The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Perceptions of Entrepreneurs and Intentions to Become an Entrepreneur

Abstract

In this study we examine the role of socially constructed gender stereotypes in entrepreneurship and their influence on men and women's entrepreneurial intentions. Data on characteristics of males, females, and entrepreneurs were collected from young adults in three countries. As hypothesized, entrepreneurs were perceived to have predominantly masculine characteristics. Additional results revealed that although both men and women perceive entrepreneurs to have characteristics similar to those of males (masculine genderrole stereotype), only women also perceived entrepreneurs and females as having similar characteristics (feminine gender-role stereotype). Further, though men and women did not differ in their entrepreneurial intentions, those who perceived themselves as more similar to males (high on male gender identification) had higher entrepreneurial intentions than those who saw themselves as less similar to males (low male gender identification). No such difference was found for people who saw themselves as more or less similar to females (female gender identification). The results were consistent across the three countries. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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

“…In particular, we show that one of the obstacles women face in gaining credibility in traditionally masculine fields is that different standards are used to evaluate men's versus women's performance (Eagly & Karau, 2002). In extending previous discussions that the masculine prescriptive of entrepreneurship causes credibility challenges for women entrepreneurs (Ahl, 2006;Bruni et al, 2004;Gupta, Turban, & Watsi, 2009), we count and categorize how the language and rhetoric used in decision making develops into gender stereotypes that affect financiers' interpretations of potential when entrepreneurs seek financing. While centered on communal and agentic attributes that are universal to men and women (Eagly), we identify aspects of stereotyping that go beyond gender role congruity theory.…”

“…Entrepreneurial potential, for example, was coded into categories of positive or negative attributes based on both inductive patterns revealed by the context in which the discourses took place and on definitions in the entrepreneurship literature (cf. Ahl, 2006;Busenitz & Barney, 1997;Gupta et al, 2009). We calculated the portion of attributes belonging to each of the second-order conceptualizations for women and men entrepreneurs, respectively (see Table 2).…”

“…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).…”

Encouraging Female Entrepreneurship in Jordan: Environmental Factors, Obstacles and Challenges

“…Carter, Brush, Greene, Gatewood, & Hart, 2003;Goby & Erogul, 2011;Minniti, 2008);political and economic stability (Lerner, 2010;Movahedi & Yaghoubi-Farani, 2012;Taylor & Plummer, 2003);culture and society's views on entrepreneurship (C. C. Baughn et al, 2006;C. Baughn & Neupert, 2003;Gupta, Turban, Wasti, & Sikdar, 2009;Light & Dana, 2013;Ramadani, Gërguri, Dana, & Tašaminova, 2013;Shinnar, Giacomin, & Janssen, 2012);business information (Ettl & Welter, 2010;Sandhu et al, 2011);support mechanisms and networking opportunities (Ahmad & Xavier, 2011;Al-Alak & Al-Haddad, 2010;Caputo, Mehtap, et al, 2015;De Vita et al, 2014;Goby & Erogul, 2011);access to formal education and training (Dabic et al, 2012;Dickson, Solomon, & Weaver, 2008;Lüthje & Franke, 2002;Packham, Jones, Miller, Pickernell, & Thomas, 2010;Pruett, 2012).…”

The entrepreneurial ladder, gender, and regional development

“…The scant evidence shows that women tend to have a lower probability of preferring self-employment over wage employment (Blanchflower et al 2001;Grilo and Irigoyen 2006) and are characterized by lower intentions to start up a business than men (Crant 1996;Wilson et al 2004;Zhao et al 2005). Nevertheless, a study by Gupta et al (2009) finds that it is not men or women per se but rather the degree to which they perceive themselves as masculine (''male gender identification'') that determines entrepreneurial intentions. More specifically, they find that while women and men do not differ regarding their intentions to start up a business, women who perceive themselves as more masculine are characterized by higher entrepreneurial intentions than women with lower male gender identification.…”