Derogatory Myths about Women Entrepreneurs: Is there any substance to the Myths in relation to Visible Minority Women Entrepreneurs in Canada?

Abstract

Do myths influence attitudes and behavior? If so, derogatory myths about women entrepreneurs may act as a detriment to women achieving as successful business outcomes as male entrepreneurs. Brush et al. (2001, 2002) and Menzies et al. (2004) examined some derogatory myths about women entrepreneurs and found most were unsubstantiated. This study examines the same derogatory myths in relation to a sample of 101 female and 302 male visible-minority entrepreneurs from three cities in Canada. Findings show that "successful" female and male visible-minority lead entrepreneurs are quite similar in terms of personal and business characteristics. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]