Disentangling succession and entrepreneurship gender gaps: gender norms, culture, and family

Manuel Feldmann,Martin Lukes,Lorraine Uhlaner

doi:10.1007/s11187-020-00430-z

Abstract

This study adapts a multi-level view of culture, including society- and family-based gender norms and the family embeddedness perspective, to predict the career status of a sample of 2897 young Europeans (aged 18–35) from 11 countries, with at least one self-employed parent. We find that gender identity is associated with career status such that a woman is more likely than a man to be an employee vs. a successor to a family firm but no less likely to be a founder as compared with either being an employee or successor. However, certain family and society-level culture variables combined with gender identity reverse these trends. A woman with caring responsibilities is more likely to be a successor than either a founder or employee. Also, while two-way interaction effects for traditional gender norms and having a self-employed mother are weak or not significant, the study finds that in combination, a woman reporting both traditional gender norms and having a self-employed mother is more likely to be a successor than being either an employee or a founder, reversing gender identity main effects. Incorporating the family embeddedness perspective and the role of culture in occupational choice, we develop a better view of the gender gap in entrepreneurship, finding that the family may serve as a stronger influence than society when implied norms of these two levels of culture clash. By examining actual rather than intended career choice, we also contribute to the occupational choice literature on youth employment.

Highlights

An individual’s involvement in an entrepreneurial career, whether as a founder or family business successor, is not gender neutral (Ahl 2006; Jennings and Brush 2013), with men’s entrepreneurial activity higher than that of women in most countries (Baughn et al 2006; Jennings and Brush 2013; Lukeš et al 2019)
We have argued that both gender identity and traditional gender norms derive from societal norms
We find a positive three-way interaction effect, suggesting that under the conditions of having a self-employed mother and the respondent leaning toward more traditional gender norms, the female respondent will more likely be a founder than a paid employee

Summary

Introduction

An individual’s involvement in an entrepreneurial career, whether as a founder or family business successor, is not gender neutral (Ahl 2006; Jennings and Brush 2013), with men’s entrepreneurial activity higher than that of women in most countries (Baughn et al 2006; Jennings and Brush 2013; Lukeš et al 2019). Studies typically conclude that gender is primarily socially constructed rather than biologically determined, and heavily influenced by cultural factors and differences within and across societies (Elam and Terjesen 2010; Kubíček and Machek 2019; Overbeke et al 2013). Gender identity (whether one describes and perceives oneself as a man, woman, or other; Diamond 2002) and gender norms (i.e. personal beliefs about how men vs women are supposed to behave; Pearse and Connell 2016) may help to explain occupational choices including starting one’s own firm or joining the family firm (Greene et al 2013; Storey and Greene 2010). Non-identification with binary gender choices (e.g. male vs. female) is being increasingly recognised (Marlow and Martinez Dy 2018), the often implicit gender norms derived from one’s culture, and manifested through one’s gender identity, remain a strong influence on behaviour (Elam and Terjesen 2010)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion