Guest editorial

Citation

Singh, R. (2018), "Guest editorial", Gender in Management, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 186-186. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-05-2018-182

Gender and entrepreneurship in cross-cultural perspectives

Welcome to the second part of the special issue of Gender in Management on the topic, Gender and entrepreneurship in cross-cultural perspectives. Although the relation between gender and entrepreneurship is a well-researched area, this special issue focuses on the advancement of inter-disciplinary research in the areas of gender studies, entrepreneurship and cross-cultural management.

The first paper titled, Does lending to women lower the sustainability of microfinance institutions? The moderating role of national cultures investigates whether lending to women decreases the sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and how the regional characteristics where MFIs are located moderate this effect. Lending to women tends to reduce the sustainability of MFIs. This negative effect is more pronounced in countries ranking higher on power distance and individualism, but the effect is less serious in countries ranking higher on masculinity and uncertainty avoidance.

The second paper titled, Exploring work-family interface for Indian women entrepreneurs highlighted the pervasive factors impacting the work–family interface of women entrepreneurs in the urban Indian context, such as family, life-cycle stage and role involvement. The study serves as a starting point for further qualitative and quantitative research examining the antecedents and outcomes of work–family constructs in relation to women entrepreneurship across cultures.

The third paper titled, Gender and organizational climate: a study of two structurally different large organizations in India highlighted that gender differences in employee perceptions are not only socially determined for some variables but in fact may also depend on the organizational structural contexts in presence of explicit supporting policies. To balance the needs of both genders, managers may need to be cognizant of both organizational and social contexts.

The last paper titled, Imperatives for improving entrepreneurial behaviour among females in the UAE: an empirical study and structural model identified 14 enablers to improve female entrepreneurial behavior, and contextual relationships between them were established using ISM methodology. Female entrepreneurs consider enablers as the driving force in creating an entrepreneurial culture. The framework presented in this study can be used effectively by the policymakers to develop suitable strategies for improving entrepreneurial behavior among females in the UAE.

All the four papers in the special issue are a healthy mix of different aspects of gender and entrepreneurship in different cultural settings. We extend our gratitude to the Editor-in-Chief for her constant support and guidance. We also thank all the reviewers who reviewed the papers and gave critical and insightful observations to the authors for improving their papers. Last but not the least, we thank all the authors who have contributed their papers to this special issue to make it successful.

We hope that you would appreciate and enjoy the special issue as much we were delighted to develop it. Happy Reading!