Lorraine S. Dyke

A theoretical overview and extension of research on sex, gender, and entrepreneurship

Abstract With the rising number of women-owned businesses has come a considerable amount of research, and even more speculation, on differences between male and female entrepreneurs and their businesses. To date, these findings and speculations have been largely atheoretical, and little progress has been made in understanding whether such differences are pervasive, let alone why they might exist. Thus public policy-makers have had little guidance on such difficult issues as whether or not unique training and support programs should be designed for women versus men. Moreover, lenders who finance new and growing firms have little to go on but their own “gut instinct” in assessing whether womens and mens businesses are likely to run in similar ways, or whether they might be run in different but equally effective ways. The lack of integrative frameworks for understanding the nature and implications of issues related to sex, gender, and entrepreneurship has been a major obstacle. Two perspectives that help to organize and interpret past research, and highlight avenues for future research, are liberal feminism and social feminism. Liberal feminist theory suggests that women are disadvantaged relative to men due to overt discrimination and/or to systemic factors that deprive them of vital resources like business education and experience. Previous studies that have investigated whether or not women are discriminated against by lenders and consultants, and whether or not women actually do have less relevant education and experience, are consistent with a liberal feminist perspective. Those empirical studies that have been conducted provide modest evidence that overt discrimination, or any systematic lack of access to resources that women may experience, impedes their ability to succeed in business. Social feminist theory suggests that, due to differences in early and ongoing socialization, women and men do differ inherently. However, it also suggests that this does not mean women are inferior to men, as women and men may develop different but equally effective traits. Previous entrepreneurship studies that have compared men and women on socialized traits and values are consistent with a social feminist perspective. These studies have documented few consistent gender differences, and have suggested that those differences that do exist may have little impact on business performance. While this interpretation of past findings is relevant to the question of if and how female and male entrepreneurs differ, there are still large gaps in our knowledge. In particular, only one study (Kalleberg and Leicht 1991) has systematically explored whether or not potential differences related to discrimination or socialization affect business performance; the study used limited measures of business performance, and assessed only a restricted range of male I female differences. This article reports on a study that explored other potential differences related to discrimination and to socialization (which are hypothesized based on liberal and social feminism) and looked at their relationship to a more comprehensive set of business performance measures. The study indicates that for a large, randomly selected sample of entrepreneurs in the manufacturing, retail, and service sectors, there were few differences in the education obtained by males and females, or in their business motivations. Women entrepreneurs were, however, found to have less experience in managing employees, in working in similar firms, or in helping to start-up new businesses. Womens firms also were found to be smaller than mens, to have lower growth in income over two years, and to have lower sales per employee. Regressions undertaken to examine predictors of a range of business performance indicators suggest that womens lesser experience in working in similar firms and in helping to start-up businesses may help to explain the smaller size, slower income growth, and lesser sales per employee of their firms. For policy-makers, this article suggests that systemic factors that afford women less access to experience must be addressed. Support for classroom training or related advisory activities may not be warranted; there is little evidence that women lack access to relevant classroom education. However, programs that help increase womens access to hands-on experience in starting firms or in working in the industry in which they hope to set up business does seem advisable. In-class education or counseling would not seem to compensate for lack of real-world experience, which suggests that any available funds should be directed more toward initiatives centered on apprenticeship programs than toward those centered on classroom teaching. Implications for lenders and investors are less clear cut, but suggest that whatever innate differences may exist between men and women are irrelevant to entrepreneurship. While womens businesses do not perform as well as mens on measures of size, they show fewer differences on other, arguably more critical business effectiveness measures-growth and productivity—and no differences on returns. Discrimination against women-owned businesses based on these findings would clearly be both unethical and unwarranted. The fact that women appear to obtain similar growth, productivity, and returns, in fact, suggests that they may be compensating for experience deficits in ways that current research does not illuminate. While more systematic inquiry is required to assist in understanding why mens and womens firms may differ in some predictable ways, this study would suggest that lenders and investors wishing to assist small businesses should focus on evaluating the amount and quality of the business and non-business experience of entrepreneurs, and consider sex an irrelevant variable. For entrepreneurs, this research reinforces the notion that acquiring relevant industry and entrepreneurial experience is of considerable importance if they seek to establish large firms and/or to achieve substantial firm productivity and returns. In particular, helping in the start-up of firms and spending extended periods of time in the industry of choice appear to yield subsequent rewards in the performance of any individuals firm. Future research is needed to investigate whether or not other types of business experience or non-business experience might bring additional benefits in terms of positive impact on future business performance, but the indication of the current work is that ones sex per se is neither a liability nor an asset.

