Until recently, most American entrepreneurs were men. Discrimination against women in business, the demands of caring for families, and lack of business training had kept the number of women entrepreneurs small. Now, however, businesses owned by women account for more than $40 billion in annual revenues, and this figure is likely to continue rising throughout the 1990s. As Carolyn Doppelt Gray, an official of the Small Business Administration, has noted, "The 1970s was the decade of women entering management, and the 1980s turned out to be the decade of the woman entrepreneur". What are some of the factors behind this trend? For one thing, as more women earn advanced degrees in business and enter the corporate world, they are finding obstacles. Women are still excluded from most executive suites. Charlotte Taylor, a management consultant, had noted, "In the 1970s women believed if they got an MBA and worked hard they could become chairman of the board. Now they've found out that isn't going to happen, so they go out on their own".

   In the past, most women entrepreneurs worked in "women's" fields: cosmetics and clothing, for example. But this is changing. Consider ASK Computer Systems, a $22-million-a-year computer software business. It was founded in 1973 by Sandra Kurtzig, who was then a housewife with degrees in math and engineering. When Kurtzig founded the business, her first product was software that let weekly newspapers keep tabs on their newspaper carriers-and her office was a bedroom at home, with a shoebox under the bed to hold the company's cash. After she succeeded with the newspaper software system, she hired several bright computer-science graduates to develop additional programs. When these were marketed and sold, ASK began to grow. It now has 200 employees, and Sandra Kurtzig owns $66.9 million of stock.

   Of course, many women who start their own businesses fail, just as men often do. They still face hurdles in the business world, especially problems in raising money; the banking and finance world is still dominated by men, and old attitudes die hard. Most businesses owned by women are still quite small. But the situation is changing; there are likely to be many more Sandra Kurtzigs in the years ahead.

It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that business operated by women are small because ___________.

Câu hỏi liên quan

• Which of the following statements about the use of chemical agents as herbicides would the author most likely agree?

• The word "scrutinized" in the fourth paragraph could be replaced by .............

• The word “enabled” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to _____.

ZUNIA12

• This passage would probably be assigned reading in which of the following courses?

• The word "contacts" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ..............

• Which of the following is NOT discussed as an ability animals are thought to have?

• What does the word “they” in paragraph 2 refer to?

• According to the passage, it is believed that the largest extinction of a species occurred ...........

• M.L. was _______ by the atmosphere in which he grew up.

• The word “Ornaments” in paragraph 3 is closet in meaning to _______.

• This article is about ...............

• The word "astonished" in paragraph 4 can be best replaced by ........

• In paragraph 2, the word “those” refers to ...............

• It can be inferred from the passage that the ice would not be flat if______.

• The word “accounts” is closest in meaning to ..................

• Which of the following can be inferred from the first paragraph?

• In the passage, the author gives the explanation of the concept of mandatory volunteer programs by ______.

• Learning to write is .................

• Which of the following processes does the author imply was done by both men and women?

• When education first reached women, they were _______.