Gender issues related to choosing the successor in the family business

Abstract

This work focuses on the perception about the succession process in family businesses regarding gender issues and why daughters may feel inhibited or encouraged to join those firms. To achieve this, the authors developed a qualitative research based on 60 in-depth interviews with incumbents and successors who were planning or had just completed the succession process. The main findings are that even though, gender is not considered an obstacle to become successor, in fact that there are more male successors than females. Results also show that birth order influences the succession process more often if the first child is a male than if it is a female; but it is not only a predecessor's decision as many women also decide not to join the family business. Nevertheless, once they are in, family women are very much appreciated as family businesses’ managers.