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Becoming self-employed has appeal to both genders. For many women, balancing work and family is a key motivator. However, businesses owned and operated by women are often very small, with limited turnover. This potentially can have disastrous consequences when these women come to retire, unless a solid retirement savings strategy has been considered. The purpose of this paper is to outline many of the issues and implications of a lack of research in this area.

Data were collected from 201 small business owners via a convenience sample derived from various databases. The survey was completed on-line and analysed using SPSS.

Many self-employed women in Australia have neither enough savings for their retirement, or an actual retirement plan. This is exacerbated by the lack of regulation requiring mandatory contributions into a superannuation (personal pension) fund by small business owners, unlike pay as you go employees, whose employers must contribute a certain about on their behalf.

Middle-to-older aged women are the biggest cohort of homeless people in Australia. This is likely to grow as self-employed Baby Boomers stop working and find they do not have sufficient personal financial resources to fund their retirement.

Whereas there is much written about gender and small business ownership, as well as retirement and savings planning, these two areas have not been researched before in Australia. Yet it is an issue for the majority of small business owners, particularly women.

The computer is every day looming larger on the professional horizon of every librarian. Instruction librarians, too, must confront the realities and potential of the computer in their efforts to bring the library into the pedagogical mainstream of their institutions. Reference Services Review takes this opportunity to offer three different perspectives on how the computer relates to library instruction. Carol Tobin, Princeton University, discusses the impact that access to online bibliographic databases has on the instructional program of a library; Harriet Tippet, Lawrence University, addresses word processing applications for producing instructional materials and the use of the computer as a management tool for library instruction data; and Patricia Culkin and Elizabeth Walker focus on computer assisted instruction.

With more students and less time, teachers from different subject areas are encouraged to work collaboratively with each other. Implementing the hierarchical design model at the early stages of students’ learning will increase their chances of learning to think analytically in all of their classes. Specifically targeting social studies and language arts for K-12 students, the authors of this paper suggest that teachers’ time and efforts spent in designing interdisciplinary lessons on the front end of instruction will culminate in a stronger exhibition of synthesis from students. Individual modifications can tailor the following ideas to suit topics in social studies curriculum throughout the school year while strengthening reading, writing, and communication skills in language arts.

Elizabeth Walker is one of today's career women who has received increasing media attention over the last decade.

This paper seeks to explore self‐employment through home‐based business ownership as a potential solution to the inter‐role conflict experienced by women attempting to balance dual work and family roles.

Home‐based businesses (n = 626) were surveyed in Western Australia as part of a larger national study. Data were collected on operator and business characteristics, and specific home‐based business issues (e.g. reasons for preferring a home‐base, management and planning, growth facilitators and barriers). Four‐way comparisons investigating the dynamics of home‐based business ownership between male and female operators and operators with and without dependants were made.

The attraction of home‐based business ownership is driven predominantly by the flexibility afforded to lifestyle and the ability to balance work and family. While these advantages were more salient for women than for men, gender per se was not a determining factor in why operators started a home‐based business. The more significant determining factor was the issue of dependants.

Self‐employment, particularly through home‐based business ownership, may well solve some women's necessity to balance work and family. However, it may not be a viable solution for all women, particularly those seeking high financial and career rewards.

This paper contributes empirical findings regarding home‐based businesses which, as a distinct form of small business and self‐employment alternative, still remain very much under‐researched. The paper also addresses the issue of home‐based businesses being emancipatory vehicles for women juggling to manage work and family, and provides findings which question this increasingly populist notion.

This paper aims to investigate age and gender differences in initial motivations for starting a business. What is not known, however, is whether the initial motivations for starting the business are different for older people and whether any gender differences exist. Historically, women were “pushed” rather than “pulled” into business ownership, but more recent studies have indicated that, overall, many women now actively choose self‐employment. However, age may be a new barrier for women and men.

