Work-life Preferences of Female Entrepreneurs: The Role of Marriage, Children and Education

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of economic development. It requires risk-taking and decisiveness—characteristics scarcely used to describe women. The notion of increasing female entrepreneurship is popular, but male- and female-run businesses are pegged against each other, with performance discrepancies explained by background and institutional barriers that disadvantage women. Equalization of institutional opportunities for both sexes reflects the expectation of equal entrepreneurship outcomes. Nevertheless, fewer women than men view entrepreneurship as a viable employment choice and in the most egalitarian societies this is prevalent. Preference theory has explanations. Women and men choose self-employment for different reasons and few women view entrepreneurship as a career. This study suggests that in developed economies self-employment relates to work-life preference differences between the sexes. Current policies disregard such differences. The focus of this study is on whether women entrepreneurs differ than men in their work-life priorities. Findings suggest so. Preference theory is a viable predictor of work-life priorities of US female entrepreneurs. The study also explores how these preferences link to marriage, education and children and is intended to inform policymakers with a genuine interest in promoting (female) entrepreneurship.