Academic entrepreneurial intention: the role of gender

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is firstly to analyze whether the determining factors of the entrepreneurial intention of academics are the same for men and women and test whether their degree of importance varies depending on gender, and secondly to test whether the lesser entrepreneurial intention of women detected in previous studies is because of the lesser presence of the determining factors of entrepreneurial intention among women or, on the contrary, is determined by the existence of implicit barriers that do not depend on these factors. Design/methodology/approach After conducting a survey on a sample of 1,178 academics, the results of a linear regression model confirm the hypothesis that female academics have less of an entrepreneurial intention. Findings Moreover, through the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition, it is observed that this lesser female entrepreneurial behavior is not because of the absence of any of the factors considered as determinants of entrepreneurial intention, but instead is related to the existence of implicit barriers for women that influence their entrepreneurial intention. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that a study of this nature has been conducted internationally. Unlike other studies on academic entrepreneurship, the authors do not restrict the sample to one or two universities but rather aim the study at all universities in Spain and, therefore, at all academics from all branches of knowledge.

The Spin-Off as an Instrument of Sustainable Development: Incentives for Creating an Academic USO

“…This provides a vision of academics as a homogeneous group with a shared culture, where the scale of values and hierarchy of evaluated elements largely coincide regardless of the sociodemographic and/or professional aspects. This contradicts some of the literature on the greater and different motivation of male and female entrepreneurship [38,[91][92][93], as well as the differences in entrepreneurship according to professional category [88] or years of experience at the university [21,87]. In this way, academic entrepreneurship depends not so much on the individual's sociodemographic or professional characteristics, but on the policies implemented to promote it.…”

“…They can be of a biological or cognitive nature, the result of their social interaction [30] or psychological factors [31]. Among the individual features that have been proven to impact on entrepreneurial intention are the individual's academic seniority, entrepreneurial personality, self-confidence, creativity, the perceived utility of entrepreneurship, the level to which the academic promotes the societal role of universities, gender or scientific productivity (see [11,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]).…”

“…With regard to gender, studies such as those of Stuart and Ding [82], Whittington and Smith-Doerr [83], Abreu and Grinevich [84], Amoros and Bosma [85] and Miranda et al [38] have revealed that female academics have a lower entrepreneurial intention than male academics. For this reason, we understand that female academics may also perceive academic entrepreneurship support actions differently.…”

Women’s entrepreneurship: discussing legal perspectives in light of individual and institutional drivers

“…It has an informal legal form giving traders full control over their business undertakings and records. On a micro level, the individual's entrepreneurial intention directly represents the sole trader's entrepreneurial intention (Feder & Nitu-Antonie, 2017;Miranda et al, 2017). The sole trader's enterprise ceases as soon as the individual's entrepreneurial intention ends.…”

Diferencias en Las Intenciones Y Valoraciones Emprendedoras De Los Académicos Españoles Según Su Género.

“…Aunque la literatura sobre el emprendimiento femenino y la influencia del género en el proceso emprendedor se ha visto incrementada en los últimos años (Langowitz y Minniti, 2007;Wilson et al, 2007;Gupta et al, 2008;Noguera et al, 2013;Pulido et al, 2014;Tegtmeier y Mitra, 2015;Micozzi et al, 2016;Miranda et al, 2017), en el ámbito académico aún es necesaria la realización de estudios que ahonden en el proceso de emprendimiento de ambos géneros y, especialmente, en el establecimiento y jerarquización de los motivos diferenciales que llevan a emprender a hombres y mujeres.…”