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Crowdfunding is a growing source of finance for entrepreneurs. In this paper, we investigate the existence of a gender effect in the time needed to obtain a business loan through crowdfunding. Using data from three Dutch crowdfunding platforms, survival analysis of the time to completion for 934 business loan campaigns shows that female entrepreneurs have a 20% shorter campaign completion time compared to male entrepreneurs, whereas couples do not differ from males. This effect persists across the different platforms. Subsequent analysis shows that female entrepreneurs do not have the disadvantage they face in traditional lending channels when requesting funds through crowdfunding, and that herding behavior by investors benefits female entrepreneurs most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the resilience and empowerment narratives of women entrepreneurs in small-scale businesses in Ipetu-Ijesha, a southwest community in Nigeria with a view to examine the strength and determination exhibited by these women as they confront various challenges while striving for a better future.An in-depth qualitative interviews were used through semi-structured interviews on women who have thrived in the same business for over 15 yearsand content analysis was used to analyse the interviews. The findings revealed that the participants' perceptions of empowerment varied, encompassing financial independence, stability, freedom, and the ability to make choices for oneself. Each woman's journey towards empowerment was unique, involving the negotiation of societal norms, surmounting barriers, and confronting systemic inequalities and access to emotional support was identified as a crucial element in their empowerment journey. These women, as agents of change, shaped their destinies, overcame adversity, and contributed to the betterment of their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being a Women Entrepreneur in India is a path full of challenges as neither the society nor is the family supportive for budding business women. With the educational support and financial assistance provided by government of India, women are performing marvelous in every industry. Despite our nation's efforts to advance women's rights, there are social, cultural, and economic barriers that prevent women from starting their own businesses. The main issue is a lack of an entrepreneurial climate. There are certain blockages such as pressure to adhere gender roles, lack of family support especially to married ones, in the pathway to women entrepreneurship which are being highlighted in this paper. These female leaders are self-assured, charismatic, and risk-takers. Because of their diligence, tenacity, and hard effort, they were able to prevail in this fierce competition. Also, this paper will suggest some solutions to certain obstacles discussed. Different issues faced by female business owners can be eliminated with the help of suitable instruction, rewards, encouragement, and motivation, as well as the moral support of their families and social acceptance of their entrepreneurial ability. In conclusion, in every sphere of life, she has faced off against man and prevailed, and business is no exception. Women entrepreneurs take on demanding roles to fulfill their own needs and achieve financial independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women establish their entrepreneurial projects for economic independence and to reduce vulnerability to poverty. The number of women engaged in entrepreneurial activities has increased as a result of access to business training and mentorship facilitated by non-governmental organisations. This paper advances empirical evidence in the field of social development and sustainable livelihoods. Using qualitative methodology, I present evidence from 20 women who were beneficiaries of a Non-Governmental Organisation's entrepreneurship training in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. Underscored by the sustainable livelihood approach, this paper deliberates three connected themes: motivational factors that promote women entrepreneurs, nurturing social networks, and navigating financial capital challenges. The paper affirms women entrepreneurship as a positive social development strategy to assist unemployed women to work towards economic self-reliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women entrepreneurship development is an important part of human resource development. This paper focuses on exploring the barriers and motivations of women entrepreneurs. The study is based on both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected through the well-structured questionnaire and distributed among the 100 women entrepreneurs. Surveys were carried in the area of New Delhi (India). The research found women entrepreneurs having primary responsibility for children, home and older dependent family members, poverty and illiteracy, borrowing loan, lack of finance, business size, age, lack of knowledge and experienced in marketing of products, poor managerial and technical skills, discriminations, multiple responsibilities, demographic factors, social, cultural and religious obstacles etc. The research has also identified that many women-owned enterprises were formed in the informal or unorganized sector. These new firms were concentrated in industries where women entrepreneurs have been active by tradition and the opening was mostly started among household-based enterprises. It is also described that there are various factors for success of women entrepreneurship like-education, hard work, skilled women, sincerity and honesty, best quality of product, and dedication have been recognized as the most significant factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of location decisions has been assessed vigorously by a number of studies but these studies have not been able to examine the impact of this variable on the performance of Women-owned small and medium scale enterprises (WSMEs). This paper examined the influence of location decision on the performance of WSMEs. The study adopted a quantitative approach and used a number of methods such as field observations, reference to relevant literature and a questionnaire survey of 58 WSMEs for the study. The study used principal component analysis (PCA), simple mean and standard deviation to analyze the data. The result of the study showed that 41.10% and 29.14 of the WSMEs had experienced a significant increase and relative increase in the performance of their enterprises based on their location while 14.59% of the respondents had not experienced changes in the performance of their enterprises. The PCA result also showed that availability of traditional/economic factors of location (24.97%), infrastructural (21.32%), agglomeration and economies of scale (12.38%), personal interest (9.50%), and Government policy (8.06) were the factors that influenced the location of WSMEs in the study. Location is therefore, an important variable in citing WSMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a special issue of the International Journal of Public Relations that focuses on the situation of women in the academic and professional field of public relations. It includes five papers that address different aspects related to public relations and women, such as the glass ceiling in Argentina, the situation of female professors in Spain, the communication style of Mexican female executives during the pandemic, the visibility of women in the communication sector, and the relationship between public relations and neuroscience. Additionally, the issue also includes articles on other topics related to public relations, such as political communication, public opinion, and institutional communication. