Mary Godwyn

Women's Business Centers in the United States: Effective Entrepreneurship Training and Policy Implementation

Abstract In the US, the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 (HR5050) provided seed funding for women’s business centers through the Small Business Administration. Women’s business centers were targeted to provide technical assistance to women for business formation, particularly women who were socially and economically disadvantaged. This research examined women’s business centers in the US to ascertain the success of a policy initiative targeted to provide training, technical assistance and support for entrepreneurship by women. We found that women’s business centers in the United States are successfully accomplishing their mission. The success of women’s business centers can be attributed to shared practices targeted specifically to women’s situational and social capital needs. Tailored programming, a relationship-oriented approach, and activities that develop social capital are key practices consistently used by women’s business centers nationwide. US women’s business centers provide an effective model for entrepreneurship training and assistance for women.

Early‐career outcomes and gender: can educational interventions make a difference?

Purpose – Extant research studies document gender differences in career outcomes for middle and advanced career stages. The purpose of this study is to examine potential gender differences in early‐career success with a particular focus on whether educational intervention might mediate any potential differences.Design/methodology/approach – Survey data for recent business college alumni were analyzed using descriptive techniques, linear regression and logistic modeling; the response rate was 25 percent and all data were self‐reported. Both objective and subjective measures were used to assess outcomes. A priori, given similar educational training and expectations for managerial careers, we should expect to find similar early‐career progress regardless of gender.Findings – Differences are apparent out of the starting gate for women in early‐career stages compared with their male counterparts, by both objective and subjective measures. Results also suggest an opportunity to improve outcomes through educatio...

Action and Representation in Ordinary and Lucid Dreams

When we dream, we experience a world of various objects, processes, events, concepts, and relationships. These experiences occur in a context or realm of fantasy. When we are awake, we also experience objects, processes, events, concepts, and relationships, although these experiences happen in the more inclusive context of the real world. Objects, processes, events, concepts, and relationships are what constitute a world, whether fantasized or real, created or discovered (Ossorio, 1978). This chapter will explicate the special case of the lucid, or self-aware, dream. Self-awareness is possible in a lucid dream because the dreamer is able to recognize the context of fantasy within the context of the real world; the dreamer therefore recognizes the dream as a dream. Furthermore, the dreamer has the potential to reflect on his or her own motivations for deciding on courses of action within the dream. Within the lucid dream, the dreamer can act self-consciously. We will outline the distinguishing features of both the realm of fantasy and the more inclusive context of the real world. Although it may seem tempting to explore these concepts from the perspective of a dual world conceptualization (that is, two independent and coexisting worlds: one of fantasy and one of reality), it has been apparent, at least since the writings of Hume (1739/1978) and more recently Wittgenstein (1953), that it is the real world that begets the world of fantasy. Fantasy requires the foundation of reality.

Surviving and Thriving in Constructive Conflict: The Emotional Lives of Business Ethics Faculty and Non-Profit Human Service Workers

We examine the emotional lives of the loyal opposition: those who remain steadfast in their duty-oriented, deontological ethical commitment to their workplace organization, but are in conflict with the dominant, utilitarian ethical view emphasizing practicality and revenue. When one is an “outsider” or even an “outcast” due to their deontological ethics, this conflict between personal and organizational ethics can result in a wide variety of emotions ranging from fear and sadness to alienation, and even rarely, to joy. Using qualitative methods, we analyze interview and observational data sets from two distinct populations within different workplace organizations: non-profit human service workers and faculty members who teach ethics in business schools. In both data sets, negative and positive emotions were experienced by participants immersed in a workplace environment characterized by ethical conflict. Though tension between the deontological and utilitarian ethical positions generated powerful emotions among the employee populations, it was not necessarily detrimental to the organization and in fact seemed to have a constructive, steadying influence. Ethical conflict can be constructive, function to make an organization stronger, and contribute positively to organizational success. The likelihood of positive outcomes increases if the emotional work entailed is sufficiently recognized and addressed.

Management Education as a Crucible for Ethical Social Change

This chapter is an exploration of an aspirational ethics program for undergraduate students that carries an optimistic set of goals for their potential to act as agents of social change. Ashesi University College is a private not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization, undergraduate-only university college in Berekuso, Ghana. Founded in 2002, its mission is to train a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial business leaders in Africa and to nurture excellence in scholarship, leadership and citizenship. Students graduate with degrees in Business Administration, Management Information Systems, Engineering and Computer Science, all based on a liberal arts model. When compared with institutions around the world that offer business and management degrees, there are three main defining aspects that make Ashesi distinct and reflect its commitment to ethical standards. The first is the commitment to gender and economic class diversity: 47% of students are female; 55% of students receive some level of scholarship funding (http://www.ashesi.edu.gh/), and 25% receive a full scholarship. Ashesi University is a private liberal arts college in Berekuso, Ghana. Founded in 2002, its mission is to train a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial business leaders in Africa and to nurture excellence in scholarship, leadership and citizenship. There are three defining aspects to the educational process that make Ashesi distinct. The first is the commitment to diversity in class, gender, religion and nationality; there are equal numbers of female and male students and 25% of students receive full scholarship funding. The second is employment: 96% of its students are employed 3 months post-graduation. The third is the commitment to the honor code, which is unique among African institutions of higher learning. Through qualitative-based research with students, graduates, faculty, and staff, this study focuses on the origin and implementation of the honor code at Ashesi and whether and how the honor code continues to be used by students after graduation. At the time of this research, there was strong evidence that this educational intervention has been effective in influencing post-graduate behavior in the workplace and in wider social interactions.

The Banality of Good and Evil: Ethics Courses in Business Management Education

This research explores how ethics is taught in various business management programs, how programs differ from place to place, and how differences are reflective of the larger cultural values pertaining to business practices. I apply Hannah Arendt’s theoretical framework as a heuristic device to examine interviews with business school faculty, students, and graduates from 13 different countries. Arendt’s analysis contends that most individuals are likely to become unthinking followers, carried away by the momentum of the ethical standards manifest in their immediate social surroundings, regardless of what those standards are. Arendt suggests that when individuals apply critical scrutiny, this process can be short-circuited. Her theory is supported by several sets of experiments and endorsed by the data gathered here about beliefs on how ethics and diversity should be taught in business schools.

Management Theory and Business Education: Is Business Behavior Anti-social Behavior?

This chapter focuses on how assumptions prevalent in management theory influence business education and business culture, how this theoretical orientation affects the ethical development, standards, and conduct of those who identify with business culture, and the social impact of the resulting business practices.

Diversity in Business: Is It Still a White (Heterosexual, Christian, Western-Educated) Man’s World?

This chapter explores the demographics and diversity of business schools: students, faculty members, authors, and course materials.

Is Change Possible or What Changes Are Already Underway

This chapter examines how various cultures and subcultures have adopted elements of virtuous behavior, how these behaviors can become normative, and how this is relevant to business ethics and business culture.

Alternative and Critical Perspectives in Business Ethics

This chapter examines alternative perspectives manifest in course materials and pedagogical methods employed to critically evaluate the theoretical assumptions and common pedagogical techniques that are prevalent in business ethics.