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Article
Publication date: 24 January 2022

Malin Tillmar, Birgitta Sköld, Helene Ahl, Karin Berglund and Katarina Pettersson

The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss to what extent and why women's entrepreneurship contributes to rural economic viability and gender equality in an advanced…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss to what extent and why women's entrepreneurship contributes to rural economic viability and gender equality in an advanced welfare state.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use detailed register data to explore men's and women's rural businesses in the most common industries for rural women entrepreneurs in the Swedish welfare state. Based on a literature review, the authors develop hypotheses and analyse how family, business and industry factors influence earnings.

Findings

Women's rural entrepreneurship is important for rural viability, as women's businesses provide a wide range of services necessary for life in rural areas. Although women's rural businesses are not significantly smaller than those of men, women's income is lower and more sensitive to business and industry variables. Marriage has positive effects for the earnings of men but negative effects for the earnings of women. The authors argue that the results are contingent on the gendering of entrepreneurship and industries, as well as on the local rural gender contracts. For these reasons, the importance of women entrepreneurs for rural viability is not reflected in their own incomes. Hence, women's rural entrepreneurship does not result in (economic) gender equality.

Originality/value

Entrepreneurship scholars rarely explore women's rural entrepreneurship, and particularly not in the Global North or Western welfare states. Therefore, this empirical study from Sweden provides novel information on how the gender order on the business, industry and family levels influences the income of men and women entrepreneurs differently.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 November 2022

Alemayehu Elda Ergo, Deirdre O’ Connor and Tekle Leza Mega

Micro-businesses contribute to economic development by improving individual welfare. Women are the primary drivers and owners of such businesses in urban Ethiopia. The purpose of…

Abstract

Purpose

Micro-businesses contribute to economic development by improving individual welfare. Women are the primary drivers and owners of such businesses in urban Ethiopia. The purpose of this study is to investigate the poverty status and determinants among women-owned micro-businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

The basic study units were women who owned micro-businesses. A sample of 384 women-owned micro-business was chosen using a stratified and systematic random sampling technique. Thirty-six participants were purposely chosen for in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. The poverty head count, poverty gap and poverty severity indices were computed to estimate poverty status. The major determinants of women’s poverty were investigated using a logistic regression model.

Findings

The overall poverty incidence, gap and severity were estimated to be 24.27%, 3.85%, and 1.11% respectively, among the women who owned micro-businesses. Eight of the 14 poverty determinants, including age, dependents, savings, remittance and the number of days and hours women work in their businesses, were found to have a significant effect on women’s poverty. The results suggest that local governments, technical and vocational training institutions should work together to reduce the impact of poverty-aggravating factors on women and increase the contribution of women-owned micro-businesses to poverty reduction.

Originality/value

This study addressed the poverty status of women who run micro-businesses, which is a crucial issue in Ethiopia’s urban context. It adds new knowledge to the issue of gendered economic participation, poverty reduction and poverty determinants in the Ethiopian context.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 17 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2011

Syed Zamberi Ahmad

Interest in women entrepreneurs from various backgrounds has led to increased publication in the literature about particular women's entrepreneurship issues. However…

4267

Abstract

Purpose

Interest in women entrepreneurs from various backgrounds has led to increased publication in the literature about particular women's entrepreneurship issues. However, notwithstanding the importance of this area, little information exists about women entrepreneurs' business practices, survival and growth strategies and their perceptions of entrepreneurial careers; indeed, many questions remain unanswered. To address this gap, this study aims to explore some of these questions by considering women entrepreneurs in Arab countries, more specifically, women's entrepreneurship activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), a country with unwritten social mores in a patriarchal, male dominant society. The key objective is to examine these women's personal characteristics, motivation factors, business challenges and perception on entrepreneurial behaviours.

Design/methodology/approach

Because of the lack of statistical data and difficulties conducting studies in an Arabic society, this study employed a qualitative research methodology. The research comprised 19 in‐depth interviews with Saudi women entrepreneurs who were identified through referrals from the Women's Section of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Findings

The Saudi women entrepreneurs were found to exhibit many similarities with their counterparts in other Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region countries in terms of their personality traits. However, they differed in other aspects such as their educational backgrounds and the manner in which they acquired entrepreneurial skills. The findings suggest some strategies to contribute to greater success rates for women entrepreneurs in Islamic countries, where entrepreneurial activities are nascent but growing.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of the study is the restricted locale of the sample. A more extensive study is needed and future research should be more diverse – including widening the selection of respondents, industries and countries.

