Support Organizations and Remediating the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A Case Study of St. Louis

Knowlton, Karren Kimberly; Özkazanç‐Pan, Banu; Muntean, Susan Clark; Motoyama, Yasuyuki

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2685116

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…By exception, Knowlton et al (2015) examined strategies to strengthen small business support for women entrepreneurs among St. Louis-based (U.S.) small business support organisations. The researchers identified three challenges or "gender blind spots": perceptions about entrepreneurial identity; lack of awareness of support and programs for entrepreneurs in the region (based on a mismatch between outreach efforts and intended beneficiaries); and persistent gendered occupational norms, perceptions and roles, which impact levels of engagement in entrepreneurship activities.…”

Section: Gender-inclusive Entrepreneurship Education and Training Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technology adoption and gender-inclusive entrepreneurship education and training

Orser

Riding

2019

IJGE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Drawing on social feminist theory, this paper aims to close gaps between knowledge about gender-related barriers to information, communication and technology (ICT) adoption and the provision of entrepreneurship education and training (EET) programs. Design/methodology/approach Empirical findings are drawn from 21 semi-structured interviews (22 informants) possessing differing training expertise regarding digital technology among women entrepreneurs. An open-coding technique was adopted where descriptive codes were first assigned to meaningful statements. Interpretive and pattern codes were then assigned to indicate common themes and patterns, which were reduced to higher-order categories to inform the research questions. Findings The findings specify and validate further gender influences in the digital economy. Digital skills are identified, and strategies to close gender barriers to ICT adoption with EET are described. The findings are discussed in reference to a large-scale, Canadian ICT adoption program. Research limitations/implications Perceptual data may be idiosyncratic to the sample. The work did not control for type of technology. Gender influences may differ by type of technology. Practical implications Findings can be used to construct gender-inclusive ICT supports and inform ICT adoption policies. This includes program eligibility and evaluation criteria to measure the socio-economic impacts. Originality/value The study is among the first to examine the intersection between knowledge about gender-related barriers to ICT adoption and EET. The findings can be adopted to ICT support programs targeted at small business owners and entrepreneurs.

show abstract

Section: Gender-inclusive Entrepreneurship Education and Training Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technology adoption and gender-inclusive entrepreneurship education and training

Orser

Riding

2019

IJGE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, some experts don't support the WON concept and believe women and men must be in equal positions to be competitive (Carrasco, 2014). Moreover, some research has suggested that even if women increasingly have access to WONs, they remain marginalized from broader business networks (Knowlton et al, 2015). In effect, they argue that WONs are too homophilous, effectively closing members off from essential resources.…”

Section: Social Capital and Wonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standing on the shoulders of giantesses: how women technology founders use single and mixed gender networks for success and change

Woodwark

Wood

Schnarr

2021

IJGE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeBuilding on research about entrepreneurship and social capital, the purpose of this paper is to explore how women founders of technology-based ventures in Canada access and use formal external entrepreneurial networks to build their companies.Design/methodology/approachThe study draws on 25 semi-structured interviews with women founders of technology firms and leaders of formal networks.FindingsThe authors demonstrate the positive impact of women only networks (WON) for founders including increasing entrepreneurial diversity, access to financing, and founder credibility and sponsorship. The authors show how women founders use mixed gender and WON to build their businesses and conclude that membership in WON can be a vital step.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size is small and most participants reside in highly urban areas, which may limit generalizability. Findings may not generalize beyond Canada due to cultural and structural differences.Practical implicationsThe research suggests that external WON should be encouraged as important resources for founder identity work which may enable positive change.Social implicationsThis research can assist in designing initiatives that support women entrepreneurs and promote gender parity.Originality/valueThe authors draw on research in women's leadership development to explain how WONs for entrepreneurs help founders create overlapping strategic networks – a unique form of social capital – and serve as identity workspaces for the identity work women founders must complete. The authors argue that the identity work in WONs can be a mechanism by which gender structures are challenged and eventually changed.

show abstract

“…Although more women are working as entrepreneurs (Foster and Norman 2016;Womenable 2016), access to vital resources, perceptions of competence, venture outcomes, and decisions regarding funding continue to be disproportionately influenced by unconscious gender bias (Gupta et al 2009;Levine and Rubinstein 2017;Malmström, Johansson, and Wincent 2017). Studies show that most people still associate "entrepreneurs" with young, male entrepreneurs in the tech sector (Knowlton et al 2015), and research finds that covert discriminatory practices and gender biases remain firmly embedded in entrepreneurial contexts (Kelley et al 2013;Marlow and McAdam 2015;Ranga and Etzkowitz 2010;Truss et al 2012). This is not surprising in occupations historically segregated by sex, where gender associations were initially constructed through the exclusion of men or women (Deutsch 2007).…”

Section: Constructions Of Gender and Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Women have been proclaimed the "rising stars of the economy" (Vossenberg 2013) who hold the "future of entrepreneurship" in their hands (Robb, Coleman, and Stangler 2014). However, research shows that gender inequalities and associations between masculinity and entrepreneurship persist in many contexts (Ahl 2006;Knowlton et al 2015;Ogbor 2001). Simply increasing the number of women working as entrepreneurs has not been enough to overcome gender disparities (Foster and Norman 2016;Kelley et al 2013) resulting in an apparent "paradox of critical mass" 1 (Etzkowitz et al 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Gendering of Entrepreneurship on Reality Television

Wheadon

Duval‐Couetil²

2018

Journal of Small Business Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research on gender inequalities in entrepreneurship focuses more often on identifying or overcoming existing barriers rather than examining how stereotypical gendered beliefs and characterizations are created or maintained in the first place. We argue that the media provides a contextualized and sociocultural perspective into the gendering of entrepreneurship. Using a novel multimethod approach based on media framing analysis, we examine the content and social interactions portrayed during the first season of the reality television program Shark Tank to deconstruct the processes that normalize and reinforce gendered stereotypes and inequalities.

show abstract

Support Organizations and Remediating the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A Case Study of St. Louis

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Technology adoption and gender-inclusive entrepreneurship education and training

Technology adoption and gender-inclusive entrepreneurship education and training

Standing on the shoulders of giantesses: how women technology founders use single and mixed gender networks for success and change

The Gendering of Entrepreneurship on Reality Television

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About