Do gender-related differences exist in Spanish entrepreneurial activities?

Abstract

Purpose – Academic research has endeavoured to understand women's behaviours in entrepreneurial activity, identifying the differences when compared to men. The main topics analysed show similar findings in relation to characteristics and motivations, leadership style, strategic choice, obstacles and results. This paper delves further into these differences by examining the personal characteristics of entrepreneurs, the motivation to enter the activity and the performance of their enterprises. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors study Spanish entrepreneurial activity using a survey carried out in 2009 of 608 randomly selected entrepreneurs. The main methods used are descriptive analyses and logistic estimations. Findings – There were two groups of entrepreneurial women with different profiles and results: the first group comprises a variety of sectors reflecting the economy's average; and the second mainly operates in those sectors traditionally considered as female. Male and female reasons for success and survival are found to be substantially the same, but personal characteristics and motivations were found to be different. Among the differences found, it is worth highlighting the amount of time devoted by entrepreneurial women to household chores, the higher proportion of women in the staff they employ, and their commitment to product and service innovation. Social implications – The findings point to some ideas in terms of policies regarding entrepreneurial activity and gender. The women's greater commitment to innovation in goods and services suggests new approaches in policies aimed at promoting the entry of women in entrepreneurial activity. Originality/value – The main findings of the paper are consistent with relevant existing literatures, but the results offer new insights that contribute to improving the knowledge of the dynamics of entrepreneurial women.

Determinants of the Business Performance of Women Entrepreneurs in the Developing World Context

“…Some research results suggest that women entrepreneurs have a lower level of innovativeness in businesses because of their small business sizes, involvement in traditional businesses, and limited access to financial resources, compared to men entrepreneurs [65][66][67][68]. Other research results suggest that women entrepreneurs have a higher level of innovativeness in their businesses [69] with a higher level of promise for product and service innovation, compared to their counterparts [70], whereas others suggest that there is no significant difference in innovativeness between men and women entrepreneurs [71][72][73]. The general (men and women) research results find a significant positive relationship between innovativeness and the business performance of global industrial firms [74], service and manufacturing industries [75], high tech incubating firms [76], automotive industries [63], and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) [77].…”

Gender differences in the relationship between innovation and its antecedents

“…Sonfield, Lussier, Corman and McKinney (2001) state that results of prior research pertaining to gender and innovation are mixed, as is the case with gender diversity. Differences were found on some aspects, such as motivations and intentions, (Pablo-Martí et al, 2014;Sánchez-Escobedo, Díaz-Casero, Díaz-Aunión, & Hernández-Mogollón, 2014), overall satisfaction (Sonfield et al, 2001), commitment to product and service innovation (Pablo-Martí et al, 2014) and resilience (Caňizares & García, 2010). On other aspects, such as the strategies applied (Sonfield et al, 2001) and reasons for success and survival (Pablo-Martí et al, 2014), men and women reported substantially in the same manner.…”

“…Differences were found on some aspects, such as motivations and intentions, (Pablo-Martí et al, 2014;Sánchez-Escobedo, Díaz-Casero, Díaz-Aunión, & Hernández-Mogollón, 2014), overall satisfaction (Sonfield et al, 2001), commitment to product and service innovation (Pablo-Martí et al, 2014) and resilience (Caňizares & García, 2010). On other aspects, such as the strategies applied (Sonfield et al, 2001) and reasons for success and survival (Pablo-Martí et al, 2014), men and women reported substantially in the same manner. Lee and Marvel (2014) question past research findings which have reported gendered outcomes, and conclude that resource and context characteristics fully Purpose: The aim of this study was to go beyond measurement invariance and assess whether innovation and its antecedents relate to each other in the same way for men as for women when using measurement invariant instruments.Design/methodology/approach: The sample represents 52 South African organisations, with 60 employees from each, amounting to 3143 respondents, of which 56.4% were men and 43.6% women.…”

“…This research is not about gender diversity, but rather about a more contentious issue -that of the differences between men and women actors when engaging in innovation. Previous innovation research has focused on gender differences regarding characteristics and motivations, leadership style, strategic choices, obstacles and results (Pablo-Martí, García-Tabuenca, & Crespo-Espert, 2014). Sonfield, Lussier, Corman and McKinney (2001) state that results of prior research pertaining to gender and innovation are mixed, as is the case with gender diversity.…”

Contesting the underperformance thesis of women entrepreneurs: firm-level evidence from South Africa

“…It might be the case, nevertheless, that such a depiction of the impacts of women's involvement in ownership on firm performance is context-specific. That is to say, in countries where there is less discrimination against women by financial institutions, not least due to anti-discrimination legislation, and there is no evidence of any variations between men and women in their access to bank financing (Eriksson et al, 2009;van Hulten, 2012;Watson et al, 2009), and where women are better educated and the gender division of domestic labour is less stark, one might indeed witness a lesser likelihood that women's involvement in ownership will have deleterious impacts on firm performance (Pablo-Marti et al, 2014). Nelson (2012), moreover, reviewing previous studies of the gendering of risk aversion, reveals mixed results and how there exist exaggerated beliefs about the greater risk aversion of women that are based on gender stereotypes.…”