Revisited: how gender role stereotypes affect the image of entrepreneurs among young adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena Meyer ◽  
Silke Tegtmeier ◽  
Stefanie Pakura

Purpose Entrepreneurship is shaped by a male norm, which has been widely demonstrated in qualitative studies. The authors strive to complement these methods by a quantitative approach. First, gender role stereotypes were measured in entrepreneurship. Second, the explicit notions of participants were captured when they described entrepreneurs. Therefore, this paper aims to revisit gender role stereotypes among young adults. Design/methodology/approach To measure stereotyping, participants were asked to describe entrepreneurs in general and either women or men in general. The Schein Descriptive Index (SDI) for characterization was used. Following the procedures of Schein (1975), intra-class-correlation was calculated as a measure of congruence. This approach was complemented by controlling explicit notions, i.e. the image that participants had when describing entrepreneurs. Findings The images of men and entrepreneurs show a high and significant congruence (r = 0.803), mostly in those adjectives that are untypical for men and entrepreneurs. The congruence of women and entrepreneurs was low (r = 0.152) and insignificant. Contrary to the participants’ beliefs, their explicit notions did not have any effect on measures of congruence. However, young adults who knew business owners in their surroundings rated the congruence of women and entrepreneurs significantly higher (r = 0.272) than average. Originality/value This study is unique in combining “implicit” stereotypes and explicit notions. It demonstrates that gender stereotypes in entrepreneurship are powerful. The image of the entrepreneur remains male, independent of explicit notions. As young adults who knew business owners in their surroundings rated the congruence of women and entrepreneurs higher, this could be a starting point for education programmes.

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Perez-Quintana ◽  
Esther Hormiga ◽  
Joan Carles Martori ◽  
Rafa Madariaga

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between sex, gender-role orientation (GRO) and the decision to become an entrepreneur. Because of the fact that gender stereotypes have influences on the preferences and choices of individuals in their career, this research proposes the following objectives: to determine the existence of gender stereotypes that have an influence on human behaviour and specially in this research context; to measure the GRO of each individual; and, finally, to analyze the relationship between the entrepreneurial intention, the sex and the GRO of participants. Design/methodology/approach Based on a questionnaire, this study follows the Bem Sex-Role Inventory methodology to perform an analysis by means of the multiple regression model. This study uses two different samples of 760 students who attend business administration and management undergraduate programs. Findings The outcomes show that GRO is a better predictor of the decision to become an entrepreneur than biological sex. Moreover, the results for the whole sample confirm the relationship between masculine and androgynous GRO with entrepreneurial intention, whereas there is also evidence of feminine GRO when we consider only women. Research limitations/implications In line with previous studies that link GRO and entrepreneurship, in this paper, the authors have analyzed business administration students’ view to draw conclusions. The next step is to apply the gender perspective to advance in the analysis of the features that characterize business managers. Likewise, it is interesting to continue the study of gender social construction in entrepreneurship focusing on the discourse used by entrepreneurs or in the media. Practical implications The conclusions of this study are relevant for educators and trainers of future entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial archetype evolves from masculinity to androgyny. This may help women entrepreneurial intentions. Emphasizing androgynous traits is a way to disable male stereotype domination and threat. This possibility is open, not only for educators who have the ability to improve this perception but also for media, advertising companies and women to push and value female entrepreneurship. Social implications The implicit dynamism in GROs leads to the possibility of changes in workplace views and especially in entrepreneurship as a career option. In this way, it is possible that the general belief that the company owners are men may change. Improving women entrepreneurs’ social visibility, which acts as “role models” may increase female entrepreneur intention. Moreover, emphasis on the androgynous entrepreneur traits in forums at different levels of education, in entrepreneur training activities, will certainly increase the women entrepreneur intention if they perceive they have positively valued traits for entrepreneurship. Originality/value Selecting 31 items related with the entrepreneur person, this work tests empirically their gender categorization. This procedure allows to measure participants’ GRO following the four gender categories and classify them by sex. Finally, the authors analyze the influence the GRO and sex exert over entrepreneurial intention and provide empirical evidence in favour that GRO is a more robust variable to predict entrepreneurial intention than sex, and androgynous GRO is the most influential category on entrepreneurial intention.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-29
Author(s):  
Róbert Osaďan

AbstractIn this study we explored the perception of gender stereotypes among elementary school teachers. Respondents (280 teachers) answered questions about their perception of the suitable behaviour according to the gender. Significant interactions emerge between teachers’ and pupils’ gender. The primary purpose of this paper was to find out on how teachers’ stereotypes affect their behavior towards elementary school-children. Results of the research were generally consistent with gender role stereotypes.