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: Entrepreneurship is promoted as a solution to high rates of youth unemployment around the world and especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This paper investigates the potential for youth entrepreneurship to alleviate unemployment, focusing on Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia. Design/methodology/approach: The authors examine who entrepreneurs are (in comparison to the unemployed), using multinomial logit models. The authors compare entrepreneurs' and wage workers' working conditions and earnings. They exploit panel data to assess earnings and occupational dynamics. They specifically use the Labor Market Panel Surveys of 2012 (Egypt), 2016 (Jordan), and 2014 (Tunisia), along with previous waves. Findings: The authors find that entrepreneurs are the opposite of the unemployed in MENA. The unemployed are disproportionately young, educated and women. Entrepreneurs are older, less educated and primarily men. Entrepreneurship does not generally lead to higher earnings and does have fewer benefits. Originality/value: Promoting youth entrepreneurship is not only unlikely to be successful in reducing youth unemployment in MENA, but also, if successful, may even be harmful to youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dance in Kinshasa, DRC has historically been a moral terrain on which different actors – from missionaries to postcolonial political leaders – have sought to control and showcase dancers. Women's dancing in particular has become regarded as morally ambiguous, especially when women perform on a public stage. While dance is an integral part of femininity, it is nonetheless a fraught avenue of creative expression, largely due to the implications of its associated visibility. This paper addresses particular occasions in which dancing women invite criticism, which I argue is linked to the ways in which a woman's social position is negotiated through her public performances. In attempts to understand some of the multivalent anxieties expressed over the morality of dance performance, this paper considers several historical layers that have shaped contemporary attitudes towards dance. It considers how new dance forms emerged in the historical context of colonial Léopoldville, the social position of postcolonial Zairian women who danced for the nation, as well as contemporary professional women dancers (danseuses) who perform with popular concert bands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Social support has been identified as a valuable resource that could help entrepreneurs maintain goal directness in their endeavours and increase their life satisfaction. However, to date, scant research has examined the effect of perceived social support on life satisfaction during the transition from paid employment to self-employment. This paper uses the job demand resource model (JD–R) as a theoretical lens to investigate this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the household income and labour dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, we use latent growth curve modelling (LGCM) to investigate the trajectories of entrepreneurs' perceived social support and life satisfaction (n = 1,303) up to five years after their transition into self-employment. Findings: Results suggest that entrepreneurs experience a boost in life satisfaction in the transition phase, followed by a declining trend in the years that follow. We find that both the initial perception and the evolution of perceived social support are positively related to life satisfaction over time across gender groups. However, we find that females may benefit more from early social support soon after the transition into self-employment to forestall declines in life satisfaction over the long-term. Research limitations/implications: The generalisability of the research findings beyond the Australian context is undefined. Future research needs to examine to what extent these results can generalize to other samples within different cultural and institutional frameworks. Practical implications: Since perceived social support is a strong buffering mechanism that helps mitigate job demands, entrepreneurs need to be proactive in building a strong network. Individuals who switch to self-employment should carefully map and build a strong social network that can help them weather the challenges and setbacks in their new job. Originality/value: This study extends the JD–R literature by examining the transition into self-employment, considered an "active job" characterised by high demands and high decision latitude. LGCM modelling captures how both initial levels and changes in social support affect life satisfaction during entrepreneurship entry and over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the different dimensions of women's empowerment that can arise during the entrepreneurial process. It considers the changes in these dimensions as women advance in the development of their new ventures, differentiating characteristics according to the context (urban or rural). Another contribution refers to which empowerment factors developed by female entrepreneurs are key to reducing poverty. The proposal develops a multiple correspondence analysis and an ordered probit model, with data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Colombia. The results make it possible to identify what is needed to strengthen the empowerment of women through entrepreneurship, and the resources available for this. Furthermore, the relationship found between economic empowerment factors and family income provides evidence for the importance of empowerment for poverty reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the commercial opportunities that will endure in key sectors for the United States and Turkey in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath. These sectors include financial services and capital markets; supply chains and logistics; healthcare; digital economy; defense and aerospace; energy; travel and tourism; and women in business. While defense and security ties have traditionally led the U.S.-Turkey relationship, this piece argues that the pandemic offers the two countries mutual benefits from more robust economic and commercial cooperation in less prominent sectors such as healthcare, the digital economy, and finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of our paper is to analyze the quantitative aspects of entrepreneurial activity among female population, and to investigate for drivers of women involvement in early-stage entrepreneurial activities in Visegrad countries (i.e. Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland). We employ Global Entrepreneurship Monitor national and individual level data for four consecutive years 2011 - 2014 (altogether 16,036 respondents). First, we analyze the main indicators of female entrepreneurial activity, including the inclusivity index, using the descriptive statistics methods. Second, we execute logistic regression analysis and look for the factors related to entering the entrepreneurial path among women in our region, while considering the opportunity and necessity motive dichotomy. Our results show that women in V4 region exhibit more sceptic attitudes towards entrepreneurship as well as low inclusion in entrepreneurial activity in all stages, compared to their male counterparts. Further in our analysis, we have identified the most important factors that act as women entrepreneurship drivers, considering its motivation. Our findings therefore unveil the problematic aspects of women entrepreneurship in Visegrad countries and point out the potential solutions. In our paper we further discuss these findings and their implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farm tourism can enhance the sustainability of farming and rural economies, and this creates new roles for women in family farms. This paper investigates the experiences and start-up motives of women providers of commercial hospitality on family farms in North East England. An interpretative approach explored the lived experiences of 16 women providing accommodation on their family farm. Findings indicate complex motives, encompassing a mix of personal, economic, family and farm business reasons for starting their businesses. The research informs rural policymakers and provides an understanding of the intrinsic factors and entrepreneurial traits that motivate women to start farm-based hospitality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of women entrepreneurs' involvement in social media. Statistics have shown that women have low participation in online business using social media compared to men where activities online related to life-long learning, business development and socialization according to data compiled by finance.com. Several social issues identified such as lack of opportunities to use the technology and ICT and hectic and tight daily schedule in managing their household chores are the major restrictions for wider usage of social media among women. Three case studies are presented based on three women entrepreneurs who used social media for marketing and branding purposes. The findings confirm that the biggest barriers are their limited proficiency in English and limited copywriting skill. This paper concludes with effective online writing strategies framework in social media for women entrepreneurs. These strategies aim to assist women to achieve higher number of likes or reach and thus develop their business and online networking effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship based on information communication technology (ICT) and the internet is fast gaining popularity as a means of wealth creation and property acquisition in many parts of the world today. Known as digital entrepreneurship, e-commerce, e-entrepreneurship or on-line entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurial activities are conducted using the ICT and internet (e.g., social media) as means of business communication, promotion and product development. Women's involvement in on-line entrepreneurship is rapidly growing in Malaysia. However, interestingly, there very few academic studies conducted on the nature of women on-line entrepreneurship than the studies on women conventional entrepreneurship in Malaysia. With the intention to fill this literature gap, the authors of this paper carried out a qualitative exploratory research of women on-line entrepreneurship in various small sized enterprises in Malaysia. This paper particularly concentrates on discussing some early findings on the role of social environment, specifically social networks, in influencing the women's business inception, sustainability and growth. Women were found to have the ability to leverage on their social network environments linking the physical real world and the virtual world. The social environment is also found to have impact on the development of some entrepreneurial leadership qualities such as sharing as opposed to command, throughout the women's entrepreneurial involvement. Although the research is still on- going, the authors hope that the findings can offer a better understanding on the role of social environment in women on-line entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a review of the theoretical and empirical literature on Tanzania women entrepreneurs in the construction industry. It also discusses and argues for the aspects that lead to the requirement for a study on women-specific issues. A systematic literature review approach was applied and the member check strategy was used to minimise the author's bias. The literature involved three aspects: motivational factors for women's entry into business, the current situation of women entrepreneurs and influencing factors for the under-representation of women in the industry. The under-representation of Women Entrepreneurs in the Construction Industry (WECI) in the construction industry is caused by various factors, such as cultural background, choice of business and level of confidence. Moreover, the social structures and cultural systems that reinforce the continued subordination and marginalisation of women have major implications in their motives and involvement in business. Given the barriers faced by WECI today, there is a pressing necessity to initiate gender-sensitive empowerment programmes to enable them to succeed in their endeavours. Based on the existing literature, this paper establishes the missing link and proposes a study to formulate a conceptual framework necessary to help the public and private sector initiatives in boosting women entrepreneurship in the Tanzanian construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some of the difficulties and challenges that a writing instructor faced when integrating themes of race, gender, and sexuality into her pedagogy, as well as strategies that she developed to address those challenges. The author discusses the merits of building a pedagogy from what Alcoff (2000) refers to as "social location," despite evidence that women in academia are already subject to gender bias in the classroom. Finally, the author presents a feminist writing pedagogy developed from her research on YouTube's beauty community, a diverse community that includes many women of color entrepreneurs, in which she asks students to use their experiences, rhetorical knowledges, and feminist theories to question the nexus of professionalism and identity. A sample assignment is included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aim is to identify the impact of start-up capital on the development of women's enterprises as well as to study the effect of using the start-up capital on the family welfare and standard of living and discuss the problems and constraints that face women enterprises. The researcher used qualitative questionnaire to collect data