Janine Swail

Following the pathway of female entrepreneurs: A six-country investigation

– There has been increased policy and research interest in the growing number of female entrepreneurs and their potential contribution to both the local and global economy. Nevertheless, the extant literature on female entrepreneurship is often limited to the start‐up phase of business. An important gap in the literature is an enquiry into the development of these female‐owned organisations from inception to maturity, and their growth in domestic and/or international markets. This paper therefore aims to address key themes such as motivation to start‐up, growing the business, gender issues and the challenges faced by these women., – An innovative, internet‐based methodology was employed to collect the data in the chosen locations. Using internet resources such as online media, company web sites and other pertinent sites, a significant volume of information was gathered. Any information gaps or issues requiring further clarification were then addressed via e‐mail exchanges with the individual entrepreneur., – Initial findings demonstrate threads of commonality between female entrepreneurs in different countries. It also highlights differences in the experiences of these women, not only across countries but also within certain countries. A comprehensive discussion of these findings is contained in the paper., – This research has highlighted a number of issues which merit further investigation; however, the issue of social responsibility within this sample of female entrepreneurs would indicate that women have much more socially‐oriented motives for starting and developing a business. The authors would like to investigate this further using qualitative investigation of a larger sample within one country before drawing any definitive conclusions., – Given a limited understanding of such issues mentioned above, this contribution seeks to provide an insight into the heterogeneous experiences of female entrepreneurs using cross‐national data rather than a one‐country study.

Gender, risk and finance: why can't a woman be more like a man?

Whilst acknowledging that the influence of gender upon womens business ownership is now included as a legitimate addition to the contemporary entrepreneurship research agenda, we question the assumptions which frame this inclusion. We argue that whilst the masculinity of the entrepreneurial discourse has been recognized, this has promoted an almost exclusive focus upon women as the cipher for and personification of the gendered subject. Using explorations of risk and business finance in the context of entrepreneurship, we demonstrate how this presumption ascribes women a discrete but generic theoretical and empirical status associated with weakness and lack. Drawing upon a feminist stance, we suggest that the framing of this contemporary critique, rather than addressing the gender blindness endemic within entrepreneurship, actually generates ontological biases and associated epistemological limitations which perpetuate female disadvantage. These, in turn, constrain the theoretical and empirical reach of the broader field of entrepreneurship research.

Examining the effect of ‘entre-tainment’ as a cultural influence on entrepreneurial intentions

Little is known about the effect that cultural media has in influencing attitudes and behaviours towards entrepreneurship. In addressing this research gap this article employs a neologism – ‘entre-tainment’ – briefly defined as televisual media that stage and perform entrepreneurship for entertainment purposes. This study surveyed university students to test three hypotheses which examine the relationship between perceptions of ‘entre-tainment’ and entrepreneurial intent (multiple regression model using ordinary least squares). The findings conclude that there is a positive relationship between the skills that students believe they ascertain when they watch ‘entre-tainment’, and entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, the social legitimacy that they attach to this cultural media has a similar positive effect. Finally, the greater the social legitimacy attached to ‘entre-tainment’, the stronger the relationship between perceived skills and entrepreneurial intention. The analysis focuses on the broader implications of these findings of potential effects of entre-tainment in transmitting narrow messages of what it means to behave entrepreneurially.

Gender and family business: new theoretical directions

Purpose – This editorial aims to investigate the interface between gendered processes and family business by exploring the extent to which gendered processes are reinforced (or not) in family business operations and dynamics. This approach will complement the agency and resource-based view theoretical bases that dominate family business research (Chrisman et al., 2009) and further contribute to extending gender theories. Design/methodology/approach – Acknowledging that gender is socially constructed, this editorial discusses the interface between gendered processes and family business within entrepreneurship research. Findings – Despite a growing interest in gender and family business, there is limited literature that explores gender theory within family business research. A gender theory approach embracing family business research contributes to a needed theoretical deconstruction of existing perspectives on the operations, sustainability and succession of family businesses in the twenty-first century. O...

‘Embrace the masculine; attenuate the feminine’ – gender, identity work and entrepreneurial legitimation in the nascent context

Abstract This article critically analyses how gender bias impacts upon women’s efforts to legitimate nascent ventures. Given the importance of founder identity as a proxy for entrepreneurial legitimacy at nascency, we explore the identity work women undertake when seeking to claim legitimacy for their emerging ventures in a prevailing context of masculinity. In so doing, we challenge taken for granted norms pertaining to legitimacy and question the basis upon which that knowledge is claimed. In effect, debates regarding entrepreneurial legitimacy are presented as gender neutral yet, entrepreneurship is a gender biased activity. Thus, we argue it is essential to recognize how gendered assumptions impinge upon the quest for legitimacy. To illustrate our analysis, we use retrospective and real time empirical evidence evaluating legitimating strategies as they unfold, our findings reveal tensions between feminine identities such as ‘wife’ and ‘mother’ and those of the prototypical entrepreneur. This dissonance prompted women to undertake specific forms of identity work to bridge the gap between femininity, legitimacy and entrepreneurship. We conclude by arguing that the pursuit of entrepreneurial legitimacy during nascency is a gendered process which disadvantages women and has the potential to negatively impact upon the future prospects of their fledgling ventures.