Does entrepreneurship fit her? Women entrepreneurs, gender-role orientation, and entrepreneurial culture

Francisco Liñán,Inmaculada Jaén,Domingo Martín

doi:10.1007/s11187-020-00433-w

Francisco Liñán, Inmaculada Jaén + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-020-00433-w

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Abstract

The present research analyzes the way in which gender-role orientation (GRO) and perceived entrepreneurial culture affect the advancement of women through the different stages in the entrepreneurial process. To do so, a sample of 1195 Spanish women is studied using Bem’s Sex Role Inventory to identify their GRO and a perceived regional culture (PRC) scale. The results confirm that women with a masculine or androgynous orientation are more likely to develop entrepreneurial careers. Besides, for masculine GRO women, the perception of a supportive entrepreneurial culture in their region fosters their advancement in entrepreneurship. In contrast, the effect of perceived culture is negative for women with an androgynous GRO. These results contribute to advance knowledge on the entrepreneurial process for women. Based on our results, the debate about women entrepreneurship should be expanded to fully acknowledge the relevance of GRO.

Highlights

The present research analyzes the way in which gender-role orientation (GRO) and perceived entrepreneurial culture affect the advancement of women through the different stages in the entrepreneurial process
This study offers very interesting insight concerning the relationship between gender-role orientation (GRO) and culture, on the one hand, and the entrepreneurial inclination and behavior of women, on the other hand
It confirms that women with a masculine or androgynous GRO are generally more likely to advance through the entrepreneurial process than is the case for feminine or undifferentiated GRO women

Summary

Introduction

The present research analyzes the way in which gender-role orientation (GRO) and perceived entrepreneurial culture affect the advancement of women through the different stages in the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurs’ activities have been traditionally associated with masculine traits (de Pillis and Meilich 2006; Gupta et al 2009; Laguía et al 2018) This frequently leads to discrimination against women in entrepreneurship (Bigelow et al 2014; Brush et al 2018). Gender stereotypes are relevant at later stages (Gupta et al 2019), when women entrepreneurs frequently receive less funding (Leitch et al 2018; Brush et al 2018) and face difficulties in developing their professional venture networks (Neumeyer et al 2019)

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