Catalyzing Women in STEM Entrepreneurship: Ecosystem Gaps and Pathways for Support in Central America and Ecuador

This Technical Note examines womens participation in STEM entrepreneurship across Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, drawing on cross-country ecosystem reviews, qualitative interviews, and lessons from the WE3A - Supporting Women Entrepreneurs in STEM Areas project. It documents a persistent “leaky pipeline” from STEM education to venture creation, with women representing roughly one-quarter to one-third of STEM graduates, alongside high rates of not being in employment or education (NEET). The Technical Note highlights structural bottlenecks in finance, such as collateral-centric lending, thin early-stage capital, and investor bias, regulatory frictions in business establishment and protection of intellectual property, and uneven digital and innovation infrastructure outside urban areas.

The Technical Note profiles policy efforts and ecosystem actors, acknowledging progress, especially in entrepreneurship and innovation policies, and women-focused initiatives, while also emphasizing implementation and coordination gaps that hinder the achievement of intended impact. It proposes sequenced pathways for governments, financial regulators and institutions, the private sector, academia, and civil society to align incentives, expand access to finance, embed STEM in education, improve childcare and safety policies, and strengthen sex-disaggregated data collection and reporting systems. The publication concludes with actionable recommendations and an impact-cost matrix to guide program design and ecosystem strengthening efforts.