Women entrepreneurs, individual and collective work–family interface strategies and emancipation

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine the experience of women entrepreneurs and the challenges and issues they face in reconciling the work activities of the family sphere with those of the entrepreneurial sphere. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a materialist feminist perspective and a theory of living work that take into account the visible and invisible dimensions of the real work performed by women entrepreneurs. The methodology is based on a qualitative research design involving individual and group interviews conducted with 70 women entrepreneurs. Findings The results show the various individual and collective strategies deployed by women entrepreneurs to reconcile the work activities of the family and entrepreneurial spheres. Originality/value One of the major findings emerging from the results of this study relates to the re-appropriation of the world of work and organization of work by women entrepreneurs and its emancipatory potential for the division of labour. Through the authority and autonomy they possessed as business owners, and with their employees’ cooperation, they integrated and internalized tasks related to the work activities of the family sphere into the organization of work itself. Thus, not only new forms of work organization and cooperation at work but also new ways of conceiving of entrepreneurship as serving women’s life choices and emancipation could be seen to be emerging.

Factors Affecting Women’s Intention to Lead Family Businesses in Mexico

“…However, a factor that may be considered as a potential advantage for women's desirability of becoming a business leader is a range of intangible benefits that family firms offer. This includes security, flexibility, a supportive environment, and an "unhostile area for preparation" (Cromie and O'Sullivan 1999;Dumas 1992Dumas , 1998Frishkoff and Brown 1993;Guo and Werner 2016;Haynes et al 1999;Salganicoff 1990;St- Arnaud and Giguère 2018).…”

Challenges of female executives' work activities: the hyper-efficiency operating mode

“…However, this gain is limited in coping with the sexual division of labour pressures and the relationships of domination that mark managerial work. Compared to female entrepreneurs (St-Arnaud and Giguère, 2018), female executives lack the authority to reappropriate the work organization to integrate and internalize domestic work activities within management, thus limiting possible subversions in the face of the sexual division of labour within and through work.…”

Entrepreneurial Competences and Entrepreneurial Performance: Empirical Insights of Female Entrepreneurs in Kenya.

“…The role and importance of female entrepreneurs and their contribution to a country's economies have been on the increase in last three decades (Brooks, Donovan, & Johnson, 2018;Sarri & Trihopoulou, 2005). Similarly, investigation of factors that impede the growth of female entrepreneurs has also grown, especially in the developing countries due to the existence of different factors that affect them (Jennings & McDougald, 2007;St-Arnaud & Giguère, 2018). Several studies, see Creighton et al, (2006) ;Maden, (2015); Sadler-Smith, Hampson, Chaston, & Badger, (2003) have pointed to other challenges including financial capital, education, professional experience, family responsibilities and gender-related problems.…”

“…These business impediments is also attributed to the fact that many female entrepreneurs have low or lack access to formal education, access to real estate for use as collateral and social mobility (Creighton et al, 2006;Jamali, 2009b). Other factors that affect effective performance of female entrepreneurs include, negative perception that entrepreneurship is an appropriate career choice for males and not females; work-family conflict such as the combining of business with family responsibilities due to the pressure to conform to accepted gender roles (Jamali, 2009a;Jennings & McDougald, 2007;St-Arnaud & Giguère, 2018). Others like Dayhookoomsing (2003), in a study conducted in Mauritius, found out that, female entrepreneurs also face difficulties in getting permits as well as accessing markets.…”