ESBRI organizes international conference on women’s entrepreneurship – policy in focus

111 researchers and other stakeholders from 21 countries gathered in Stockholm on June 1-2, to present and discuss the latest research focusing on women’s entrepreneurship.

The now annual Diana International Research Conference (DIRC) was back in Stockholm this weekend, with Esbri and Babson College as co-hosts.

– It is fantastic to see how the seed that we at Esbri planted in 2003 together with the five founders of the Diana project has developed into one of the foremost research conferences on entrepreneurship and the absolute foremost with a focus on women’s entrepreneurship, says Esbri’s Managing Director Magnus Aronsson.

The first conference was held in Stockholm over the midsummer weekend in 2003 in a small format. 21 years later, the Diana network has grown significantly – from 23 researchers from 16 countries to over 700 researchers from 47 countries.

– I could never have imagined that what we did then would develop into what we see today.

This year, 166 abstracts (summaries of research presented by researchers at the conference) were submitted for assessment. This is a new record.

– According to the senior researchers who reviewed them, the quality and breadth of the contributions bodes well for the future of research on women’s entrepreneurship.

Several PhD students and relatively new researchers attended the conference. The positive and encouraging culture that the five founders brought is still very much alive.

– This allows the next generation of new researchers to be supported and encouraged by the senior researchers. So the future of both the Diana conference and research on women’s entrepreneurship in general is promising, says Magnus Aronsson.