The Impact of Gender on Entrepreneurial Intention in a Peripheral Region of Europe: A Multigroup Analysis

Sofia Gomes,José Oliveira,Marlene Sousa,João Morais Lopes,Tânia Santos,Márcio Oliveira

doi:10.3390/socsci10110415

Abstract

The last two decades were characterized by an increase in attention on entrepreneurship. An emerging trend in the literature is associated with the different contributions that genders may have regarding entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions. This paper assesses gender impact on entrepreneurial intention in a peripheral region of Europe. The methodology used is quantitative and based on a sample of 1114 observations. The obtained results suggest that women’s perceived behavioral control does not have a less direct positive impact on entrepreneurial intention when compared to men’s. Women’s personal attitude has a less direct positive impact on entrepreneurial intention when compared to men’s, as social norms, on the one hand, have a less direct positive impact on women’s personal attitude when compared to men’s, and, on the other hand, have a less direct positive impact on women’s perceived behavioral control when compared to men’s. Finally, it was also verified that social norms have a less positive indirect impact through personal attitude and perceived behavioral control on women’s entrepreneurial intention when compared to men’s. These findings contribute to enlighten the literature by strengthening the theoretical framework on women’s entrepreneurial intention in peripheral regions. Regarding practical contributions, suggestions are addressed to public decision makers, universities, and civil society, to adopt practices to increase entrepreneurship in women. This research is original because it is the first to perform this study in Portugal, a peripheral region of Europe.

Highlights

Entrepreneurship is widely recognized by all regional actors as a leading driver of the socio-economic development of countries and their regions; its promotion has been growing (Lopes et al 2018; Maes et al 2014; and Molino et al 2018)
With a statistical significance of 95% (Table 5), we conclude that gender has a negative impact (β = −0.148) on personal attitude, meaning that being a woman has a negative influence on the attitude towards entrepreneurship, confirming Hypothesis 1a (H1a)
We conclude that gender has a negative impact (β = −0.204) in the perceived behavioral control, that is, being a woman has a negative influence on the perceived behavior to be an entrepreneur, confirming Hypothesis 1b (H1b)

Summary

Introduction

Entrepreneurship is widely recognized by all regional actors (government, academia, and industry) as a leading driver of the socio-economic development of countries and their regions; its promotion has been growing (Lopes et al 2018; Maes et al 2014; and Molino et al 2018). Entrepreneurship is strongly affected by innovation; it is essential that regions, through their policymakers, invest in technology and improve economic structures, which, in turn, causes employment to grow and increases the wealth created by these economies (Mei et al 2016; Gurel et al 2010; Nabi and Holden 2008; and Gomes et al 2021). In this context, for the last two decades, the interest of researchers to study entrepreneurship has been growing (Lopes et al 2021a). Scholars have been making efforts to strengthen and identify the factors that foster and increase entrepreneurship (Fayolle and Liñán 2014; Ahsan and Fernhaber 2019; Martínez-González et al 2019; and Lopes et al 2020a)

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Results