Gender and Family Entrepreneurship

Vanessa Ratten, Veland Ramadani, Leo-Paul Dana, Robert D. Hisrich, Joao Ferreira

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781315391403
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This book focuses on gender and family entrepreneurship, as they are interrelated concepts particularly important in today's global society. The book highlights the significance of the role of gender in the development and growth of family businesses. It helps readers understand the role of family dynamics in business, particularly in terms of succession planning, strategic development and internationalization.

Often, both gender and family entrepreneurship are studied independently, but this book aims to marry both perspectives with a novel approach. This creates a synergy between gender and family entrepreneurship that increases the potential value to entrepreneurship scholarship, policy and business practice. This edited book is a useful and insightful addition to the entrepreneurship field.

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Gender and family entrepreneurship

An overview

Vanessa Ratten, Veland Ramadani, Leo-Paul Dana, Robert D. Hisrich and Joao Ferreira

Introduction

Entrepreneurship traditionally is viewed as being focused on business creation and the role of gender has been diminished, although this is important to understanding the way family businesses in particular are managed. This is the result of the assumption that most entrepreneurship studies are about male business people but this has changed in recent times with the increase in the role of females in the workplace. In addition, there has been an increased interest in gender based studies about entrepreneurship due to the realization that it impacts decision-making processes and gender rather than being purely biological can also be in the attitudes and behaviors of a person. For this reason, it is important to understand how gender entrepreneurship is impacted by contextual influences on business behavior in family businesses, which comprise a large proportion of overall businesses.

This chapter will provide an overview of gender and family entrepreneurship to enhance our understanding of different entrepreneurial behaviors between men, women, asexual and transgender individuals and how they are integrated specifically into business. Due to the trend toward gender neutrality in society, there is a changing perception about the role of gender in entrepreneurship. This chapter suggests that gender is not so important in today’s society but rather the person’s capability to be an entrepreneur. This means extending previous research by incorporating a gender-neutral stance on entrepreneurial behaviors but acknowledging that in certain environmental contexts there are gender differences. As there is a complex understanding about gender in society it is important to acknowledge that younger generations are being taught both masculine and feminine behaviors as part of their education. It is proposed that in more developed countries the conceptualization of gender is no longer based on biological conditions but rather on the way a person behaves in society.

This chapter is organized as follows. The next section discusses the importance of gender to entrepreneurship by explaining its embeddedness in society. The changing role of gender in society is then discussed with a view to suggesting current conceptualizations of gender entrepreneurship. Finally the conclusion summarizes the main findings and suggests ways to move forward.

Gender entrepreneurship

Feminist studies are useful to understand entrepreneurship due to their emphasis on gender relations and their structures (Berg, 1997). Researchers have different conceptualizations of gender and its impact on society depending on their beliefs. Berg (1997: 259) states there is “diversity in both femininity and masculinity, i.e. differences among women and differences among men, as well as gender differences”. There is also growing recognition of asexual individuals who classify themselves as neither male nor female. Therefore, the way we study entrepreneurship needs to consider gender because of its significance in behavioral aspects of business management (Ferreira, Ratten, and Dana, 2017).

Entrepreneurship is an embedded phenomenon that needs to be understood in the appropriate environmental context (Diaz-Garcia and Jimenez-Moreno, 2010). Some environments are more conducive to certain types of entrepreneur-ship (Gerguri, Rashiti, Ramadani, Abazi-Alili, Dana, and Ratten, 2017). This is due to culture and society playing an important role in entrepreneurial behavior (Ratten and Ferreira, 2017). There is a perception in society that masculine traits and behaviors are considered better for business than females ones (Marlow and Patton, 2005). This has resulted in a socially constructed gender belief system influencing entrepreneurial intentions and the development of business ventures.

There are stereotypes about the role of women in business that bias entrepreneurial activity (Nilsson, 1997). This has meant that women are generally perceived as being less entrepreneurial than men (Langowitz and Minniti, 2007). For these reasons gender has influenced the ability of females to be entrepreneurs and their inclusion as business owners in the workforce. A study by Menzies and Tatroff (2006) found that male students are more likely to choose an entrepreneurial course as part of their business degree. Thus, the education and training of entrepreneurs has tended to bias males, although this is changing.

Females tend to identify opportunities differently because of their gender and environmental characteristics (DeTienne and Chandler, 2007). In business, masculine styles of management are still considered to be better despite changing society attitudes (Diaz-Garcia and Jiménez-Moreno, 2010). This has meant that the gender of a manager influences their ability to be promoted and considered as an authority figure in business (Ratten, 2007). Society tends to view managers as having behavior that is more conducive to entrepreneurship (Langowitz and Minniti, 2007).