on a purposive sample of 100 women who benefit from the start-up capital. The majorities of women entrepreneurs are illiterate or have basic education. Women entrepreneurs contribute to the sustainable livelihood of their families and communities. Microfinance helps empower women from poor households to make this contribution. Access to start-up capital increases the income of women entrepreneurs. Women have been shown to spend more of their income on their households, therefore, when women are helped to increase their incomes, the welfare of whole family is improved. Women's increased income benefits their children, particularly in education, diet, health care, and clothing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular economy practices contribute to achieving sustainability and alleviating the consequences of value chain disruptions and surging prices of energy and raw materials. While startups are increasingly recognized as a powerful engine for innovation processes needed to support this transition, empirical studies on the selection and implementation of circular strategies among startups remains scarce. In this paper, we report findings from the first academic survey on circular startups (N = 165) that allows for multivariate statistical analyses, considering both personal and company characteristics, and perspectives of the entrepreneurs involved. This survey includes startups with varying degrees of implementation levels of a set of 10 circular strategies at different startup lifecycle stages. Our results suggest that younger startup entrepreneurs tend to focus on inner circle strategies, while older startup entrepreneurs rather engage in outer circle strategies or no circular strategies at all. Female startup entrepreneurs are found to be less inclined to combine multiple circular strategies, and business-to-business and business-to-government market segments tend to be frontrunners for circular business models. Circular startups mostly acknowledge sustainability and circularity as a comparative advantage, and startup entrepreneurs with a migrant background seem to be more optimistic to start a profitable circular business. Our results suggest that there is no such thing as 'the' circular economy startup, so we recommend policy makers to develop tailor-made solutions to support startups implementing different circular strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing entrepreneurial discourses have been dominated by white middle-class androcentric approach, giving little space to the discussions of racism and sexism experienced by minority women entrepreneurs. This paper aims to fill this gap through an examination of the experiences of Asian immigrant women entrepreneurs in Canada and Australia using an intersectional approach. The key research question addressed in the paper is to what extent, and in what ways, do racism and sexism impact on the entrepreneurial experiences of Asian immigrant women entrepreneurs and what strategies do they use in managing discrimination to protect themselves and their businesses? Four main strategies were derived from our findings, namely, creating a comfortable niche, playing the mainstream card, swallowing the pain, and resisting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of tools for development has evolved from the industrial revolution over time. The late 18th and 19th centuries saw the increased use of machines and developments in the mining industries; in the 20th century, there was increased use of information and technology; and major breakthroughs sparked the evolution of the information and knowledge society of the 21st century. The basis of the information and knowledge society revolves around technology's increased assimilation and diffusion in human society, particularly information and communication technologies and their rapid growth and use in the exchange of information and knowledge. This society offers many opportunities and benefits to people in terms of the facilitation of information creation, distribution, diffusion, access and use for growth and development in various spheres of life. In this paper we discuss the role of the information and knowledge society (IKS) for informal sector women entrepreneurs (ISWEs) and focus on what there is in the IKS that could benefit ISWEs, analyse the criteria, indicators and benefits of IKS and explore the challenges and opportunities of IKS. At the end of the paper we provide recommendations for the development of IKS for the benefit of rural women. The paper is informed by recent doctoral work on the role of the information and knowledge society in poverty alleviation and the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs in South Africa's informal sector. We find that by using criteria and indicators of an information and knowledge society to assess whether or not South Africa meets these requirements, South Africa indeed meets some of the criteria. However, it does not, in many instances, satisfy other criteria, and thus cannot be regarded unconditionally as an information and knowledge society. We recommend that South Africa should work toward achieving and meeting the criteria of the information and knowledge society by assessing itself against the criteria and indicators of such a society. Doing so would enable informal sector women entrepreneurs to reap the opportunities presented by the information and knowledge society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Despite gender parity in the general working population, the higher up one looks in ranks within the firm the fewer women one finds. This under-representation of women in top positions at firms is purportedly even more acute in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). LAC is a large and increasingly important region of the world where women are well-represented in the workforce and are comparatively better educated than men. Documenting if this resource is utilized at full potential is therefore of crucial importance. The purpose of this paper is to document the level and impact of female representation at the executive level in the region, as no systematic study exists on this topic. