And market researcher Women's Consumer Network predicts the percentage will rise to 50 percent this year. C.V. Harquail, assistant professor of business administration at Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, says the women handle networking structures particularly well. Harquail said women also have been trained in effective ways in dealing with e-consumers. Stephanie Collins, associate professor in Computer Information Systems at New Hampshire College in Manchester, N.H., said women understand the on-line customer's need for added value. The e-commerce challenge is to add the extra value.
Women tend to understand that.
Experts caution that the e-terrain is not without its challenges to female entrepreneurs, among them the fact that IT professionals remain predominantly men. Collins said she sees some gender differences among programmers, but believes womens' approach is more in tune with on-line needs. Division of Ottaway Newspapers,Inc. The News-Times Online Edition is published daily Monday through Sunday. The News-Times provides news for the towns of Danbury , Bethel , Bridgewater , Brookfield , Washington , New Milford , New Fairfield , Newtown , Redding , Ridgefield , Sherman and Southbury Connecticut.