Karen D. Hughes

Pushed or Pulled? Women's Entry into Self-Employment and Small Business Ownership

Over the past two decades the economies of Canada and many other industrialized countries have seen significant restructuring, bringing with it steadily rising levels of self-employment and small business ownership. Women have been at the forefront of this change. Of the many questions raised by womens entrance into self-employment, a central one concerns the factors fuelling its growth. While some argue that women have been pulled into self-employment by the promise of independence, flexibility and the opportunity to escape barriers in paid employment, others argue that women have been pushed into it as restructuring and downsizing has eroded the availability of once secure jobs in the public and private sector. To date, existing research on the ‘push–pull’ debate has not fully answered; these questions, with survey and labour force data suggesting only general and sometimes contradictory, trends. This article examines this issue in greater detail, drawing on in-depth interviews with 61 self-employed women in Canada. Overall their experiences shed further light on the expansion of womens self-employment in the 1990s, suggesting push factors have been underestimated and challenging the current contours of the ‘push–pull’ debate.

Extending women’s entrepreneurship research in new directions

The dramatic expansion of scholarly interest and activity in the field of womens entrepreneurship within recent years has done much to correct the historical inattention paid to female entrepreneurs and their initiatives. Yet, as the field continues to develop and mature, there are increasingly strong calls for scholars to take their research in new directions. Within this introduction to the special issue, we expand upon the reasons for this call, describe who responded, and summarize the new frontiers explored within the work appearing in this and another related collection. We conclude by delineating new territories for researchers to explore, arguing that such endeavors will join those in this volume in not only addressing the criticisms raised to date, but also in generating a richer and more robust understanding of womens entrepreneurship.

Exploring Motivation and Success Among Canadian Women Entrepreneurs

Abstract This paper presents preliminary findings on the reasons why Canadian women start businesses, and the relationship between their motivations and economic success. The analysis draws on The Survey of Self-Employment, a nationally representative survey of 3,840 Canadians conducted in 2000 by Statistics Canada and Human Resources Development Canada. Drawing on existing studies which identify three broad groups of motivation—classic, work-family, and forced—the paper examines how prevalent these motivations are amongst Canadian women, and how motivations are linked to the types of businesses women build and the economic rewards they receive. The findings suggest diversity in the motivations and success of women entrepreneurs.

Caregiving In Transnational Context “My Wings Have Been Cut; Where Can I Fly?”

Migration often requires the renegotiation of familial and gender roles as immigrants encounter potentially competing values and demands. Employing ethnographic methods and including in-depth interviewing and participant observation, the authors explore the experiences of 29 South Asian and Chinese Canadian female family caregivers. Caregiving was central to their role as women and members of their ethnocultural community. The women were often engaged in paid labor that compressed the time available to fulfill their duties as caregivers. Women’s role in the transmission of cultural values that serve to shore up the boundaries of their ethnic community did not allow for significant renegotiation of their caregiving responsibilities despite disrupted family networks and increased demands. These caregiving arrangements are more costly to women in Canada than in their countries of origin.

Immigrant Women: Making Connections to Community Resources for Support in Family Caregiving

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to understand how immigrant women caregivers accessed support from community resources and identify the barriers to this support. The study included 29 Chinese and South Asian women caring for an ill or disabled child or adult relative. All experienced barriers to accessing community services. Some possessed personal resources and strategies to overcome them; others remained isolated and unconnected. Family and friends facilitated connections, and a connection with one community service was often linked to several resources. Caregivers who failed to establish essential ties could not initiate access to resources, and community services lacked outreach mechanisms to identify them. These findings contribute new understanding of how immigrant women caregivers connect with community resources and confirm the impact of immigration on social networks and access to support.

‘Something to Deal With’: Customer Sexual Harassment and Women's Retail Service Work in Canada

While sexual harassment in the workplace has been extensively researched over the past two decades, the majority of studies have focused on employer–employee or co-worker relationships. In contrast, the issue of ‘customer sexual harassment’ (i.e. the sexual harassment of employees by customers) has been less explicitly explored. This paper examines customer sexual harassment in the Canadian context, drawing on a study of 63 female retail service workers and 20 security workers. It focuses on the nature, prevalence, and consequences of this form of harassment for women who work in various jobs in retail sales (e.g. flower shops, book shops). Findings from the study suggest that customer sexual harassment is a significant problem. Not only have a majority of women been sexually harassed by customers in their current job, but they appear to be highly constrained in dealing with such behaviour. To the extent that the work environment privileges the customer, through its emphasis on customer satisfaction, women are reluctant to confront harassers and may engage in behaviours (e.g. avoiding male customers, being less friendly) which potentially impact their performance on the job. The paper examines the dilemmas facing female workers and the policy issues raised.

Participation of Immigrant Women Family Caregivers in Qualitative Research

The recruitment of articulate, expressive participants is an essential part of methodology in qualitative research. This article presents the authors’ experience in the recruitment of immigrant women of Chinese and South Asian origin in an ethnographic study. The study included women caring for an adult or child family member who had a chronic health problem. Knowledge of women family caregivers’ health is restricted by the failure to include diverse groups of women in research. In this article, the authors discuss issues related to recruitment and participation of immigrant women in research, including establishing access to diverse groups of women, benefits for immigrant women, and placing the researcher and research process on the same level. Practical research strategies to address these issues and engage the women in research that portrays their perspectives are presented. The authors’ discussion concludes with reflection on their experience and that of other researchers.

Practical Issues in Using a Card Sort in a Study of Nonsupport and Family Caregiving

The authors successfully used the card sort data collection technique with 17 female family caregivers in a large ethnographic study of nonsupport. In this article, they describe the practical issues they addressed. Initially, they developed strategies to construct meaningful statements that reflected key themes and were manageable in an interview. Later, to address challenges for participants, they developed approaches to assist women in moving beyond their own experience, dealing with test anxiety, and anticipating an emotional response. To facilitate effective data collection, they made detailed arrangements in advance, collected “talk aloud” data that captured women’s decisions, and maintained accurate records. The women felt validated in their caregiving roles, as the card statements reflected their experience and rich data was elicited. The card sort exercise contributed information about variability in the meaning of similar interactions for different women and a beginning understanding of the criteria women used to make decisions.

Advocacy of Women Family Caregivers: Response to Nonsupportive Interactions With Professionals

Support from health and social service professionals assists women in caring for a relative with a chronic condition. However, nonsupportive interactions coexist with supportive interactions and might have unanticipated consequences. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to examine advocacy as a proactive response to nonsupportive interactions with professionals among women family caregivers in four caregiving situations. Data generation included in-depth interviews with 34 women. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic and constant comparative analysis techniques. As a consequence of nonsupportive interactions women experienced negative feelings, a lack of trust, powerlessness, and challenges in their caregiving situations that were catalysts for advocacy involving assertively taking charge in a relationship with a health professional. As advocates women employed strategies of monitoring their relatives condition, educating themselves or others, negotiating or fighting for resources, or campaigning for change. There were stress and fatigue involved in becoming an advocate, but the women also described the experience as one of personal growth. This research provided insight into the role of nonsupportive interactions with professionals as a catalyst for the development of individual-level advocacy initiatives.