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collect an original database of publicly listed companies to determine prevailing gender ratios among board members and executives in LAC region. The authors then estimate whether companies with women board members are more likely to appoint women executives. Finally, the authors estimate whether measures of female leadership at the firm are correlated with company performance. Findings – The authors find that women are as under-represented in LAC as in the USA, but much less so in the Caribbean. The authors find that companies with women board members are more likely to appoint women executives in LAC. The authors find that measures of female leadership at the firm are correlated with company performance but only regarding board membership and only when the proportion of women on the board is greater than 30 percent. Again composition effects are important. Overall, the authors conclude that the LAC region exhibits empirical regularities about under-representation of women in leadership positions at the firm that are very similar to those found for high-income countries in Europe and North America. Originality/value – The authors are the first and so far unique systematic study exists able to document the level and impact of female representation at the executive level in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic entry of women into entrepreneurial activities and subsequent entrepreneurial development in informal economy within the social system has received little academic attention in spite of the fact that, entrepreneurship development is important to economic growth and decent work. It has also been found to promote quality of life. The focus of this paper is to examine the influence of social system in strategic entry of women into informal economic activities in Nigeria, using Yoruba women textile traders at Balogun market, Lagos State, South-West, Nigeria as a case study. The paper is anchored on Social action theory by Max Weber. The paper utilized only qualitative method of data collection. Eight focus group discussions, and forty In-depth - interviews were used to collect information from the women participants who were purposively chosen. The data reveal that parents, family members, and social friends had great influence in strategic entry of women into textile trading at Balogun market and subsequent development of women entrepreneurial activities. This information is essential towards policy formulation for women entrepreneurial development in informal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the changing relations between organised women market traders and rulers in a West African context, from a distant past to the present. It shows how political elites have used market traders as loyal supporters and as scapegoats for many centuries. These relations have taken a convoluted path that alternates between alliance and repression, in the context of shifts in the political and economic environment. Notorious episodes of price control and market demolitions from 1979 to 1984 are only the most dramatic moments in a long history of official intervention in trade and suspicion of prominent traders. Protecting traders as local citizens alternated with attacking traders as scapegoats for the ills and frustrations of national economic life. The paper focuses on "traditional" forms of organisation among market women, describing their political role, in terms of their interactions between their female leaders and the authorities. It shows how the constant need for negotiation reinforced group loyalty and how such forms of organisation have displayed resilience and adapted to various economic and political shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to study the determinants of wages and the labor market success of two kinds of entrepreneurial women in Germany: self-employed and salaried businesswomen, and investigate whether ethnicity is important in these challenging jobs. Design/methodology/approach -- Using Lee's technique, the paper first estimates the probabilities of being in self-employment, a salaried businesswoman, working in other non-entrepreneurial jobs, and not working at all with a multinomial logit, and accordingly adjust the wage regressions for selection and heteroscedasticity. By employing data from the German Socio-economic Panel one can differentiate among different types of self-employment and business entrepreneurship, control for human capital and labor market structures, and estimate wages for native and immigrant women aged 20 to 65. The subject scope includes literature on entrepreneurship, self-employment, gender-edge, and immigrant earnings assimilation. Findings -- Self-employment offers businesswomen a lucrative avenue with higher monetary rewards, albeit for a shorter spell. If salaried businesswomen went into self-employment, they would receive considerably higher wages and for at least 30 years. However, if self-employed businesswomen went into salaried jobs, their wages would decline. This suggests that it is the self-employment sector that offers better opportunities and monetary success, but not many businesswomen go into it. In these two entrepreneurial outlets human capital, years-since-migration and ethnicity are not significant. Research limitations/implications -- Future research should overcome the cross-sectional limitation and take advantage of the panel aspect. Practical implications -- Many qualified, highly educated and talented women are not part of the labor market and the entrepreneurial world. Germany should encourage these women to work, as it needs skilled workers and a stronger entrepreneurial sector. Financial disparities still exist between West and East Germany. Originality/value -- The novelty comes from asserting that the entrepreneurial spirit can also exist in salaried jobs. The added value is the new empirical evidence on the importance of self-employment in Germany, where women fare well and success does not depend on ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership is a concept appeared in the second part of the twentieth century which developed later on because of the business necessity as the economic environment has become more and more complex and the classic managerial style was no more efficient. In this complex world of business, women were traditionally involved in business at the administrative level, with small chances to reach top structures in a company. Due to the modern times, they won their rights to prove their management skills and to obtain more important jobs in famous companies. This paper presents the results of a research based on interview method and getting responses from Romanian women involved in business at the middle and top management in multinational companies. The main goal of the study was to identify the main features that define the women as a leader or a manager by finding lateral thinking skills. This research revealed that most of the women interviewed have their features closer to the conventional leader and only few of them have developed strong lateral thinking skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of the research of motives of female entrepreneurs for starting their entrepreneurial activity. The research is conducted on a sample of 40 female entrepreneurs from a number of cities in the Republic of Serbia. The results indicate that the motivation of the female entrepreneurs is a complex phenomenon that is made of a combination of the so-called negative (push) and positive (pull) motives for starting the entrepreneurial activity. Looking at the structure of the motives, the results suggest that female entrepreneurs are attracted to the entrepreneurship by the existence of business opportunities to a greater extent than they are pushed in this activity by an absence of other and better options of employment. These results should be interpreted in the context of the sample’s educational structure, in which over a half of the respondents have higher levels of education. Regarding the key motives, it can be said that female entrepreneurs are a heterogeneous group, given the fact that the pull motives are more important for the population of more educated entrepreneurs, and that the push motives are more significant for starting