Expatriate adjustment from the inside out: an autoethnographic account

This paper identifies some of the dynamics of expatriate adjustment using an autoethnographic account of situations experienced by the first author during her first year of work at a financial services company in Hong Kong. Success in this cross-cultural assignment is dependent on the expatriates ability to adjust to and master the new culture. Our theoretical analysis of the autoethnographic account suggests that culture shock may be a discontinuous process. Further, the analysis suggests that cultural acceptance can play a critical role in expatriate adjustment.

The Influence of Gender and Occupational-Role on Entrepreneurs' and Corporate Managers' Success Criteria

Abstract This study explores the construct of success by drawing on a sample of 326 entrepreneurs and 545 corporate managers. Respondents considered success criteria associated with employment and business ownership to be, on average, more important than personal and family dimensions of success. After controlling for occupation-role and human capital (e.g., age, education, years of work experience), the importance of success criteria differed by gender for some, but not all success criteria: male and female managers and entrepreneurs did not differ with respect to the importance ascribed to work-life balance. Among female respondents, an increase in the importance ascribed to “professional autonomy” was associated with decreased likelihood of being employed in a management role in corporate Canada. Among male respondents, an increase in importance ascribed to financial criteria was reflected in an increase likelihood of being employed in a management role in corporate Canada. This research illustrates the importance of controlling for occupation, gender, and human capital when examining work and family values.

Gender and careers: a study of persistence in engineering education in Bangladesh

Purpose – The goals of this study were to examine the utility of social cognitive career theory in a South Asian context, extend SCCT beyond its individualistic roots to include social and contextual variables, and explore the possible differential validity of SCCT predictors for men and women.Design/methodology/approach – The study involved an in‐class survey of Bangladeshi undergraduate engineering students including 209 women and 640 men.Findings – Despite stronger relationships between persistence and two predictors – social aspirations and self‐efficacy – for men, self‐efficacy, the core construct of SCCT, was the most important predictor of persistence for both women and men thus supporting the applicability of SCCT in non‐Western contexts.Research limitations/implications – Several new measures were developed for this study which provide a basis for future research but will require further validation. The results demonstrated the applicability of SCCT in a non‐Western context but the amount of vari...

Using a tacit knowledge methodology to define expertise

Consideration of the nature of expertise is inherent in expert systems development efforts. A number of assumptions regarding expertise are often made which can be problematic, particularly in management domains. This paper identifies a pre-knowledge acquisition activity that can be performed in order to address these assumptions. This activity is centered around the psychological concept of tacit knowledge. The paper outlines how the tacit knowledge methodology is being used to define and delineate expertise in the domain of entrepreneurship.

Implementing diversity strategies: The challenges facing minority focused advertising agencies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and explain barriers to differentiation for minority focused advertising agencies and propose modification to the existing framework of agency selection process.Design/methodology/approach – Multiple semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews were conducted with key industry personnel. The data from these were augmented with proprietary research conducted by the relevant organizations and extensive review of the literature.Findings – Few advertising agencies differentiate themselves by specializing in campaigns targeting minority populations. Several barriers to differentiation exist which can be explained using Institutional Theory and Economic Detour Theory. Rational Goal model and the Learning and Effectiveness Paradigm of diversity are used to suggest modification to current approaches.Research limitations/implications – Future studies should test the validity of the proposed framework.Practical implications – The proposed framework for agency selection wil...

THE IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL TEAMS ON THE FINANCING EXPERIENCES OF CANADIAN VENTURES

ABSTRACT Many entrepreneurial ventures are owned and managed by a team rather than by an individual. There is some evidence to suggest that teams will have better financing experiences because lenders look favourably on the diversity of managerial talents and experiences that a team will provide. This paper questions that conclusion by presenting conflicting evidence on four major assumptions which underlie it and by analyzing data on the financing experiences of a wide variety of Canadian ventures. The study finds that entrepreneurial teams and entrepreneurial individuals do not differ with respect to the financing terms and conditions obtained.

Developing Knowledge Workers in Silicon Valley North: It is Not Just About Training

In order to recruit, retain, and motivateknowledge workers, previous research indicates that employers need to focus onemployee career development and career management practices.Littleresearch has been conducted regarding career development of knowledge workersin the National Capital Region of Canada (i.e., Silicon Valley North). This research seeks to acquire employee and employer information regardingsuch areas as career goals, employee strategies, and changes needed to meetcareer goals within the high-technology sector of Canada.The importanceof employee development strategies is discussed, and the career aspirations ofhigh tech employees are described. Also considered are the developmentstrategies needed to increase employee efficiency and employee satisfaction andcommitment, including promoting a sense of accomplishment, providingstimulating work, developing breadth, and supporting learning. Career development can be impacted by a variety of factors, includingindividual differences in definitions ofsuccess and differences in careerorientations.The data provide a variety of employee suggestionsconcerning the managerial style of their employers.The findngs suggestthat career development is influenced by the degree of employer support andthat career development needs and experiences vary by group. (AKP)