The choice of targeted female-focused business support is important to women.

98% of women chose to participate in the National Council of Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) "Women's Flying Start Program" because it was women-only. 

98% of women involved in the pioneering "Enterprising Women Initiative" also said women-specific support was important or very important to them (NCGE 2007, and Enterprising Women Evaluation and Research Report 2007)

Women who have undergone some form of enterprise training are twice as likely to be engaged in entrepreneurial activity (GEM UK 2005)

Studies and analyses in the USA and UK show that targeted women's enterprise initiatives complement and add value to mainstream business support services located nearby For example, the West Midlands Regional Women's Enterprise Unit found that 58% of their clients had not previously used mainstream business support yet this figure had risen to 90%  less than a year later (Analyzing the economic impact of the Women's Business Center Program, National Women's Business Council 2004, USA and Impact Assessment Year 2 RWEU West Midlands, Mar 2008)
(drive growth)

Entrepreneurial rates for men are roughly the same in the UK and the US - any significant increase in business formation will only come from encouraging more women into business (State of women's enterprise in the UK, Dr Rebecca Harding, Nov 2007)