Our nation’s employees will be getting more opportunities from women who own small businesses than their counterparts who are men, according to the Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute. The insurance-company group projects that these women will create up to 5.5 million new jobs by 2018. That’s more than half of the small business jobs expected to be created in that same time period and roughly a third of the total jobs to be created.

The boost in female entrepreneurship is spurred by women’s dissatisfaction with hierarchical corporate work and an interest in creating stronger bonds with employees and customers. Women tend to be more collaborative in working with their employees and more interested in building community and friendships among their clients, according to the institute’s researchers.

The institute found that women owners and managers are:

> More diligently engaged in strategic facets of their business
> More customer-focused
> More likely to incorporate community and environment into their business plans
> More receptive to input and guidance from internal and external advisors
> More committed to creating opportunities for others.

“Women small business owners will ultimately create more opportunities for employees to grow in their jobs and inspire others to start their own small businesses—all while providing customers with superior service,” says institute research advisor John Krubski.