Women are conditioned by societal norms in terms of expected behavior, which influences their entrepreneurial intention (Welter, Smallbone, Isakova, and Aculai, 2007). Concurrent with the growth in entrepreneurship research has been studies about females and their role in the entrepreneurial process (Sullivan and Meek, 2012). These studies have focused on how entrepreneurship is associated with creativity and innovation, which has contributed to a more diverse workforce (Ratten, 2017). Part of this change in workforce participation has been the increase in women entrepreneurs (Brush, De Bruin, and Welter, 2009).

Processes in the internal and external environment provide a useful way to understand the gender issues in entrepreneurship. The process model of entrepreneurship views entrepreneurs as applying their ideas, knowledge, skills and talents to business endeavours (Baron and Henry, 2011). There are four main stages to the process model of entrepreneurship: 1) motivation, 2) opportunity recognition, 3) acquiring resources and 4) entrepreneurial success/performance (Sullivan and Meek, 2012). Firstly, motivations for female entrepreneurs might be necessity-based as they need an income or opportunity and this influences their ability to see a gap in the market. The motivational factors reflect the reasons why females decide to be self-employed rather than employed by others. Secondly, opportunity recognition refers to how females realize and evaluate opportunities in the market. Some female entrepreneurs pursue business ideas because of personal experience. This means that gender can play a role in the type of businesses established by female entrepreneurs.

Thirdly, acquiring resources for female entrepreneurs might depend on their financial capacity or social networks. These resources are both financial and non-financial and are important to establish business ventures but also to maintain existing ones. Fourthly, entrepreneurial success can be brand reputation or profitability, which influences the perception of a female entrepreneur in the business world. The performance of a business venture may depend on market position. Females often pursue entrepreneurship due to frustration over career opportunities (Buttner and Moore, 1997). This has meant that females are increasingly seeing entrepreneurship as a way to advance their careers and to be independent. In addition, females wanting to create a better work environment based on their personal preferences are motivated to become entrepreneurs (Sullivan and Meek, 2012). The flexibility associated with entrepreneurship is another driving force affecting females to be involved with entrepreneurial ventures.

Despite the hard work and long hours many entrepreneurs face, female entrepreneurs consider the autonomy of choosing their own work hours as an advantage. Carter, Gartner, Shaver, and Gatewood (2003) found that women value independence as more important than financial success. The rationale for this is due to females often having more responsibility for family related matters, which makes having flexibility and independence with work matters being important for them (DeMartino and Barbato, 2003). Females are also considered to associate more value from working from home due to their role in family life. These gender differences between males and females with family responsibilities are changing as more men choose to stay at home to raise children.

Matthews and Moser (1996) found that both males and females are more motivated to become an entrepreneur if their parents were entrepreneurs. Parents play a role in influencing individuals, regardless of gender, to become entrepreneurs. Some parents, regardless of culture or religion, motivate their children to become entrepreneurs. However, there are cultural factors that affect the role of women in society and their ability to be entrepreneurs (Sullivan and Meek, 2012). Some research has suggested that in free market economies females are better able to pursue entrepreneurship (Zapalska, 1997). Therefore, the economic stage of development for a country may affect the gender differences for entrepreneurship. This is evident in work by Sullivan and Meek (2012) highlighting how a country’s social norms supporting entrepreneurship will result in more female entrepreneurs. Moreover, Caputo and Dolinksy (1998) found that self-employed husbands positively impact the likelihood of females deciding to also be self-employed.

Females are socialized differently to males, which affects their entrepreneurial behavior. Orhan and Scott (2001), in a study on French female entrepreneurs, found that these situations affect decisions to become entrepreneurs: dynastic compliance, natural succession and pure entrepreneur. A need for achievement influences both males and females to become entrepreneurs. This has led to there being both push and pull factors affecting the decision of females to start a business (Orhan and Scott, 2001). Push factors include need for flexibility, financial reasons and dissatisfaction with current job whilst pull factors involve independence and social status. Females often perceive entrepreneurship as enabling them to maintain child-rearing responsibilities whilst having a professional position.

There are gender neutral characteristics associated with entrepreneurship such as having a vision, need for achievement and being competitive. In business soft leadership traits associated with females are consensus and discussion in decision-making (Orhan and Scott, 2001). Feminine management traits are becoming increasingly valued in business because of an acknowledgement they are useful in organizations. Females become entrepreneurs often because they are bored and require an outlet for their business ideas.

Female owned businesses usually start with less financial resources than male owned businesses (Coleman, 2000). In addition, there has been a feminization of the labour force that has positively affected female entrepreneurship (Humbert and Drew, 2010). Humbert and Drew (2010: 192) states “the importance of diversity (in race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, etc.) intersecting with gender would facilitate an investigation into the multiplicative effects of being female (or male) when entering a male (female) world”.