The study combined a self‐administered questionnaire which was used to collect data relating to general information about the respondent and their business, in addition to their start‐up motivations. In total 270 questionnaires were returned. About 15 in‐depth interviews were also conducted to verify the empirical findings.

The results showed that self‐employment is a reactive rather than proactive decision for both older women and men; however, women were less inclined to actively seek self‐employment as their employment option of choice. In addition, the findings also show that a significant motivation for many younger women is still because of the double domestic shift, indicating therefore that some things change but some things stay the same for women.

Whereas the majority of previous research has looked at start‐up motivation, few have considered age and gender as independent variables. Given the increasing number of “baby boomers” starting their own businesses, this research can have practical policy implications.

To conduct the first national study in Australia of women in small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises, and to develop a profile of the self‐employed woman and her business to serve as a benchmark for follow‐up research.

Comprised a self‐administered questionnaire which dealt with a broad range of issues concerning the start‐up and operational aspects of a small to medium‐sized business. The women participants were self‐selected and were obtained through mail‐outs to business and professional networks, and a nation‐wide advertising campaign. Three focus groups were also held to provide more background on some of the findings from the survey.

The study found a consistency in the characteristics of the women and their businesses, similar to those found at the localised level. A benchmark profile of both the Australian small business woman operator and her business was established.

Is the first national Australian study, and provides a benchmark for later studies in the same area.

This paper reports on the difference between men and women's motivations for going into business and why they choose to operate their business from home. Reports the views of the operators regarding community attitudes towards home‐based businesses. Data was collected from a self‐administered survey distributed by post, from home‐based business operators in two local government areas in Western Australia. Two focus groups verified the findings of the survey and investigated the home‐based business operator's perceptions of the communities attitude towards them. It was evident that some sections of the community felt that home‐based businesses are extended hobbies and not to be taken seriously. The paper argues that this view ignores the significant financial and social contributions that home‐based businesses make to the economy and society in general and is not a view that is held by home‐based business operators themselves.

This purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of on‐line training by small businesses in Australia. It explores the relationship between the owner's acceptance and use of the internet, and their current participation in training opportunities.

A sample of small businesses which had participated in an Australian government scheme aimed at improving the participation of this business sector in training, were surveyed using a mailed questionnaire. The scheme provided training vouchers to businesses to fund training activities for the owner managers.

Findings suggest that business characteristics can affect the participation in training, with those having plans more likely to engage in training. The use of the internet for training has improved accessibility for small businesses and offers some potential as a delivery medium, however, the findings also highlight the lack of e‐literacy of many small business owners.

Given the increasing importance of small business in Australia, it is necessary to continuously promote and encourage the role of training and skills development for owners and their employees. This study highlights a relationship between growth and the need for training, however, acknowledges that many small business owners are reluctant to participate in skill development and training.

This paper highlights the need for small business owners and their staff to recognise their training needs, and to have a broader understanding of the importance of their training and development needs.

The purpose of this paper is to show that most small business owner‐managers are technically competent in their area of business activity however they do not always have equal managerial competence. For example, deficiency in human resource management competence may lead to difficulties in attracting, retaining or leading staff. These factors are critical to businesses that aspire to any kind of growth. Part of the problem relates to a lack of participation by small business owner‐mangers in formal management skills development due to the perceived time and financial costs required. Therefore a new approach to training and learning is needed, one which overcomes the barriers and takes education to the small business community.

A community based education (CBE) approach is examined to determine whether this design is effective in addressing the reported barriers to training faced by small business owner‐managers.

Evaluation of the CBE approach has shown that when small business owner‐managers participate in a dedicated management skills program, important gains are made that contribute to their personal and business development. These benefits can have lasting effects both on the business and the community in which it operates.

Small business is an important sector for both economic and social outcomes. Without sufficient management competencies small businesses are more likely to fail. Therefore, the development of an approach to management training that can both engage small business owner‐managers and achieve positive benefits for the individual, and the business is of enormous value. This research provides evidence of an approach that has achieved these goals.