How female entrepreneurs build strong business relationships: the power of gender stereotypes

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Constantinidis
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Business Relationships ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Female Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Feminism ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

PurposeAdopting a feminist constructionist perspective, this article proposes an analysis of the micro-level processes and dynamics of interpersonal, gendered, business relationships between female entrepreneurs, therefore constituting an extension to network theory in the women's entrepreneurship research field.Design/methodology/approachThe qualitative research builds on a single, longitudinal case study of a successful, 15-years long collaboration between two female entrepreneurs. Qualitative data were collected over two years, through formal and informal interviews with the entrepreneurs, observations and complementary documentation. The data analysis is based on a grounded theory and narrative approach.FindingsThe article proposes a thick narrative of the evolution of the dyadic business relationship, and reveals the power of gender role stereotypes in its progressive formation and development.Research limitations/implicationsThe article produces situated knowledge about female entrepreneurs and strong interpersonal business ties. The limitations relate to the specificity of the case analysed, representing the viewpoint of privileged, white, Western, educated and wealthy female entrepreneurs. It therefore does not account for the diversity of women's entrepreneurship.Originality/valueThe article enriches and extends social network theory in the women's entrepreneurship field through analysing how gender is done in discursive and social practices at the interpersonal level. The case also constitutes an illustration of social feminism in women's entrepreneurial practice, challenging dominant gender stereotypes.

Lifelong activism and women’s entrepreneurship: how a social movement organization improves conditions for self-employed women in India

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 937-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Colovic ◽  
Sonia Mehrotra
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Movement Organization ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a local trade union improves living conditions for women entrepreneurs in India and how its activities have evolved over time. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a longitudinal case study of the self-employed women’s association (SEWA) in India. Founded in 1972, this organization fosters and supports women’s entrepreneurship. The approach of this study combines qualitative face-to-face interviews and secondary data analysis. Findings The findings highlight the fact that SEWA, which combines the features of a trade union and a social movement, improves women’s conditions in several different ways. The study shows that the organization’s main role has evolved from creating a community to expanding it and finally to becoming an agent of societal change. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature by analyzing how locally grown organizations fight social exclusion and improve the conditions of deprived groups in emerging economies.

A gender‐aware framework for women's entrepreneurship

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Candida G. Brush ◽  
Anne de Bruin ◽  
Friederike Welter
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Female Entrepreneurs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Societal Factors ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
And Gender

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a new gender‐aware framework to provide a springboard for furthering a holistic understanding of women's entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachThe paper builds on an existing framework articulating the “3Ms” (markets, money and management) required for entrepreneurs to launch and grow ventures. Drawing on institutional theory, it is argued that this “3M” framework needs further development and “motherhood” and “meso/macro environment” are added to extend and mediate the “3Ms” and construct a “5M” framework to enable the study of women's entrepreneurship in its own right.FindingsIt was found that “Motherhood” is a metaphor representing the household and family context of female entrepreneurs, which might have a larger impact on women than men. The meso/macro environment captures considerations beyond the market, such as expectations of society and cultural norms (macro), and intermediate structures and institutions (meso).Practical implicationsFor the women entrepreneur, this analysis has implications for understanding the sources of the challenges they face by providing insights on the importance of the interplay of both individual and societal factors that impact on their enterprise. For policy makers, it turns the spotlight on the need for an integrated approach for fostering female entrepreneurs that is not blind to overarching institutionalised social structures and gender asymmetries.Originality/valueThe framework helps lay a foundation for coherent research on women's entrepreneurship. It is unique in making explicit the social embeddedness of women entrepreneurs and considers the multiple levels of influence on their entrepreneurial actions.

scholarly journals Women’s entrepreneurship policy: a 13 nation cross-country comparison

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colette Henry ◽  
Barbara Orser ◽  
Susan Coleman ◽  
Lene Foss
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Entrepreneurship Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Status ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

Purpose Government attention to women’s entrepreneurship has increased in the past two decades; however, there are few cross-cultural studies to inform policy development. This paper aims to draw on gender and institutional theory to report on the status of female-focused small and medium-sized enterprises/entrepreneurship policies and to ask how – and to what extent – do women’s entrepreneurship policies differ among countries? Design/methodology/approach A common methodological approach is used to identify gaps in the policy-practice nexus. Findings The study highlights countries where policy is weak but practice is strong, and vice versa. Research limitations/implications The study’s data were restricted to policy documents and observations of practices and initiatives on the ground. Practical implications The findings have implications for policy makers in respect of support for women’s entrepreneurship. Recommendations for future research are advanced. Originality/value The paper contributes to extant knowledge and understanding about entrepreneurship policy, specifically in relation to women’s entrepreneurship. It is also one of the few studies to use a common methodological approach to explore and compare women’s entrepreneurship policies in 13 countries.

