partnership with the University of Westminster on a programme of work focused on social enterprises and gender empowerment. Many social enterprises are working to tackle gender inequality – creating jobs, opening up opportunities and tackling entrenched social attitudes. This programme aims to work with social enterprises to help them embed gender empowerment into their work and day-to-day operations. Since November 2021 an expert team of academics from the university have been running a series of practical workshops with participating social enterprises to help them develop strategies to empower the women they employ or support. Early workshops took place online but have now moved to in person events, the latest of which looked at how the Theory of Change and Social Relations Approach can be used to develop gender empowerment strategies. Academics taking part in the programme are Dr Lilian Miles, Dr Maria Granados, Dr Vincent Rich and Dr Anastasia Alexeeva Why should I get involved and who can take part? The workshops are open to any Social Enterprise UK member interested in doing their part to create a gender equal world. Participating social enterprises do not need to have a primary social purpose of tackling gender inequality. The programme is a great way to provide your social enterprise with the organisational tools necessary to put in place systems which empower the women you work with and support, taking academic theory and putting it into practice. Workshops so have have looked in depth at areas such as creating a theory of change, design thinking and impact measurement. If you’re interested in taking part, please contact our membership team at membership@socialenterprise.org.uk Gender Empowerment Guide for Social Enterprises in the UK As part of this series of work the University of Westminster produced a Gender Empowerment Guide for use by social enterprises to empower the women they employ. Co-produced with social enterprises, the guide showcases best practice, potential challenges and how to address them, and provides clear indicators to measure the effectiveness and impact of gender empowerment practices. Click here to read the guide 

01 Sep

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 Social Enterprise Barometer report shows signs of strain amid social enterprise resilience

The Summer 2022 Social Enterprise Barometer report shows that social enterprises are stepping up to the challenges of the economic storms battering many businesses and communities, but signs of strains are beginning to show. The Social Enterprise Barometer is published quarterly by Social Enterprise UK based on survey feedback from social enterprises. The survey looked at the economic performance of social enterprises in the last quarter as well as the impact rising costs and the resulting cost-of-living crisis is having on these businesses. Overall, across the 173 respondents, turnover and staffing had recovered since January and social enterprises are generally optimistic about the future. There has however been a downward trend in cashflow among those surveyed with more social enterprises responding that they have less than three months’ funds available. Responding to rising costs A key focus of the report was on the impact of rising costs across the economy and the survey showed that two thirds (66%) of social enterprises reported an increase in operating costs with around a quarter (24%) saying costs had increased significantly in the last quarter. Leaders at social enterprises are responding to the challenges of increasing costs for their businesses, staff and customers in different ways. Despite an increase in running costs for 66% of those surveyed, just 27% of respondents had increased their prices. When asked how the cost-of-living crisis was affecting the people and communities they work with and support, a third (33%) of those surveyed expected an increase in demand for their services, and conversely a quarter (23%) expected a fall in demand as people would struggle to afford their products or services. One in five (19%) expected to have to refer people on more to other support services. Supporting and growing the workforce A third (33%) of social enterprises reported having increased their staff numbers in the previous quarter, compared to a quarter (23%) who had done so in March. This may demonstrate that social enterprises tend not to offload staff as a solution to financial difficulties or uncertainty. A third (31%) of those surveyed had increased staff pay and one in six (17%) have taken other measures to protect staff amid the cost-of-living crisis. One London social enterprise leader said: “I have allowed staff to do more hours than I know we can realistically afford in the long term. I let them take more food home and feed them more at work. I have reworked shift patterns to support more lift sharing to save petrol.” Report author Emily Darko, Director of Research at SEUK, said:   “This report offers a finger on the pulse of the social enterprise movement and shows that because social enterprises are mission-led, their emphasis is on responding to growing demands for support and services – not on profits. We know that social enterprises are resilient and are excellent at flexing to accommodate challenges and pushing for change. However, they of course are not immune to the effects of the economic turbulence: there are clear signs of strain emerging – financially, but also in terms of leadership and staff capacity and wellbeing." You can read the barometer report here

31 Aug

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3 min

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