Introduction: Gender and Entrepreneurship

In this Special Issue on Gender and Entrepreneurship, this subject is examined from multiple perspectives. Like a diamond, the topic is multi-faceted and requires a holistic treatment if we are even to begin to understand its complexity and its value. The work curated here is constituted of two invited editorials, an invited research paper and six competitive research articles, representing the scholarly efforts of respected researchers in this field, established and emerging. It is hoped that this collection will inspire still more scholarship in this important and growing area of entrepreneurship research.

The Special Issue begins with two invited editorials that set the context and tone for this collection of work. Mustafa and Treanor provide us with insights into the evolution of the field of gender and entrepreneurship, with a focus on the importance of context. They call for the incorporation of gender considerations in all future entrepreneurship research. Jennings and Tonoyan explore the potential for further increasing our knowledge regarding gender stereotyping in the entrepreneurship context. They suggest three “paths” such research might take, providing a theoretical foundation for each and offering questions that might be investigated. Both of these editorials advocate for more of the type of research pursued in the invited and competitive articles found in this issue.

The invited research paper by Henry et al. delves into policy and practice as it pertains to the financing of women-owned entrepreneurial ventures. Using the countries of Canada, Ireland and the US as context, they apply institutional theory to detect gaps in policy and practice and draw international comparisons. In doing so, they highlight the importance of context in shaping policy regarding the financing of women’s entrepreneurial ventures, amplifying the observations of Mustafa and Treanor in their editorial.

The essence of the competitive research articles is captured very effectively in the table found in Mustafa and Treanor’s editorial. These papers explore a diversity of topics within the field of gender and entrepreneurship including how newness and smallness can negatively impact the formalization of women-owned informal businesses, as opposed to businesses owned by men, in Brazil (Wolfe et al.); the use of social capital in overcoming gender bias experienced by women entrepreneurs (Conley & Bilimoria); the effects of gender and context on the relationship between opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial intention in the state of Florida (Cavich & Chinta); the impact of accelerator programs on the ability of women entrepreneurs to attract venture capital in the US (Dams et al.); the effect of push and pull factors on the entrepreneurial intentions of women in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (Ghatak & Bhowmick); and the impact of family-to-work conflicts on the entrepreneurial orientation of women in Ghana (De Clerq et al.).

The most pervasive theme in this Special Issue is the role of context in shaping the experiences of both women and men entrepreneurs. As Henry et al. observe, the context can be the source of varying policies and practices. The contexts of developed countries can present very different opportunities and challenges from the contexts in developing countries. Economics, culture and race, among other factors, in a given context can play an important role in gender-based differences in entrepreneurial intention and business growth. Each article in this issue gives us a unique perspective on the contextual aspects of gender and entrepreneurship.

Another theme worthy of note is that despite the good work to date, there is still much to be learned about the field of gender and entrepreneurship. As Mustafa and Treanor note, the study of this field is not merely about the comparison between men and women, as defined by biological sex, it is also about how gender influences entrepreneurial behavior. This opens many pathways to knowledge in this field. Indeed, Jennings and Tonoyan, as noted above, identify three of these pathways relative to gender stereotyping, alone. Gender can affect a wide variety of entrepreneurial activities, from the decision to become an entrepreneur to determinations about who will receive financial capital and how much. All of this should be good news for those of us who are curious, as the opportunities for research in this field are virtually endless. To bring this discussion full circle, as Mustafa and Treanor assert, gender can, and should, be an aspect of all entrepreneurship research.