Practical implications

The paper shows that women's entrepreneurial activities in KSA are important to economic and social development. Saudi women's entrepreneurship, properly harnessed, has great potential as a tool for transforming the economy.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature on gender‐related business barriers due to the scarcity of publications about women's economic activities in the MENA region, specifically in KSA. The paper is also valuable for policy makers in KSA and researchers wishing to pursue indigenous entrepreneurship and gender studies.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2024

Jing Song

This study aims to examine why women transition from wage work to self-employed entrepreneurship, the seemingly insecure and unruly economic sector compared with the stable iron…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine why women transition from wage work to self-employed entrepreneurship, the seemingly insecure and unruly economic sector compared with the stable iron rice bowl and the fancy spring rice jobs.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on in-depth interviews in Zhejiang, the entrepreneurial hotbed in coastal China, this study examines the experiences of self-employed female entrepreneurs who used to work in the iron rice bowl and the spring rice jobs and explores their nonconventional career transition and its gendered implications.

Findings

This study finds that these women quit their previous jobs to escape from gendered suppression in wage work where their femininity was stereotyped, devalued or disciplined. By working for themselves, these women embrace a rubber rice bowl that allows them to improvise different forms of femininity that are better rewarded and recognized.

Originality/value

The study contributes to studies on gender and work by framing femininity as a fluid rather than a fixed set of qualities and fills the research gap by illustrating women’s agency in reacting to gender expectations in certain workplaces. The study develops a new concept of rubber rice bowl to describe how entrepreneurship, a seemingly women-unfriendly sphere, attracts women by allowing them to comply with, resist, or improvise normative gender expectations.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2018

Christina Constantinidis, Typhaine Lebègue, Manal El Abboubi and Noura Salman

Studies on women’s entrepreneurship in Morocco are scarce, despite the potential of women for the country’s economy. This research takes place in a socio-cultural environment…

1579

Abstract

Purpose

Studies on women’s entrepreneurship in Morocco are scarce, despite the potential of women for the country’s economy. This research takes place in a socio-cultural environment searching for a compromise between tradition and modernity. Families occupy a prominent place in Morocco, directly influencing women’s activities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of family in Moroccan women’s entrepreneurial success.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative research is based on 60 interviews with women entrepreneurs in Morocco, including women business owners, women professionals and also women co-operators who have not been documented until now, due to data accessibility. It is diversified in terms of personal, family and professional characteristics. The analysis uses an intersectionality framework taking gender and social class into consideration.

Findings

The results highlight three categories of women entrepreneur: the “elite”, the “self-made women” and the “co-operators”. Each category is characterised by specific familial and professional realities, underpinned by differentiated dynamics in terms of gender and social class.

Practical implications

The study, from a practical point of view, contributes to a better understanding of the differentiated realities encountered in terms of women’s entrepreneurship, in the Moroccan context.

Originality/value

Studies in developing countries tend to consider women entrepreneurs as a homogeneous group. This research highlights the fact that family support, women entrepreneurs’ practices and their role in entrepreneurial success depend on the background situations in terms of gender and social class. It also contributes to the entrepreneurial success field, revealing different definitions and perceptions of success among women entrepreneurs.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 25 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 August 2013

Doris Ruth Eikhof, Juliette Summers and Sara Carter

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact gendered media representations of entrepreneurs may have on the reality of female entrepreneurship. It analyses the…

6086

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact gendered media representations of entrepreneurs may have on the reality of female entrepreneurship. It analyses the representation of women entrepreneurs in a women ' s magazine. Media representations influence, firstly, whether women perceive entrepreneurship as desirable and attainable, and thus impact the strength and direction of their entrepreneurial aspirations. Secondly, media representations shape how key stakeholders such as bankers or clients view and interact with female business owners, thereby impacting women entrepreneurs’ business relations and opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews research on media representations of women entrepreneurs, gender inequalities in entrepreneurial activity and work before presenting an in-depth qualitative analysis of a magazine series reporting on female entrepreneurs.

