How do Different Religions Influence Women’s Entrepreneurial Choices? The Role of Gender Identity

Abstract

Gender discrimination and inequality have become some of the most salient issues in today’s global economy. Research shows that women at work are negatively affected by gender-based stereotypes that categorize women as inferior to men. Such values typically underpinned by patriarchal ideologies are argued to explain the gender wage gap evident across various societies, as well as women’s aversion to employment. Yet, such values have yet been used to explain the effect of religion on women’s entrepreneurial choice. In this paper, we argue that the major world religions influence women’s entrepreneurial choice by constructing their gender identities to uphold the conventional patriarchal values that categorize men as providers and women as their dependent. With a dataset of 30,084 women, we found that women’s perceived gender identity mediates the effect of religions on their choices between entrepreneurship, regular employment, and housewives. Therefore, identity theory provides an explanation of how religions influence women’s entrepreneurial choices.