Igniting the entrepreneurial spirit: is the role parents play gendered?

Abstract

PurposeThe family has the potential to be a breeding ground for entrepreneurs and may be key place where the entrepreneurial spirit is ignited. However, to date there has been little empirical research on how parents may influence their children's subsequent decision to start a new venture.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a qualitative approach to investigate, via in‐depth semi‐structured interviews, the experiences of 50 entrepreneurs (25 men and 25 women).FindingsParents influenced participants' decision to create a new venture in a number of ways and two key gender differences were noted in this parental influence. The first related to how the participants were influenced differently by their mothers and fathers, with fathers playing the primary role in the new venture creation decision. The second was differences between how the women and men participants described the ways they were influenced by their parents. Many women entrepreneurs looked to their parents for advice, support and encouragement, while some men desired independence from their parents (primarily fathers) or were trying to compete with them.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations exist due to the sample size and the complexity of motivations for starting a new venture. This study should be followed by more extensive research, addressing the further research questions and directions that are posed.Originality/valueThis empirical study contributes to the literature by enhancing our limited understanding of how parents influence the decision to start a new venture.