Innovative Behaviour: Male Vs Female Entrepreneurs in Akwa Ibom State

Abstract

It is observed that there are more male entrepreneurs engaged in entrepreneurial activities than female entrepreneurs given a number of factors that hinder the female entrepreneurs. However, does this translate to the male entrepreneurs being more innovative than the female entrepreneurs? This study aims to examine the innovative behaviour of male and female entrepreneurs in Akwa Ibom State. Using a survey design and a purposive sampling method, 250 respondents were examined for the study and the data analysed using descriptive statistics revealed the findings that both male and female entrepreneurs have similar levels of innovative behaviour, although the female entrepreneurs exhibited a slightly higher level of innovative behaviour in the areas of product innovation, process innovation, market innovation and raw materials innovation. The result indicated that the male entrepreneurs’ process innovation led to a slightly speedier delivery of their goods compared to the female entrepreneurs and that their goods stand out against competitors compared to the female entrepreneurs. In organisational restructuring, both male and female entrepreneurs have a similar level of innovative behaviour, however, the female entrepreneurs tend to reorder each division of their businesses to ensure employee’s effectiveness more than the male entrepreneurs and profit tend to increase more for the female entrepreneurs who reorder their businesses compared to the male entrepreneurs. Hence, more female citizens in the state need to be encouraged to startup and to stay creative and innovative.