Abstract
The social impact accelerator (SIA) seeks to select and accelerate startups that demonstrate potential to not only generate lucrative financial returns but also impact society in meaningful ways. Through the lens of signaling theory we examine 1,257 social startups that applied to 47 SIAs globally in 2016 and find that while social and economic signals positively increase selection probability, the founder’s gender plays a critical moderating role. Consistent with gender role congruity theory, social and economic signals increase the probability of selection only when the founder’s gender is congruent with stereotypes. Our research extends both signaling theory and gender role congruity theory to social startups by highlighting how gender stereotypes influence interpretations of signals by the SIA and sheds light on the accelerator decision-making process.
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