International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship

Aidis, Ruta; Schillo, R. Sandra

2017 International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship

doi: 10.1108/IJGE-08-2016-0027

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a new index summarizing women’s leadership in entrepreneurial ventures (WLEV) in the context of venture capital (VC) firm portfolios. Gender representation among VC portfolio firms is a concern for academics, and increasingly for practitioners aiming to reap the benefits of gender diversity.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the institutional theory and gender role congruity theory, the authors present dimensions of women’s involvement in leadership roles in VC-funded companies. As previous research has not provided standard definitions, the authors clarify the relevant dimensions. In addition, the authors present an empirical analysis of 153 VC fund portfolios and demonstrate women’s involvement across the three key dimensions forming the WLEV Index: involvement in leadership, management and founding of portfolio companies.FindingsThe authors present a summary of WLEV index aligned with previous research. The index has suitable characteristics for future research and introduces a first comparison with existing statistics. The authors’ findings show relatively low scores of women’s leadership in the VC portfolio companies investigated, especially as compared to average USA companies.Originality/valueThis paper introduces standardized definitions for women’s leadership in terms of: women-led, women-founded and women-managed. This paper also introduces a methodology and constructs an index to uniformly compare VC firm portfolio companies according to all three dimensions of women’s leadership. These contributions can be expected to form the basis of future research on gender representation in VC portfolio companies.

Stošic Panić, Danijela

2017 International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship

doi: 10.1108/IJGE-08-2016-0029

PurposeThe paper examines gender differences in the performance and financing strategies of female and male entrepreneurs in the Republic of Serbia. The aim of this study is to explore the gender dimension – a much under-researched aspect of entrepreneurship in the Republic of Serbia – and to link the findings with those of other environments.Design/methodology/approachTo explore gender-based differences in entrepreneurial activity, a random sample of 327 units was drawn from the Serbian Business Registers Agency’s Register of Companies. In total, 101 completed questionnaires were received. The chi-square test of association was used to assess the relationship between two categorical variables, while the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test was used to assess the statistical importance of the differences between groups of female and male entrepreneurs. The relationship between the performance and different sources of financing was assessed by multiple regression analysis.FindingsThe results confirm the existence of a gender gap in the net profit, employment growth rate, return on assets (ROA) and in use of various types of alternative financing sources. The evidence shows that those male entrepreneurs who use personal funds achieve lower levels of net profit and ROA compared to those who use internal business sources. Lower ROA is also achieved by those male entrepreneurs who use alternative sources of financing, relative to those who do not use these sources. Female entrepreneurs who applied for bank loans realized higher net profit value compared to those who did not apply for a loan. Moreover, female entrepreneurs who use some kind of state-supported funding achieve higher ROA than those who do not. Other gender differences found regarding the various aspects of the financing practices lacked statistical significance.Originality/valueAlthough the generalizability of part of the findings is weakened due to the lack of statistical significance, most of the expected gender differences were found to exist at the sample level. This encourages further studies of similarities and differences between female and male entrepreneurs’ financing strategies and their impact on business performance. This is particularly important for the environments in which the gender aspect of entrepreneurial activity is under-researched.

Mijid, Naranchimeg

2017 International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship

doi: 10.1108/IJGE-10-2016-0041

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to answer whether the female-owned smallest firms differ from their male-owned counterparts in terms of their success and performances; if so, whether it affects banks’ loan approval decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses the Kauffman Firm Survey – the largest and longest longitudinal data which contain 4,928 new firms that started their business in the USA in 2004. The authors use two measures of median asset values to classify firms into smallest firm category. They use multiply imputed logit estimates to predict the probability of loan approval in each category.FindingsThe results show that female-owned smallest firms have significantly lower rate of loan approval. In addition, the study finds minority women owners face double burden. However, married women have significantly higher probability of loan approval. The authors’ results are robust.Research limitations/implicationsFrom a public policy perspective, providing equal access to credit to women business owners, especially unmarried and/or minority women, may solve the puzzle why female-owned firms are so small.Originality/valueAlthough many studies examined why businesses owned by women are typically smaller compared to men-owned firms, there exist limited studies on female-owned smallest firms and why they stay smaller. This study fills the gap in the literature by examining female-owned smallest businesses.

Ebbers, Ilona; Piper, Alan

2017 International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship

doi: 10.1108/IJGE-11-2016-0046

PurposeIn spite of numerous political initiatives, the proportion of self-employed women in Germany has stagnated. This paper aims to offer a new perspective on this problem. The investigation and data gathered about job and life satisfaction of women with families can provide information on the reasons for starting a business, and the low participation of women in entrepreneurial activity.Design/methodology/approachAfter a literature review, representative German panel data is analysed to investigate the job and life satisfaction of full- and part-time self-employed women with a family.FindingsSelf-employed women with families who work full-time are more satisfied with their jobs than those who work part-time. There is no statistically significant difference between these two groups with respect to their life satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsAn implication of the results suggests new ideas and a new focus by policy makers and politicians when trying to increase the quantity of women with families engaging in self-employment. A limitation is that a lack of “within” variation in the data means that the panel nature of the survey cannot be usefully incorporated into the investigation.Originality/valueUntil now, there is limited research about the work and life satisfaction of women with a family comparing full- and part-time self-employment. This analysis is potentially valuable because the number of part-time self-employed women is substantially higher than the number of full-time self-employed women. We find evidence that such women may instead prefer full-time self-employment.

Wheadon, Mandy; Duval-Couetil, Nathalie

2017 International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship

doi: 10.1108/IJGE-02-2017-0010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to raise awareness of conflicts between the innovation ideologies fundamental to entrepreneurial theory and the exclusivity embedded in the discipline’s research and discursive practices.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws upon entrepreneurship and critical theory literature to deconstruct some embedded assumptions inhibiting the participation of women as entrepreneurs.FindingsThe underrepresentation of female and minority entrepreneurs has been examined most often by researchers from the perspective of trying to discover and overcome barriers to participation, rather than seeking to understand why and how these barriers are created and sustained. The paper identifies processes contributing to the construction of obstacles inhibiting inclusivity and proposes that conscientious implementation of practices such as critical reflexivity can limit their reproduction.Research limitations/implicationsBy situating critical theory and reflexivity as key practices for cultivating diversity and innovation in entrepreneurship, this paper offers a useful basis for expanding subsequent research and pedagogical practices representative of a wider variety of populations and activities.Practical implicationsEntrepreneurship is key to job creation and economic growth. Rigid conceptualizations of entrepreneurship and unexamined biases of scholars and educators limit the accessibility of research and constrain students’ entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors.Originality/valueThe paper fills a gap in the literature by exploring disciplinary practices that cultivate and sustain gender exclusivity. It provides a structured approach to understanding discrepancies between the innovation entrepreneurship idealizes and the practices that confine participation to specific populations and economic practices.