the entrepreneurial activity among women with lower educational attainment. Similarly, although the flexibility of working hours is one of the most important motives for female entrepreneurs in general, its importance is most pronounced in the population of female entrepreneurs that are between 26 and 45 years old. The lack of the statistical significance of some results is explained by the sample size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to identify the most important social media purposes of usage by responding women's attitudes according to age and the economic stage of development of their respective country. Research was done through an online survey in 2017–2018 followed by an analyses of the results from eight countries: four countries that represent an emerging economy and four developed economies. Participants responded to questions concerning social technologies and their purposes of usage as well as resulting job opportunities. The conducted analysis of regarding Facebook as a platform resulted in the highest number of responses in the survey. In this paper, detailed results are presented including a comparative analysis between two groups of economies. Findings reveal that in both groups, the usage of Facebook in business is related mostly to a positive experience. The result showed that among women in emerging economies, social media were used more broadly, and from an age perspective, the results show that marketing is a key benefit emphasized among older respondents. The communication benefit of Facebook usage in business was noticed as a key factor by respondents in groups from both developed and emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I evaluate the impact of a multidimensional national program implemented in Chile during the second term of President Bachelet to facilitate female entrepreneurs' access to credit, reduce gender gaps in financial inclusion, and change patriarchal stereotypes. I construct a difference-in-difference estimate of the program. My findings indicate that the program has successfully met its principal aim: the loans granted to women have increased, reducing the gender gap in this dimension. In addition, evidence of heterogeneity by the economic sector has emerged. This evidence aligns with prior research that has emphasised that public policies should not be designed and implemented under the logic of "one type of program fits all". The program analysed in this study is an example of a national public policy that has improved female entrepreneurs' access to funding, reduced gender gaps in a Latin American country, and potentially offered lessons to other Latin American and middle-income countries worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The situation with women s entrepreneurship is analyzed in the given scientific paper. Special emphasis is put on the one of the main obstacles to women, the mentality of the inhabitants in our country. The purpose of this study is to identify characteristics of women's entrepreneurship in Moldova, the motives of the occurrence of women in business, the specific needs of women entrepreneurs and others that will enrich the theoretical knowledge and provide the scientific basis for the implementation of social and economic gender policy in the business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to identify the elements that allow understanding the subjectivity of women entrepreneurs according to González Rey's theory (2009). Subjectivity is a configuration of subjective senses originating from individual and social levels. Thus, a subjective constitution is formed by different forces that remain constantly changing throughout subjects' history. The methodology used to achieve the objective of this paper follows Qualitative Epistemology. This is a qualitative approach that uses a set of specific procedures specifically designed to reveal the indicators which form the subjective configuration. The results indicate that women's subjective entrepreneurship configuration rests on subjective meanings associated with the trajectories, context and culture within which the activity is developed. Entrepreneurship in this research appears as an individual characteristic that is formed in childhood. However, these women exist as entrepreneurs throughout their histories; especially when they have to deal with adverse conditions in the business world, which is seen as sexist. In this context, a company's opening is an event that strongly marks these women's histories, with a symbolic nature that becomes an integral part of their subjectivities. Similarly, the multiplicity of roles and competition between social spaces highlight how family interferes with business dynamics, as well as how businesses are present in the home. Also, the way they undertake entrepreneurial activities is delimited by the concrete conditions in which they lived / live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The input and participation of women in the job market, as well as their professional growth, female entrepreneurship has become a topic of interest to many authors. In this dynamic, the research objective was to collaborate with a greater understanding of the role of women as entrepreneurs in the economic sectors of industry, commerce and services. In order to achieve this goal, the object of study for this paper is female entrepreneurs in the city of Toledo, located in the Western of Paraná State. As a source of empirical data collection, the record of companies registered in the city hall of Toledo (2010) was used. The results indicated that in the city there is an active participation of women as entrepreneurs, with a total of 58% female participation, and the sector with the greatest number is the trading one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of gender symbolism, considered as social expectations of how men or women should behave, and which jobs should they have, allows our understanding about how they play professional roles in society today. The aim of this paper is to identify the ideals of the executive profession in women narratives. We interviewed 64 female executives at organizations in seven different capitals - Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Salvador, Vitoria, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The data were analyzed by means of Critical Discourse Analysis, enabling identification of meanings about the executive work that were supposedly gender neutral, as well as associated with femininity (in) competence of women considering the executive work. Even skills associated with femininity, such as negotiation skills and organization, flexibility and caution are shown as ambivalent, sometimes in favor of women occupying management positions, sometimes considering them as less suitable for the executive work when compared to men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Men and women have been historically embedded in differentiated social networks. The female trajectory has been conditioned by the presence of strong ties. Such circumstances may have led to peculiar repercussions on women's roles as entrepreneurs. Despite their relevance, studies piecing together gender, entrepreneurship, embeddedness and