-
Gender and entrepreneurship: Advancing debate and challenging myths; exploring the mystery of the under-performing female entrepreneur
January 30, 2013 Editor 0
Abstract
Purpose – Women-owned businesses are frequently described as under-performing in that the majority remain small and marginal. The authors dispute this description; within this paper, it is argued that such performance profiles reflect the constrained performance of most small firms. The assertion that women owned firms under-perform reflects a gendered bias within the entrepreneurial discourse where femininity and deficit are deemed coterminous. In addition, women-owned firms are expected to under-perform given expectations of female weakness in the context of male normativity and superiority. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to critically evaluate the association between gender and business performance suggesting that this critique has implications for the broader development of our understanding of entrepreneuring behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual research note which explores the notion of performance and under-performance in the context of gender. Findings – It is argued that gendered socio-economic positioning ensures that women-owned businesses demonstrate constrained performance but this is not synonymous with under-performance. Furthermore, ingrained epistemological gendered biases persist which portray women as flawed entrepreneurs despite the absence of convincing data regarding essential gendered differences between the performance of male and female entrepreneurs.
Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests that far greater reflexive criticism is called for regarding epistemological assumptions which shape the current research agenda.
Originality/value – This discussion develops a critical analysis of the association between gender, performance and entrepreneuring.
Go to SourceRelated Posts
Advancing debate: An epistemological critique of the relationship between gender, entrepreneurship and firm performance
- The Gender Gap in Access to Finance
Biases and debiasing in bank lending decisions to nascent entrepreneurs – an experimental study
The impact of R&D teams’ gender diversity on innovation outputs
The rise of women and their impact on firms’ performance
- Focus on Gender: Business can do more to aid women
Categories: Entrepreneurship
Tags: female entrepreneur, gender, under-perform, women, women-owned businesses
Delivering on the Promise of Private-Public Partnerships Review of skill and the entrepreneurial process
Subscribe to our stories
Recent Posts
- In pictures: the 2019 Africa RISING Tanzania monitoring visit August 30, 2019
- Active Internationalization of Software Enterprises: Scale Development and Validation August 30, 2019
- The Manager’s Guide to Leveraging Disruption August 30, 2019
- Key take-aways from a recent Africa RISING exchange visit in Ghana August 30, 2019
- Device that recycles vaporized water from power plants wins MIT $100K May 28, 2019
Categories
Archives
Popular Post-All time
- A review on biomass-based... 693 views
- Prize-winning projects pr... 488 views
- Can blockchain disrupt ge... 472 views
- Test Your Value Propositi... 441 views
- Apply Now: $500,000 for Y... 390 views