Dot-Com Women Entrepreneurs in the UK

Abstract

<jats:p> Drawing on two areas of academic interest, female entrepreneurship and the Internet sector, this paper provides an overview of female entrepreneurship in the Web-based business sector in the UK. Based on a field study of 20 Web-based small Internet companies owned by women, the paper explores why women start up dot-com businesses and presents a typology of dot-com women entrepreneurs. The findings provide interesting and indicative insights into patterns of female entrepreneurship in this growth sector. </jats:p>

Female Entrepreneurship and the Metanarrative of Economic Growth: A Critical Review of Underlying Assumptions

“…The continued association between the service sector and low profitability seems to overlook recent trends in many developing countries where a rise in the service sector coupled with a decline in manufacturing has been witnessed in the last three decades (Bloomberg ; Spilling and Berg ). The service sector, including retailing, currently involves a wide range of activities, holds different possibilities and is known to be an important source of innovation (Forson and Özbilgin ). Another omission from the debates is that changing technologies have also led companies operating in this sector to be highly profitable (Hamilton and Selen ).…”

“…It is worth highlighting that women were among the first to set‐up online businesses (e.g. http://lastminute.com) (Forson and Özbilgin ). Professional business services is another area that is considered to be one of the fastest growing sectors and is dominated by female entrepreneurs.…”

“…These boundaries, however, seem to be much more fluid than suggested in the extant literature. For example, the technology sector, which is perceived to be male dominated, actually has a strong female presence, particularly in online businesses (Forson and Özbilgin ). In addition, our reading of the literature shows that a number of articles hold data about the involvement of female entrepreneurs in a wide range of sectors, but it has been concealed by the tacit notion of underperformance hypothesis.…”

“…). In addition, the exploration of the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of women's motivations, which change according to their circumstances (Forson and Özbilgin ), is ignored. The influence of the macro environment on women's decision to become entrepreneurs has also been overlooked, despite its importance.…”

A Web of opportunity or the same old story? Women digital entrepreneurs and intersectionality theory

“…The limited research specifically upon women digital entrepreneurs has been based on assumptions of a 'neutral' Web; thus, the manner in which the phenomenon is gendered, racialised or affected by class position remains under-explored (Forson and Özbilgin, 2003;Jome et al, 2006) and ignored by surveys of Internet use (Harding, 2007;Pew, 2012;Ofcom, 2011). Furthermore, the wide variety of entrepreneurial activity in which women are engaged online tends to be neglected in favour of a focus on high-tech entrepreneurship, popularly perceived as the epitome of digital entrepreneurship (Kaplan and Malach-Pines, 2010).…”