Entrepreneurs and Motherhood: Impacts on Their Children in South Africa and the United States

Abstract

Women are starting businesses at unprecedented rates (U.S. Census Bureau 2001). The majority of these entrepreneurs is married, and most have children. Yet little attention has been devoted to determining how these children are affected by their experiences with an entrepreneurial mother. Especially important is the question of whether these children are more or less likely to themselves become entrepreneurs. Is the entrepreneurial mother laying a foundation for entrepreneurship in the child's formative years, or is a generation of busy women entrepreneurs spawning a generation that will avoid entrepreneurship? If the primary locus of entrepreneurial learning is rooted in the relationship between the mother and her children, there may be important implications for new venture creation. The objectives of this study were to explore (1) the impact of woman-owned businesses on the childhood experiences, perceptions, and future plans of the children; and (2) the factors that most influenced the career intentions and behaviors among children who have grown up or are currently growing up with an entrepreneurial mother. The study also draws a comparison between the perspectives of the female entrepreneur and her children. Diverse insights are obtained by examining women entrepreneurs from two distinct countries, the United States, a developed nation, and South Africa, a developing nation. Gender and Entrepreneurship: Patterns in Women-Owned Ventures On an international scale, firms owned by women comprise 25-33 percent of businesses in the formal economy (NFWBO 2000). Despite the obstacles, growth in the number of companies started by women currently outpaces the growth of all businesses by nearly two to one. As of 1997, in the United States women owned 5.4 million firms, employed 7.1 million people, and generated $819 billion in revenues (U.S. Census Bureau 2001). Although growth (37 percent) in women-owned firms with employees is triple the growth (12 percent) for firms without employees, nearly 84 percent of women-owned businesses had no paid employees, and approximately 69 percent had receipts less than $25,000 in 1997. Women-owned businesses tend to be smaller, with less capital, have lower revenues and fewer employees, and reside in lower profit industries (Bird 1989). Women tend to be sole owners, have less managerial experience, and have ventures that grow less quickly than those owned by men (Hisrich and Brush 1984). Compared to males, female entrepreneurs tend to set lower business size thresholds beyond which they prefer not to expand (Cliff 1998). Prominent reasons stated by both men and women for starting businesses include the need for achievement, autonomy, and flexibility (Bowen and Hisrich 1986). However, women entrepreneurs also value the ability to pursue career goals in tandem with family obligations. They attempt to maintain equilibrium between economic goals such as profit and growth and noneconomic goals such as personal fulfillment and helping others (Brush 1992). Previous research suggests that women and men share similar motivations in business ownership but that women have an additional motivation to find paid work that is more compatible with family responsibilities. The Unique Challenges Confronted by Female Entrepreneurs Some years ago, Hisrich and Brush (1983) characterized the American female entrepreneur as being the firstborn, from a middle-class background, married with children, and having a bachelor of arts degree and a supportive spouse who is in a professional or technical occupation. The current venture is her first, is in a traditionally female sector, and was started because of job frustration. She owns a young business with low revenues and maintains a controlling interest, but she lacks finance, marketing, and organizational planning skills. Since then, the number of studies on women entrepreneurs has increased steadily. …