Transforming Self-Employability & Entrepreneurship for Mothers via Mobile Sharing Economy Platforms

Abstract

This research focuses on the extent sharing economy transforms employability for women impacted by domestic and reproductive work. We explore the experience of mothers, of how digital peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms can affect their real and perceived employability by unlocking human capital, through technology acceptance. It incorporates a case study research design with the Gioia methodology. A semi-structured telephone survey collected data to explore the decisions around usage of a new mobile P2P app, aimed to support employability among mothers. Analysis was conducted inductively using Leximancer, thematic analysis and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). We found that mothers experience high rates of continued labor market attachment on a casual or part-time basis, difficulty in juggling family and work, and high levels of concern both about future employment/ entrepreneurial opportunities and expected stress in balancing dual roles of carer and earner. While they are interested in using new sharing economy technologies to reduce skills deterioration and improve signaling, there were both technology and non-technology related barriers. These included trust and security, life-stage mismatch, time poverty and limitation of service offerings. This exploratory study contributes to research by illustrating how sharing economy platforms can offer women a means to overcome the issues of signaling and skills deterioration in relation to aspects of human capital theory, and additionally, how the social interactions between mothers, through technology adoption, can provide a basis for improving future self-employment and entrepreneurship. Keywords: Self-employment, mumpreneurship, self-perceived employability, sharing economy, P2P platforms, technology acceptance, signaling, skills deterioration.