1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 976-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth M. Rienzi ◽  
David J. Scrams

To assess similarity between gender-role stereotypes and the personality disorder prototypes, university students (31 women and 13 men) were asked to assign gender to six descriptions of DSM-III—R personality disorders. Significant agreement was found in gender assignment for five of the six descriptions. Descriptions of the paranoid, antisocial, and compulsive personality disorders were viewed as male, and descriptions of the dependent and histrionic personality disorders were viewed as female. The description of schizoid personality disorder was not significantly gender-typed.


Author(s):  
Sunhee Cho ◽  
Sun Joo Jang

This study aimed to identify the relationships between gender role stereotypes (GRS), patriarchal family environment, and major satisfaction (MS) and their associated factors in nursing students. A total of 195 nursing students (154 women, 41 men) were surveyed online in South Korea from May to June 2020. The Gender Role Stereotype Inventory was used to assess gender role stereotypes, while patriarchal family environment and MS were evaluated using a 11-item instrument for testing patriarchal family environment and the Major Satisfaction Inventory, respectively. Men demonstrated stronger gender role stereotypes and patriarchal family culture than women. Patriarchal family culture was significantly correlated with gender role stereotypes and MS. A multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the effects of age, academic performance, motive for MS, intellectual GRS, social GRS, and patriarchal family environment on MS. The explanatory power of this model was 12.2%. Younger age, higher grade point average, voluntary selection of major, lower intellectual gender stereotypes, and higher social gender stereotypes predicted higher MS. Further studies on cultures in Asia and the world are needed to understand the impact of the patriarchal family culture and gender role stereotypes of nursing students on school adaptation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhvani Patel

The present study is an attempt to study the attribution patterns of employees toward descriptions of leaders in a female congenial workplace. 100 preschool teachers employed at various playschools located in Vadodara city served as sample for the study. The sample respondents completed a questionnaire that comprised of preliminary information and the Indian Gender Role Identity Scale (IGRIS) by Basu (2010). The data thus generated was subjected to ascending means to find out the frequency with which adjectives were chosen from the Scale. The results revealed that a leader in a female congenial workplace is largely described with masculine adjectives and lesser with feminine adjectives.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Love M. Chile ◽  
Xavier M. Black ◽  
Carol Neill

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of social isolation and the factors that create social isolation for residents of inner-city high-rise apartment communities. We critically examine how the physical environment and perceptions of safety in apartment buildings and the inner-city implicate the quality of interactions between residents and with their neighbourhood community. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used mixed-methods consisting of survey questionnaires supplemented by semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions using stratified random sampling to access predetermined key strata of inner-city high-rise resident population. Using coefficient of correlation we examine the significance of the association between social isolation, age and ethnicity amongst Auckland's inner-city high-rise residents. Findings – The authors found the experience and expression of social isolation consistent across all age groups, with highest correlation between functional social isolation and “being student”, and older adults (60+ years), length of tenure in current apartment and length of time residents have lived in the inner-city. Research limitations/implications – As a case study, we did not seek in this research to compare the experience and expressions of social isolation in different inner-city contexts, nor of inner-city high-rise residents in New Zealand and other countries, although these will be useful areas to explore in future studies. Practical implications – This study is a useful starting point to build evidence base for professionals working in health and social care services to develop interventions that will help reduce functional social isolation amongst young adults and older adults in inner-city high-rise apartments. This is particularly important as the inner-city population of older adults grow due to international migration, and sub-national shifts from suburbs to the inner-cities in response to governmental policies of urban consolidation. Originality/value – By identifying two forms of social isolation, namely functional and structural social isolation, we have extended previous analysis of social isolation and found that “living alone” or structural social isolation did not necessarily lead to functional social isolation. It also touched on the links between functional social isolation and self-efficacy of older adults, particularly those from immigrant backgrounds.


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