"As a result of the increasing influence and business leadership of women small business owners, the workplace of tomorrow will be far less hierarchical," said Mark Wolf, director, The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute. "This distinctive approach strongly counteracts the top-down, command-and-control style of management long practiced by their male counterparts."

Women small business owners will create 5 to 5.5 million new jobs across the U.S. by 2018, transforming the workplace of tomorrow into a far more inclusive, horizontally managed environment, according to The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute.

Based on the Institute's projection, women-owned small businesses will generate more than half of the 9.72 million new small business jobs expected to be created, and roughly one-third of the 15.3 million total new jobs anticipated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics by 2018. This projection is striking, given that women-owned businesses currently account for just 16 percent of total U.S. employment.

Read more and follow the buzz via Research Projects Women Small Business Owners Will Create 5+ Million New Jobs By 2018