Differences between Men and Women in Opportunity Evaluation as a Function of Gender Stereotypes and Stereotype Activation

Abstract

Opportunity evaluation represents a core aspect of the entrepreneurial process. Prior research suggests that evaluation of new opportunities is influenced by biases rooted in subjective beliefs, values, and assumptions. In the present study, we used stereotype activation theory to propose that respondent gender (men-women), content of stereotype (masculine-feminine), and the manner in which stereotype information is presented (subtleblatant) interact to influence evaluations of a new business opportunity. We found that both masculine and feminine stereotype activation influenced men and women's evaluation of a business opportunity differently depending upon whether the stereotype was blatantly or subtly activated. Our results indicate that gender stereotype activation can both boost and impede men and women's subsequent actions on entrepreneurial tasks such as opportunity evaluation, depending on the content of the stereotype and the manner in which it is presented. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

What's Gender Got to Do with It? The Experiences of U.S. Women Entrepreneurship Students

“…Entrepreneurship programs need to highlight female entrepreneurship in an attempt to change the image that entrepreneurs are only males, encourage that it is common for women to start businesses, and promote that female‐owned businesses can be just as successful—if not more—as those which are male‐owned (Lo et al ). Opportunity evaluation differences between men and women can be alleviated and even possibly eliminated when the language associated with entrepreneurship is modified (Gupta, Turban, and Pareek ). In order to nurture female students, programs should include female role models and stereotypically feminine attributes in classroom visits, textbooks, and case studies, with special attention to those role models of similar background to the students in characteristics such as age, education, culture, gender, and business area (Gupta et al ; Lo et al ).…”

“…Opportunity evaluation differences between men and women can be alleviated and even possibly eliminated when the language associated with entrepreneurship is modified (Gupta, Turban, and Pareek ). In order to nurture female students, programs should include female role models and stereotypically feminine attributes in classroom visits, textbooks, and case studies, with special attention to those role models of similar background to the students in characteristics such as age, education, culture, gender, and business area (Gupta et al ; Lo et al ). There are also scholars who recommend textbook editors pay close attention to the way in which women entrepreneurship is presented (Nelson and Duffy ).…”

Gender Stereotypes and Venture Support Decisions: How Governmental Venture Capitalists Socially Construct Entrepreneurs’ Potential

“…The impact of hidden (unconscious) biases in finance distribution such as gender stereotypes has been researched, but empirically, prior studies have been limited to surveys and other methods, which restricts investigating how closed-room discussions are executed and the role and character of stereotyping in decision making (see Alsos & Ljunggren, 2016;De Bruin, Brush, & Welter, 2007;Hughes, Jennings, Brush, Carter, & Welter, 2012;Jennings & Brush, 2013). Other studies have reported on the propensity of individual decision makers or the general public to stereotype (Fay & Williams, 1993;Gupta, Goktan, & Gunay, 2014;Gupta, Turban, & Pareek, 2013), but no study has investigated stereotyping among a group of decision makers that jointly make funding decisions. This approach enables us to reveal how otherwise hidden social construction of common knowledge emerges, is expressed, founded, and anchored and thus also to understand how such shared knowledge evolves.…”

“…From this perspective, people make sense of the world by matching attributes against the features of stereotypical examples (Gupta et al, 2009(Gupta et al, , 2013(Gupta et al, , 2014. Stereotypical images of women and men have been identified as contributing factors to women's disadvantage in access to finance (Fielden et al, 2003;Godwin, Stevens, & Brenner, 2006).…”

On the use of imagination by entrepreneurs

“…Research on female entrepreneurship has studied the di↵erences between male and female entrepreneurs (Eddleston and Powell, 2012), and di↵er-ences among female entrepreneurs (e.g., Lewis, 2006). Research on gender di↵er-ences in entrepreneurship has found, for example, that men and women evaluate opportunities di↵erently (Gupta et al, 2012). However, whether male and female entrepreneurs use their imagination di↵erently is a topic into which future research should look.…”