social networks are relatively new. This paper, drawing on both theoretical insights and quantitative empirical research, attempts to shed light on the phenomenon of female entrepreneurship as it stands against male entrepreneurship. The results suggest that both women and men are embedded in different social networks, and that each of them use their ties in a different way, in so far as their businesses creation goes. Women are relatively more prone to using closer ties to gather information and support. This article offers four contributions. First, at the theoretical level, some new insights offered on the universality versus peculiarities of entrepreneurial behavior. Contributions are also offered, on methodological grounds, including the use of some indicators of embeddedness to analyze and compare the two entrepreneurial groups. At the practical level, by revealing some little-known aspects of the feminine entrepreneurial dynamic, it provides ideas for the formulation of public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual culture is an important indicator of social values. The norms absorbed by the writers and directors of films are reflected in their work. The result provides a barometer for social progress, or its lack. In this paper, I discuss how Biological Essentialism, Patriarchy/androcentrism, and Gender Polarization are depicted in two films, Mildred Pierce (Curtiz, 1945) and Baby Boom (Shyer, 1987). I argue that the similarities between the female entrepreneurial and motherhood roles of characters Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) and Baby Boom's J. C. Wiatt (Diane Keaton) illustrate the lack of true transformation in visual representations and therefore internalized perspectives of women in American society. These two films tell us that motherhood is the core identity for women and that it is inescapable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses three recent trends in the business world: the presence of greater numbers of women in this activity, the formation of organizations to support their work and the construction of a new profile of women entrepreneurs. I will question about how the increase of women in business has not been reflected in a greater position of them in the direction of the traditional sector organizations. However, it detects a tendency to seek and incorporate non-governmental organizations to support their work with gender claim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the work of Filipina entrepreneurs in Baguio City who have developed a branch of the global trade in secondhand clothing between Hong Kong and the Philippines. Building on kinship networks of women working in Hong Kong, these entrepreneurs navigate formal government and informal economic and cultural channels to operationalize a transnational trade that straddles legal-illegal practice in both locales. I argue here that these women emerge as transnational market players whose actions unsettle essentialist categories of economy, work, value and legality. Through their cross-border work, they connect parts of societies not previously linked, or connect these in different ways, capturing contested markets and fashioning new spaces of consumption. At the same time, state and cultural constraints on their newfound economic flexibility, mean that traders continue to depend on community networks in both the Philippines and Hong Kong rather than being able to consistently use formal infrastructure options and more visible avenues of action to facilitate their businesses. Because the status of the used clothing trade remains under legal debate, Filipina's entrepreneurial work in this sphere thus helps us situate local initiatives within wider negotiations of agency and understand the extent to which personalized actions on the edge can transform political and global forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a locally initiated investigation into the suitability of the Internet in helping to meet the information needs of women in small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the textile industry in Botswana. The background is the stated government policy to encourage the development of SMMEs and the Internet infrastructure. The question is, how likely are women entrepreneurs to use a website as a resource? We considered two barriers to the use of technology by women in developing countries, socio-cultural and physical. To determine the extent to which these could be overcome, a design experiment was conducted in which an information website was created and its use evaluated on a target population consisting of women entrepreneurs in the textile industry in Botswana. Data collection occurred in two phases. Firstly, interviews were conducted and conferences were attended to determine the information needs. Then a website was developed and evaluated by think-aloud protocols, focus groups, and interviews. Initial results indicate that the site was both useful and usable to the target population and that it made some work easier for them. Nevertheless, they need to use the Internet not only to receive information, but also to provide information in order to trade and sell their own goods. This has implications for government policy in terms of enabling credit card-based international trading using the Web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present era, women-owned firms are one of India's fastest increasing entrepreneurial communities in the form of women entrepreneurs. The objective of the study is to identify the factors that influence women's entrepreneurial orientation and firms' performance. The research study discusses the influencing factors and their effect on firms' performance and satisfaction in this regard. The proposed framework and hypotheses have been tested using data gathered from boutiques, beauty parlors, carpet manufacturers, and retail shops in Karnataka, India. Data analysis was done using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate techniques. In Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), paths were created for evaluating the cause-and-effect relationship between different factors viz., social, psychological, financial, and resource factors and entrepreneurial performance and satisfaction. Seven relationships were significant, while two relationships were insignificant in this structural equation. The key finding of the paper is that all factors have a significant impact on the firm's performance. The implications of research results for researchers and practitioners are discussed, and suggestions have also been made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THE purpose of this paper is to bring to our attention the important role of women in wholesale international commerce in eighteenth-century northern Germany, using examples from Stralsund as a case study. (Stralsund, a port-city formerly in the Hanse, was at that time the capital of Swedish Pomerania and had a population, including garrison, of some 14,000 around 1800; it was an economic center of regional importance, specializing in the production of malt and the export of grain to Sweden and Western Europe).