Findings

The authors’ analysis reveals how the woman ' s magazine in question portrays female entrepreneurship as focused on traditionally female activities and pursuits and as domestically-centred. Relating these findings to evidence on gender inequalities in entrepreneurial activity, the paper raises important questions about the impact of media representations of women entrepreneurs.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates the benefits of understanding entrepreneurial activity as work and includes analytical perspectives from the sociology of work in the analysis of media representations of entrepreneurship.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, vol. 19 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 March 2017

Ezilda María Cabrera and David Mauricio

Women entrepreneurship has grown significantly all over the world, and it is widely established that entrepreneurship is important for economic growth and wealth. Despite those…

6014

Abstract

Purpose

Women entrepreneurship has grown significantly all over the world, and it is widely established that entrepreneurship is important for economic growth and wealth. Despite those facts, women’s participation in entrepreneurship is lower than men’s in almost all societies. Those phenomena get the attention of scholars from diverse disciplines, all of them interested in the behaviour and profile of female entrepreneurs and their business success rates. Several isolated factors were studied, with positive and negative effects on each stage of the entrepreneur process, for women entrepreneurs, so the purpose of this research is identify, classify by their impact and organise those factors in relation to the stages of the entrepreneur process.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature on factors affecting female entrepreneurship produced since January 2010 until October 2015 is analysed to define entrepreneurial success, identify factors affecting success at each stage of the entrepreneurial process and propose and organise those factors at individual and environment levels.

Findings

Several factors affecting female entrepreneurial success at each stage of the entrepreneurship process were found and organised at the internal (individual), micro, meso and macro environment level. In the literature reviewed, the most considered factors are: at the internal level, human capital, education and experience, with effects on the opportunity identification stage of the entrepreneurial process, and at the micro environment level, access to resources with effects on the opportunity recognition, acquiring resources and entrepreneurial performance stages, both with influence on quantitative and qualitative indicators of success.

Originality/value

This paper proposes an integrated classification and an array for all those factors that have an influence on women’s entrepreneurship and its success, relating those to the entrepreneurship process.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 September 2017

Colette Henry, Barbara Orser, Susan Coleman and Lene Foss

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…

1436

Abstract

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.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 August 2022

Shqipe Gashi Nulleshi

This paper aims to add to the theorization of family dynamics and women’s entrepreneurship by examining women’s influence on decision-making in family businesses. Business

1499

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to add to the theorization of family dynamics and women’s entrepreneurship by examining women’s influence on decision-making in family businesses. Business decisions in family firms, in particular, are not free from family influence in terms of goals and strategies, and the role of women in decision-making processes is of particular interest. Consequently, the role of women entrepreneurs in family firms and their influence on business development requires a more fine-grained analysis of the family dynamic within the family and the business.

Design/methodology/approach

This study draws on a qualitative study and focuses on the life story narratives of nine women in rural family businesses in rural communities of Småland province in Sweden to empirically examine the decision-making processes. This region is known both for its entrepreneurial culture and traditional gender order. Based on the narrative accounts of women entrepreneurs in family businesses, the data analysis method is thematic, using a Gioia-inspired method.

Findings

The complexity of decision-making in rural family firms is further complicated in part due to a closeness with the rural community. Thus, a typology of three decision-making modes in family firms emerges an informal family-oriented mode, a semistructured family/employee consensus mode and a formal board mode with at least one nonfamily member. Moreover, the advantages, disadvantages and strategies that women use to influence decisions within the respective mode are outlined.

Originality/value

This work contributes to the study of women’s agency and its implications in family business and entrepreneurship in the rural context. The study implies that women’s agency shapes the (rural) entrepreneurship context and, likewise, the (rural) entrepreneurship context influences women’s agency. Hence, the author challenges the view of women as only caregivers and sheds light on the practices and processes behind the scenes of entrepreneurial family businesses.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 October 2022

Angela Dettori and Michela Floris

As women are still promoted to C-level roles at far lower rates than men, this paper examines whether there is a clear and direct relationship between women's formal roles and the…

Abstract

Purpose

As women are still promoted to C-level roles at far lower rates than men, this paper examines whether there is a clear and direct relationship between women's formal roles and the effect of the socio-cultural context on their participation in strategic decisions in family businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a quantitative research design and logistic regression to analyze empirical data from a randomly selected sample of 800 firms in Sardinia.

Findings

In general, the results show that women's formal roles and participation in the decision-making process are not related, except in a specific sector (agriculture and farming), and that the local context plays an unquestionable role in terms of replicating local customs and traditions in the workplace.

Research limitations/implications

Although limited by the sample of firms in the same territory, this study shows that women participate in strategic decision-making both when tasked to by virtue of their leadership role and when playing a minor role by way of implicit decision-making power. However, the sector can hinder women's participation, especially when strongly rooted in local culture.

Originality/value

The study shows that the socio-cultural context has a strong influence on women's involvement in strategic decision-making, highlighting the “silent” way women make the most relevant decisions. Therefore, this study questions whether it is still relevant to discuss the formal role of women or whether it is more pertinent to investigate their explicit or implicit power in making strategic decisions in family businesses.

Details

Journal of Family Business Management, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-6238

Keywords

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