Family entrepreneurship

The definition of a family business is still elusive due to the differing ways to conceptualize both a family and business entity (De Massis, Sharma, Chua, and Chrisman, 2012). Most definitions focus on the level of involvement by family members in a business. This involvement can be in terms of control both from a financial and non-financial perspective. Financial control includes degree of ownership in the form of shareholding or equity. Non-financial control means voting rights or managerial positions in the business.

Firms that want to increase their competitiveness need to combine both strategy and entrepreneurship. This enables firms to create business opportunities that will lead to increased wealth. As industries go through different lifecycles, firms that take a strategic posture to business activity can be more flexible. This is helpful for family businesses that see business segments evolve based on consumer demand (De Massis, Frattini, Pizzurno, and Cassia, 2015).

Dyer and Handler (1994) proposed that there were four career nexuses that were important to family entrepreneurship. First, the experiences from the entrepreneur’s family shape business decisions. This includes whether an entrepreneur was part of a family who had international experiences or grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. Second, an entrepreneur’s family can be involved in the establishment of the business from providing sources of funding to working in the business. This means that family member ideas and attitudes can shape start-up decisions and internationalization strategies. Third, family members are employed in the firm due to it being entrepreneurial and in the start-up phase. This means that the employment can be volunteer-based until the enterprise has started to make money and become profitable. Fourth, family members can be involved in the succession, thereby transforming the business into new fields.

An entrepreneur’s family plays a role in the development of their behaviours and personality (Dyer and Handler, 1994). For entrepreneurial activity to occur there needs to be a conducive environment and this often occurs from a family. Often entrepreneurs come from families that have been involved in business and are self-employed. This has led to there being a variety of ways individuals can become entrepreneurs by having the right environment to build a learning capability.

Families, particularly parents, can influence the confidence, skills and values that children have, which affects their entrepreneurial capabilities (Dyer and Handler, 1994). Bird (1989) developed the psychodynamic view of entrepreneurship to understand behavior. In this model the cultural, economic, historical and social context together with childhood dynamics result in behavior that influences an individual’s choice to become an entrepreneur. As part of Bird’s (1989) model parents play a crucial role in the identification of entrepreneurial behaviors. This is due to parents playing an important nurturing and supportive role in their children’s development (Ronstadt, 1984). Individuals who have a high need for achievement are influenced into an entrepreneurial role due to their need for independence. In Bird’s (1989) model it is also acknowledged the role adulthood plays in terms of entrepreneurial behavior. This includes the rebelliousness and suspicion that might be part of young adulthood. In addition, the conscious decisions an individual makes are influenced by their level of planning and work environment.

Research about family businesses has increased due to the awareness about their role in promoting economic development. Bird, Welsch, Astrachan, and Pistrui (2002) view family controlled enterprises as part of society from the new world discovery period, Middle Ages, Roman Empire, Industrial Revolution and knowledge economy. The historical significance of family businesses can be seen in the initiatives based on family loyalty. However as Al-Dajani, Bika, Collins, and Swail (2014:219) states “less than a quarter of family businesses survive to the second generation and only about a seventh survive to the third generation”.

In most studies about family business the concept of a family is undifferentiated and considered the same regardless of context (Al-Dajani et al., 2014). The word ‘family’ has different meanings depending on the societal environment. This is seen in studies of family business preferring to focus on succession and other areas about family business rather than dissecting what a family means to people (Miller, Steier, and Le Breton-Miller, 2003). Moreover, instead of recognizing the changing role of family in society, issues around succession planning and financial matters have taken precedence. Karra, Tracey, and Phillips ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Dedication
• 1 Gender and family entrepreneurship: an overview
• 2 Culturally endorsed leadership styles and entrepreneurial behaviors of women
• 3 Moving beyond the barriers: examining the impact of self-efficacy and stereotype reactance on women’s entrepreneurial intentions
• 4 Representations of gender: the media as the mirror of gender roles
• 5 Gendered perspectives in succession process of family businesses: a conceptual review
• 6 Family embeddedness and gendered professional entrepreneurship: evidence from the self-employment of female lawyers in the U.S.
• 7 Could women ex-offenders reinvent their future? An entrepreneurial approach
• 8 Exploring the drivers of gender entrepreneurship: focus on the motivational perspectives in USA, Italy and France
• 9 The impact of family structure, marital status and the parental model on the business creation process among young Tunisian entrepreneurs
• 10 Heteronormativity and the family firm: will we ever see a queer family business?
• 11 Family business management challenges: understanding generational differences
• 12 Father-daughter succession in family businesses: current state of knowledge and future research challenges
• 13 The ‘Dowager’ and her role in the governance and leadership of the entrepreneurial family business
• Index