[1] After sketching a social and economic profile of Stralsund's female merchants ca. 1750-1830, I will discuss the crucial issue of control, i.e., to what extent and how these women were able to operate independently within a political and legal system that favored men. In my conclusion, I suggest that women left, or were forced out of, the wholesale trade around 1850 as a result of political changes and a shift in the meaning of the concept of Brger, rather than as a result of industrialization or market expansion. Throughout, I consider whether my observations about female merchants in Stralsund have any wider validity by comparing them with research on the commerce of other ports in Northern Europe and in North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which gender discrimination is a force affecting the senior managerial ranks of the information systems (IS) occupation. While the employment trends of women in the IS occupation is encouraging, data are presented that suggest that IS may not be immune to the problems of gender discrimination. Analyzing data gathered by the Society for Information Management (SIM), a problem suggestive of discriminatory practices was found. Women receive lower salaries than men even when job level, age, education, and work experience are controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study carried out an assessment of women entrepreneurship development in agribusiness sector in Benue State, Nigeria. It specifically examined women's attitude towards the sector; their level of participation and the impact of participation on agribusiness practices and productivity; socio-economic factors influencing their involvement and constraints faced in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the study area. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents with a well-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and probit regression model technique were used to analyze the data collected. The study showed that majority of the respondents expressed positive attitude towards agribusiness entrepreneurship. Also, the study showed low participation of respondents in agribusiness entrepreneurship programmes. However, the fewer participated respondents' recorded high improvement in their agribusiness practices. Result of the probit regression analysis revealed that access to loan, government support, household size, level of income, attitude, E.D.Ps, age and constraints were either positively or negatively related to the level of women involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship at different levels of significance. Women entrepreneurs in agribusiness should be encouraged to create their own jobs and become selfemployed since the opportunities of getting employment in either government or in private organization is currently almost declining. Government should embark on realistic entrepreneurial support services in agribusiness sector to stimulate self-employment opportunities for women for their personal survival and national development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcredit has been found to be an intervention to improve the livelihood of women micro entrepreneurs in developing countries. It is often used as an attractive strategy to enhance the livelihoods of women as it provides micro entrepreneurs with the avenue to generate more income. The study focused on the effect of micro credit on rural households' livelihood: evidences from women micro entrepreneurs in Oyo State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted and 180 beneficiaries of microcredit were used. The result of the study revealed that microcredit had a positive effect on household income and welfare which led to improvement in the standard of living and opportunity to save money. The women micro entrepreneurs were able to contribute significantly to their children's education improve the quality of meals intake and employment and housing conditions of their households. The microcredit scheme also contributed to beneficiaries' development, sustainability and local governance participation. Above all, the respondents felt empowered. It is therefore concluded that those concerned with availing funds in form of microcredit and microfinance in general should take into consideration the results of these indicator variables for better livelihood of rural households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The welfare of farmed pigs can be improved by modifying their environment with bedding, substrates, or objects, so that they can perform more of their pig-specific behaviours. Scientific knowledge on effective enrichment for pigs is not necessarily reaching farms and this paper provides an overview of this issue in the three largest global pork producing regions. In the USA, enrichment has not yet appeared on farms, except when required by higher welfare farm schemes. China hardly has any animal welfare legislation and food safety concerns restrict the use of enrichment on farms. Providing pig enrichment is required by law in EU Member States. In practice, enrichment is not always present, or is unsuitable or inadequate. Other risks to animal welfare include inadequate presentation, location, quantity and size, and maintenance of enrichment. Improvements can be made by applying principles from other fields of behavioural science; welfare knowledge transfer and training to farms; highlighting the economic benefits of effective enrichment; increasing pressure from the financial sector; using novel drivers of change, such as public benchmarking. The poor implementation of scientific knowledge on farms suggests that the industry has not fully embraced the benefits of effective enrichment. Science has defined the characteristics of effective environmental enrichment for pigs. We provide an overview of progress towards the provision of pig enrichment in the three largest global pork producing regions. In the USA, enrichment has not yet featured on the policy agenda, nor appeared on farms, except when required by certain farm assurance schemes. China has very limited legal animal welfare provisions and public awareness of animal welfare is very low. Food safety concerns severely restrict the use of substrates (as enrichment) on farms. Providing enrichment to pigs is a legal requirement in the EU. In practice, enrichment is not present, or simple (point-source) objects are provided which have no enduring value. Other common issues are the provision of non-effective or hazardous objects, inadequate presentation, location, quantity and size or inadequate maintenance of enrichment. Improvements can be made by applying principles from the field of experimental analysis of behaviour to evaluate the effectiveness of enrichment; providing welfare knowledge transfer, including training and advisory services; highlighting the economic benefits of effective enrichment and focusing on return on investment; increasing pressure from the financial sector; using novel drivers of change, such as public business benchmarking. The poor implementation of scientific knowledge on farms suggests that the pig industry has not fully embraced the benefits of effective enrichment and is still a long way off achieving an enriched pig population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]