The solutions to the long-standing inequities female entrepreneurs face are equally complex. But one idea is emerging as a prime opportunity for all students, regardless of gender, to learn the skills needed to thrive in the modern economy. High school entrepreneurship education programs, such as the INCubatoredu classes I teach are a vehicle for propelling more young women into entrepreneurship and business leadership roles. This is especially important since more than half of Gen Z, people born after 1997, plan to start their own businesses at some point in their lives.

At this very moment, women across the United States are sitting on million-dollar ideas, like a product that fills a niche or a service that solves a unique challenge. And increasingly, women are turning those ideas into entrepreneurship opportunities. Women accounted for 49% of business startups in 2021, a 28% jump from two years earlier.