Sally Jones

Gendered discourses of entrepreneurship in UK higher education: The fictive entrepreneur and the fictive student:

This article posits the idea of the ‘fictive entrepreneur’ and the ‘fictive student’ to explore how the historical masculinisation of entrepreneurship has informed UK policy and higher education (HE) approaches to entrepreneurship education, and the implications of this for female students. Using a Bourdieuian perspective, discourse analysis is employed to critically analyse policy and research documents and identify entrepreneurship discourses that construct both a ‘fictive entrepreneur’ that students should aspire to become, and a ‘fictive student’ who will benefit from HE entrepreneurship education. It argues that rather than being gender neutral or meritocratic, these discourses of entrepreneurship are saturated with gendered meanings which position HE students and entrepreneurs in potentially damaging ways.

The Role of Competencies in Shaping the Leadership Style of Female Entrepreneurs: The Case of North West of England, Yorkshire, and North Wales

This study investigates linkages between personal competencies and leadership style among female small and micro business owners. Although prior research suggests that leadership style is shaped according to a leaders traits and abilities, few empirical studies corroborate this, particularly among female owners. Using survey data from the North West of ngland, orkshire, and orth ales, we reveal that transformational leadership style is the most dominant style adopted, and it is linked to perceived human and personal competencies as well as entrepreneurial competencies.

You would expect the successful person to be the man

Purpose – This paper aims to to explore power and legitimacy in the entrepreneurship education classroom by using Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological and educational theories. It highlights the pedagogic authority invested in educators and how this may be influenced by their assumptions about the nature of entrepreneurship. It questions the role of educators as disinterested experts, exploring how power and gendered legitimacy “play out” in staff–student relationships and female students’ responses to this. Design/methodology/approach – A multiple-method, qualitative case study approach is taken, concentrating on a depth of focus in one UK’s higher education institution (HEI) and on the experiences, attitudes and classroom practices of staff and students in that institution. The interviews, with an educator and two students, represent a self-contained story within the more complex story of the case study. Findings – The interviewees’ conceptualization of entrepreneurship is underpinned by acceptance of gendere...

A CULTure of Entrepreneurship Education

Abstract High hopes are invested in a rapid institutionalization of an enterprise culture in Higher Education (HE). This has heightened the importance of entrepreneurship education (EE) in most Western societies; however, how values and beliefs about entrepreneurship are institutionalized in EE remains relatively unchallenged. This study applies the lens of the cult, in particular three elements Rituals, Deities and the Promise of Salvation, to reflect on the production and reproduction of entrepreneurship in EE. In doing so, the paper addresses uncontested values and beliefs that form a hidden curriculum prevalent in EE. We argue for greater appreciation of reflexive practices to challenge normative promotions of beliefs and values that compare with forms of evangelizing, detrimental to objectives of HE. Consequently, we call for a more critical pedagogy to counteract a ‘cultification’ of entrepreneurship in EE.

Understanding students’ emotional reactions to entrepreneurship education: A conceptual framework

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on approaches that acknowledge and make explicit the role of emotion in the entrepreneurship education classroom. As entrepreneurship educators, the authors are aware of the affective impacts that entrepreneurship education has on the students and the authors continuously reflect on and support the students through, what is acknowledged in practice, an emotionally charged experience. With this in mind, the authors outline how a variety of disciplines engage with the role of emotions and how an interdisciplinary approach to the topic can support pedagogy. Design/methodology/approach The authors synthesise relevant arguments from four discrete disciplines: neuroscience; psychology, education and entrepreneurship, which have not previously been combined. The authors argue that the role of emotion in learning generally, has been investigated across these disparate disciplines, but has not been brought together in a way that provides practical implications for the development of pedagogy. Findings By synthesising the findings from four bodies of knowledge that engage with emotion, entrepreneurship and education, the authors start to develop a theoretical model based around the concept of the emotional ecology of the classroom. Practical implications The role of emotion in entrepreneurship education is an emerging topic and the authors’ synthesis of research supports further investigation. The authors’ insights will support educators to develop classroom environments that acknowledge relationships between students and between students and educators. Such engagement could help educators and students to appreciate, acknowledge and address the emotional aspects of entrepreneurship education. Originality/value The paper starts to develop new theory around emotions in entrepreneurship education, developing the idea of the emotional “ecology” of teaching environments and highlighting how this might support future research agendas.

“This class is not for you”: An investigation of gendered subject construction in entrepreneurship course descriptions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the social construction of gendered subjects in entrepreneurship education (EEd), through the analysis of course descriptions. For this purpose, the analytical constructs of the Fictive Student and the Fictive Entrepreneur are developed. Design/methodology/approach Through analysis of 86 course descriptions from 81 universities in 21 countries, this study examines the degree to which course descriptions use gendered language, how such language constructs gendered subjects, and the resultant implications. Findings This paper finds that course descriptions are predominantly, but not exclusively, masculine in their language. More importantly, the distribution of feminine and masculine language is uneven across course descriptions. Context variables such as regional or national culture differences do not explain this distribution. Instead, the phenomenon is explained by course content/type; whereby practice-based entrepreneurship courses are highly masculine, compared to traditional academic courses, where students learn about entrepreneurship as a social phenomenon. Practical implications Universities and educators have not taken into account recent research about the real and possible negative consequences of positioning entrepreneurship in a stereotypical, masculinized fashion. This may offer an inexpensive opportunity to improve recruitment and description accuracy. Originality/value The paper’s contribution is fourfold. First, it contributes to debates on the gendering of entrepreneurship by extending these into EEd. Second, it extends Sarasvathy’s (2004) concern with barriers to, rather than incentives for, entrepreneurship to include EEd. Third, it contributes to the emerging literature on entrepreneurship as practice, by highlighting the masculization of EEd, as it gets closer to practice and the role of language in this. Finally, it highlights the gendered implications of English medium courses.

Moving from the periphery to the inner circle: getting published from your thesis: A Guide to Steer Your Academic Career

Competition to publish in the top journals is fierce. This book provides entrepreneurship researchers with relevant material and insights to support them in their efforts to publish their research in the most prestigious entrepreneurship outlets. This essential guide to publishing in entrepreneurship brings together a wealth of contributors, all of whom have published in the leading entrepreneurship journals. Based on their experiences as researchers and editors, they bring useful hands-on advice and insight into the research publication process. Both fledgling and experienced entrepreneurship faculty members will find this an essential resource as they strive towards publication in A-ranked entrepreneurship or management journals.