Female Entrepreneurs and Access to Financial Capital

Abstract

Abstract This study identifies what similar aspects determine access to financial capital for female entrepreneurs both in Denmark and Indonesia. Departing from a structuralist constructivist perspective (including the concepts of symbolic violence, social similarity, female otherness), we identify the impact of gender-discrimination, nationality, and further variables. The sample comprises 124 female respondents and, for reasons of comparison, 86 male respondents from Denmark and Indonesia. Binary logistic regressions and t-tests show that financial discrepancies between male and female entrepreneurs (FE s) were larger in Indonesia than in Denmark. However, findings also suggest that gender discrimination prevails in both countries, as men have easier access to funds from family, banks, and angel investors. This study provides evidence of gender bias prevailing in both a maturing and a matured economy with a strong discourse on gender equality. We propose explaining the similarities in gender discrimination with veiled, structural discrimination being able to linger in both post-feminist, legally equality-granting, as well as in legally less egalitarian societies.