From Mary Barbour and Elsie Inglis through to Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's history has been shaped by trailblazing women.

When it comes to equality in employment, Scotland is far more progressive than the rest of the UK, with our gender gap hitting an all time low in 2014.

But recent figures show that women still lack the confidence to start up their own businesses - one in ten to be precise, across the whole of the UK.

As for Scotland, women in employment may be on the rise, but there's a clear majority of Y chromosomes when it comes to positions of power.

Evidence shows that more diversity in the board room makes for more successful businesses and, with the recent success of start ups like Uber, WhatsApp and Facebook, there has been a push for more female angel investors - a drive that could reportedly contribute £140m to the Scottish economy.

So why are women backing down when it comes to going for their dream job?

The survey by Development Economics and YouGov, on behalf of Facebook found the following reasons, which we have debunked.

When it comes to self worth between genders, Scotland's figures just don't add up.

Around a quarter of women surveyed felt like they lack the necessary skills to start a business, bizarre when they generally excel in education over men in Scotland.

In 2013, 60.9% of females left school with highest attainment of Higher or above, compared to 50.7% of males - yet 57% of all women in employment were employed in medium-low or low skilled jobs, compared with only 37% of men.

But Scotland has produced numerous women who went on to succeed after leaving school without glowing reports. Bra tycoon Michelle Mone described herself as a "write-off" when she left school but went on to start her Ultimo empire through working hard and "sheer determination".

Scottish Enterprise have also found a sizeable jump in confidence when budding business owners are given opportunities abroad.

SE supports the MIT Entrepreneurship Development Programme in Boston every year - a week-long intensive course on how to pitch and grow a business, as well as international networking skills.

Director of High Growth Ventures at Scottish Enterprise Eleanor Mitchell, who spent 20 years working with startups in California, said: "We have got something in Scotland that does seem to affect confidence. Through this hard impact MIT programme, Scots really benefit from thinking about how to grow their company over the next five years.

"One thing people say is the impact on their confidence has been incredible - that's a mix of male and female participants. Scottish people have led teams in the programme for last two three years and their confidence really shows through."

This was an issue for 37% of people who responded to the survey, which again fails to stand up in modern Scotland. Over the last seven rounds of the Scottish EDGE awards 40% of winners have been female, an "outstanding amount" according to Scottish Enterprise.

But the tendency to delay business ventures is something recognised by industry success stories as well as those just starting out. Scots artist Johanna Basford, the woman who is credited with sparking the adult colouring book trend, told STV she almost "backed out" of her first book deal because the risk was so high.

Similarly Lauren Currie, a Glasgow entrepreneur named one of ELLE's 30 women changing the world, faced immense challenges in starting her first service design business Snook at age 23 - namely because service design was an industry no one had ever heard of.

After carving a niche for herself in a sector which works to improve the way companies deliver customer service, Currie has gone on to challenge diversity in public speaking on an international level.

She said: "Once you believe you can do anything you want, good stuff starts to happen. Everyone is scared most of the time and that's ok. Just start. Start anywhere.

"Begin with the smallest possible project you can do that someone will pay you money for. A project that solves a problem they know they have. Charge less than it's worth and more than it costs you. Repeat. You don't have to wait for perfect. Just start."

An issue empathised with the world over, access to finances was an issue for 34% of people surveyed.

But the Scottish Government is putting pressure on public, private and third sector companies to set a voluntary commitment for gender balance on their boards of 50/50 by 2020.

There are also a number of funds available to women to boost start ups such as the micro-finance fund through Women's Enterprise Scotland or Women's Fund for Scotland (the latter is funded by the UK Government's tampon tax.)

Then there are the inspirational crowdfunding success stories. In 2014, Scottish women cooked up an idea that took the globe by storm called Penny In Yo' Pants, an ingenious way of making skirts more practical for cycling in.

The women who designed the simple device created a video showcasing their product which went viral - less than five months later, the group had raised enough online for a product patent.

A massive 72% of respondents said they could not identify a female role model running a similar business to the one they would like to set up.

This is possibly the most surprising statistic, particularly given the number of successful Scottish start-ups lead by women in the past five years.

Leah Hutcheson (Appointedd), Vicky Brock (Clear Returns, Forbes and Bloomberg top nine female tech CEOs to watch) Margaret Anne Craig (Clyde Biosciences) are some of the pioneering female role models whose businesses struck out into more unfamiliar territory. For instance Hutcheson's Edinburgh company has launched the world's first truly multi-time zone online booking system, pulling in clients from personal trainers and massage therapists to driving instructors and photographers.

The greater issue may not be a lack of role models, but lack of visible role models. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Brock cited the "quiet" Gareth Williams, CEO of Skyscanner as the mentor who influenced her the most.

She said: "I love that characteristic you see in diverse individuals who exude humble confidence. Those who say 'It hasn't been easy for me, I am not a natural at this, but I am doing it anyway, I am achieving a lot'.

"Some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs are the more quiet entrepreneurs. He [Williams] has built a fantastic business and is on track to be Scotland's first billion dollar company."