Women‐focused small business programming: client motives and perspectives

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to draw on feminist ethics of care theory to examine motives for accessing a women‐focused, small business programme (Centre). Perceived differences between women‐focused and other small business advisory agencies are discussed.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey captured verbatim responses from 212 respondents. Qualitative data were subjected to content analysis using NVivo8.FindingsMost respondents were growth‐oriented, well educated and employed prior to start‐up. Clients employed the Centre for three reasons, including acquisition of managerial, social capital and gender‐related motives. The Centre was perceived as being “different” to other agencies such that staff implicitly understood their needs as businesswomen, services were targeted specifically to women and clients felt empowered and comfortable seeking business advice in an inviting, low risk learning environment. Findings contradict studies and argument that targeted (gender‐based) programming offers few advantages.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research might investigate how “gendered” client motives and learning needs are reflected in mainstream and gender‐based entrepreneurship policy and programme design. The geographic scope is limited to Nova Scotia (eastern Canada).Practical implicationsThe study helps to explain observations that women‐focused small business training centres are modifying mandates from a focus on start‐up to growth, modifications that reflected client aspirations.Originality/valueThe study provides insights about the genderedness (Calás and Smircich) of small business programming and helps to define feminine ethics of care within the small firm training context.

An entrepreneurship education and peer mentoring program for women in STEM: mentors’ experiences and perceptions of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intent

“…While we are unaware of any gender-sensitive entrepreneurship curricula currently being offered through other universities, we know that some business support organizations offer women-focused training programs; and the results have been positive. For instance, in a survey of clients at a small business support centre in eastern Canada, the vast majority of female clients preferred women-focused gender-sensitive training over mixed-gender "generic" programming (Orser et al 2012). Recently, there has been a call for more organizations to introduce gender inclusive programming for women's economic empowerment (Lakshmi, UN Women, 2017) and leadership development (Bullough et al 2015); yet others have called for a feminist critique of entrepreneurship education and training (Byrne and Fayolle 2010); and others (Orser and Elliott 2019) have proposed a "Gender-smart Entrepreneurship Education and Training (G-EET)" framework to support stakeholders in applying a gender lens in curriculum design, development, delivery and evaluation.…”

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“…The literature about an entrepreneur's identity with the gender lens is broad. There are researches describing differences in the area of venture creation and opportunity exploitation (Baliyan et al, 2020;Duygu Seckin & Tutku Seckin, 2019;Lewis et al, 2016;Rambe & Ndofirepi, 2017), motives of venture creation and involvement (Kharlamova & Stavytskyy, 2020;Mungai & Ogot, 2012;Orser et al, 2012), entrepreneurship competence and entrepreneurial intentions (Daliman et al, 2019), or even fear of failure or danger in the venture establishing (Bullough & Renko, 2017;Daoud et al, 2020). Researchers have been looking for conclusions taking into consideration particular grounds for entrepreneurship, e.g.…”

Environmental effects on women-LED SMEs in Asia: from institutional perspective

“…He further weights on the need of developing social interaction, networking skills, practical application of academic education and motivational training for girls and women, which seem to be challenging for women-led SMEs. Orser, Telfer and Findlay-Thompson (2012) highlighted the need for women-focused small business training centers. Raven and Le (2015), taking up a Vietnamese case, highlights the impact of business training on women microentrepreneurs.…”