Women’s entrepreneurship and internationalization: patterns and trends

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 780-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Ratten ◽  
Kayhan Tajeddini
Keyword(s):  
Women Entrepreneurs ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
New Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on women’s entrepreneurship and internationalization in order to build an understanding about future trends. There is increasing interest in the role of women in entrepreneurship yet little research has been conducted about the link to internationalization patterns. Design/methodology/approach The literature is reviewed based on a systematic analysis of the words women, female, gender and internationalization. Findings Three main schools of thought around women’s entrepreneurship and internationalization (philosophy, management and motivations) are then discussed. The analysis of literature and classification into main theories enables the building of new research around women’s entrepreneurship and internationalization. Originality/value There is a pipeline of women intending to become entrepreneurs so this paper helps to understand how women entrepreneurs influence internationalization patterns and how to help support women in their business endeavors.

scholarly journals Advisor gender and advice justification in advice taking

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-21
Author(s):  
Vinicius Farias Ribeiro ◽  
Adriana Victoria Garibaldi de Hilal ◽  
Marcos Gonçalves Avila
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Male Gender ◽  
Amazon Mechanical Turk ◽  
Managerial Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Managerial Decisions ◽  
Advice Taking ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify under what circumstances advisor gender and advice justification influence advice taking by managers. Design/methodology/approach The authors designed a quasirational managerial decision experiment with both analytic and intuitive cues. The design was a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial, in which gender (male/female) and advice justification (intuitive/analytic) were crossed. The experiment involved two independent samples, taken from Amazon Mechanical Turk workers and Brazilian professionals. Findings Results suggest that, in general, analytic justification is more valued than intuitive justification. The findings also infer that depending on the advisees’ sample and providing that advice justification is analytic, quasirational scenarios seem to favor male advisors (MTurk sample) or both male and female advisors with “male values” (professional sample), as analysis is traditionally considered a “male value.” Practical implications Analytic justification will likely lead to more advice utilization in quasirational managerial situations, as it may act as a safeguard for the accuracy of the offered advice. Social implications The results might signal an ongoing, but slow, process leading to the mitigation of gender stereotypes, considering that the male gender stereotype was active in the MTurk sample, but not in the professional one. Originality/value This study contributes to the advice-taking research field by showing the interplay between advisor gender and advice justification in a quasirational managerial decision setting with both analytic and intuitive cues. In advice-taking literature, observations are usually collected from students. However, as this study focused on managerial decisions, the authors collected independent samples from MTurk workers and Brazilian professionals.

Gender perspectives on university education and entrepreneurship

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Tegtmeier ◽  
Jay Mitra
Keyword(s):  
University Education ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Female Entrepreneurship ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Engagement ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Introductory Article ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
New Research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to direct attention to recent research on women’s entrepreneurship with a focus on university education. A literature review and a summary of authors’ selected papers provide both a context for and an introduction to the articles in this special issue. Design/methodology/approach – This introduction provides an overview of the literature on female entrepreneurship with specific reference to the context of university education. Searches on Web of Science and in this journal were conducted to provide a systematic overview of the area of research. This introductory article ends with a set of propositions for future research engagement. Findings – This paper finds that the quantum of past research endeavours remains limited despite the growing significance of the subject. This paper also finds that developing a focused approach that is based on a female ontology of entrepreneurship, and one that identifies specific contexts, and appropriate methodological considerations that enable enquiry at different levels, are of value to future research. This paper offers four different propositions that address key areas or fields of entrepreneurship research. Research limitations/implications – This paper provides a unique set of propositions together with a framework which helps to both explore new knowledge creation and locate new research within the main fields of entrepreneurship while providing room for extending those fields. Practical implications – This overview provides a framework for universities and policymakers to enable them to take into consideration the critical issues of entrepreneurship in general, and female entrepreneurship in particular, when developing programmes and tools for university education. Originality/value – This paper provides a summary of the trends in research on women’s entrepreneurship with reference to university education. This leads to the development of a set of propositions and a framework for identifying and exploring new research questions that need to be addressed to close important research gaps in the field of entrepreneurship.

Women’s entrepreneurship in Russia: impacts from the Soviet system

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Mari Sätre
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Field Trips ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Soviet Time ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze how surviving norms from the Soviet time continue to shape women’s entrepreneurship in contemporary Russia. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data are based on observations and qualitative interviews in two Russian regions in 2002-2014 and also to a part on a survey from one of the regions. The analytical framework is based on Douglass North’s (1990) categorization of four main kinds of institutions which influence the way a society develops: legal rules, organization forms, enforcement and behavioural norms. Findings – The analysis shows that it is important to incorporate norms connected to women’s societal roles to the institutional theory. The survival of norms might in fact imply that women’s entrepreneurship tends to conserve the ways the system works, rather than to contributing to changing it. Although the survival of such norms tends to prevent changes, the possibility to start private businesses, on the other hand, opened up new ways for women to fulfill their different societal responsibilities. Originality/value – The paper is based on unique empirical data including some 200 interviews and observations from regular field trips to villages and small towns in Russia since the early 2000s.

scholarly journals Neo-liberalism translated into preconditions for women entrepreneurs – two contrasting cases

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malin Tillmar ◽  
Helene Ahl ◽  
Karin Berglund ◽  
Katarina Pettersson
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Women Entrepreneurs ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Contrasting two countries with different gender regimes and welfare states, Sweden and Tanzania, this paper aims to analyse how the institutional context affects the ways in which a neo-liberal reform agenda is translated into institutional changes and propose how such changes impact the preconditions for women’s entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach This study uses document analysis and previous studies to describe and analyse the institutions and the institutional changes. This paper uses Scandinavian institutional theory as the interpretative framework. Findings This study proposes that: in well-developed welfare states with a high level of gender equality, consequences of neo-liberal agenda for the preconditions for women entrepreneurs are more likely to be negative than positive. In less developed states with a low level of gender equality, the gendered consequences of neo-liberal reforms may be mixed and the preconditions for women’s entrepreneurship more positive than negative. How neo-liberalism impacts preconditions for women entrepreneurs depend on the institutional framework in terms of a trustworthy women-friendly state and level of gender equality. Research limitations/implications The study calls for bringing the effects on the gender of the neo-liberal primacy of market solutions out of the black box. Studying how women entrepreneurs perceive these effects necessitates qualitative ethnographic data. Originality/value This paper demonstrates why any discussion of the impact of political or economic reforms on women’s entrepreneurship must take a country’s specific institutional context into account. Further, previous studies on neo-liberalism have rarely taken an interest in Africa.

A legacy of attention to embeddedness in gendered institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen D. Hughes ◽  
Jennifer E. Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
New Research

Purpose The purpose of in this study is to examine how scholarship on women’s entrepreneurship/gender and entrepreneurship has contributed to understandings of the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity. The authors review studies from the past four decades (1975-2018) to assess the extent to which research has examined the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity in two key institutions – the family and the labour market – that remain pervasively and persistently gendered. Design/methodology/approach The authors blend a systematic quantitative analysis of scholarly publications with qualitative analysis, identifying key themes and contributions. The corpus of material comprises over 1,300 scholarly publications, including both empirical and theoretical contributions. Findings This analysis shows that attention to the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity in gendered social institutions is a clear legacy of women’s entrepreneurship research. The systematic quantitative review found that over one-third (36.6 per cent) of scholarly publications examines questions of family and/or labour market embeddedness in some way. The qualitative analysis identifies a rich array of themes over the past four decades and a growing global reach of scholarship in recent years. Originality/value This paper contributes to knowledge about the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity. It offers a comprehensive review of how entrepreneurship is shaped by the embedding of such activity in two predominant (and gendered) social institutions – families and labour markets. It will be of use to scholars seeking an overview of this topic and considering new research questions to pursue.

Challenging gender norms and practices through women’s entrepreneurship

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 338-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Emilia Bianco ◽  
Margaret Lombe ◽  
Mara Bolis
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Women Entrepreneurs ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
Gender Ideologies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Gender Scripts ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Interactionism

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of women’s entrepreneurship to bring about greater gender equality. Understanding women’s entrepreneurship as a gendered process (Bird and Brush, 2002), the study presents the challenges encountered by women entrepreneurs as a result of gender ideologies. It documents structural barriers, discriminatory interactions and oppressive gender scripts and their effects on the women and their businesses. Acknowledging women’s possibilities for agency and resistance, the study analyzes how women entrepreneurs conform, contest or negotiate gender scripts and constraints, and looks at the consequences of these actions. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from elements of social interactionism and the doing and undoing gender theories, the authors use a feminist theoretic framework to guide analysis of qualitative data from two focus groups conducted with 19 women entrepreneurs in Colombia. Findings Gender ideologies were manifested in the forms of interrelated structural barriers that restricted women entrepreneurs’ access to resources. Social interactions represented spaces in which gender ideologies were reinforced, but also spaces women used to produce changes through resistance and accommodation strategies. Entrepreneurship was associated with positive changes toward greater gender equality, although negative consequences were reported. Research limitations/implications Due to the limited sample, more studies across countries may be needed for the consolidation of a generalizable theoretical framework. Originality/value This study presents a feminist theoretic framework in dialogue with the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs. It observes the processes of change toward gender equality embedded in business development.

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