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The paper explores the role of entrepreneurship education and training amongst women entrepreneurs to promote agritourism sector of the Indian economy. This study employ qualitative and quantitative approaches to gather data questionnaires survey and in-depth face to face interviews, based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The research involved a matched sample of 10 registered farmers (from the Punjab Heritage Tourism Promotion Board) and 200 unregistered male and female farmers selected randomly from the Indian State of Punjab. Quantitative analysis suggests that there is a direct and significant impact of EET on the management, efficiency, and use of farming land. The findings also suggested that the fall in the agricultural productivity due to labour shortages; revenue losses are rising as commodity prices are falling. Therefore, it is not a surprise that farmers seek to supplement income through alternative means to enhance their socio-economic stability and viability. The findings suggest that there is high incidence of migration amongst male farming population and female farmers lack EET and reluctance on their part to work with external male population. However, analysis of male owner-managers of micro and small agritourist firms also reported to have lower levels of EET and hence the need for EET male and females; thus, EET and adequate access to finance were two major determinants of agritourist firms' success in Indian Punjab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The women's education and its potential impact on entrepreneurship and innovation represent a growing interest in socioeconomic academic research (Paoloni and Manzo, 2023; Pereira, 2020; Bishu and Alkandry, 2017). The present paper makes a systematic literature review based on the topic of Gendered Education and Innovation in female entrepreneurship, considering the evolution over almost the last two decades and the current state of the art. The study is based on the Scopus database. It examines articles, books, and indexed conference proceedings that have focused on the influence of women's education on their entrepreneurial journey and innovative capabilities. The studies having in Abstract, Title, or Keywords "education" AND "innovation" AND "entrepreneur" OR "enterprise*" AND "gender" are 257. Source types, year of publication, field of research, source title, keywords, country/territory, and language classify studies. After this, the most cited studies were analyzed to answer the RQs. The studies reviewed show a positive correlation between women's level of education and the likelihood of engaging in entrepreneurial activities. Education provides technical and managerial skills, boosts self-confidence and expands networking, facilitating access to resources and opportunities (de las Mercedes Barrachina Fernández et al., 2021; Gupta et al., 2009). From a theoretical point of view, the research contributes to gender studies about female entrepreneurship, focusing on the relationship between education and innovation. Analyzing how education influences women's entrepreneurship can help identify and address educational and socio-cultural barriers that limit women's access to entrepreneurship and active participation in innovation. From a managerial perspective, the results of such research can inform public policy, guiding government and organizational efforts in promoting specific educational programs that encourage women's entrepreneurship and innovativeness. Promoting women's innovativeness and entrepreneurship can contribute to overall economic development, as greater inclusion of women in the business landscape can lead to increased diversity, competitiveness and innovation (Minniti and Nardone, 2007; Morton et al., 2016; Pereira, 2019; Pereira and Salaris, 2019;). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This working paper aims to explore and critique the entrepreneurship financial ecosystem facing female entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland. Recently, the impact of the entrepreneurial eco-system on entrepreneurial levels has emerged as an important area of research, however, this research suggests that entrepreneurship policies and initiatives are highly gendered (Henry, Foss and Ahl, 2016; Brush et al., 2019; Bosma et al., 2020). This paper seeks to review and critique the financial ecosystem facing female entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland, (NI) as part of the UK, faces a number of specific challenges, both economically and socially and hence developing entrepreneurship is recognised as hugely important as a source of job creation and economic and social development. The paper reviews the current financial supports and initiatives within the financial ecosystem and is consistent with the view that the financial entrepreneurship ecosystem in NI is highly gendered. The research is at an early stage but provides the basis of a more detailed review of the role of the financial eco-system in promoting or limiting female entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adequacy of research on cross-gender cross-cultural conflict within the scholarly domain of entrepreneurship. As disparate elements of management and sociology research, it appears that, up till now, the coterminous areas of gender, conflict, culture and entrepreneurship have been ignored. The research reveals a weak link among entrepreneurship research, gender research and cross-cultural conflict theory as these connections are either not developed or non-existent. Despite clear evidence for scholarly interest in gender research, notably recently, such studies have failed to go beyond equality issues to address the unique conflict scenarios that may arise when unidentical genders form entrepreneurship ventures. Whilst cross-gender conflict is extensively studied in mainstream organisations, similar studies are sparse within entrepreneurship literature, particularly ventures that straddle across different cultural boundaries. In effect, the observation seems to indicate an incomplete picture of gender theory as it relates to enterprise theory on one hand and cross-cultural theory on the other. An ideal research pattern should include four different elements that bring together the hitherto separate fields that are vastly important yet unconsciously disequilibrated. This paper, therefore, serves as a pivot for initial intellectual debate and future research essentially around the four propositions offered. The overarching conclusion is that conflict will tend to increase when cross-gender partnerships are formed outside of national borders, whereas less cross-gender conflict is likely among entrepreneurship ventures that occur within national borders. These assumptions remain falsifiable and should form the basis of the next spate of research in the gender domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of women entrepreneurship as an economic stimulator globally as seen recently is not only heard in social or economic debates, but also in gender related issues. Thus, this paper argues the need for WomEntrepreneurs contribution to the economy and society in general to be recognized and at the forefront. Women are one of the groups that are underrepresented and under-researched in entrepreneurship studies. They are classified and treated under the same umbrella of beings with no capability of managing and growing a business beyond profit making with employees than their male counter-parts. Even though, they have different backgrounds, are brought up differently, accessed opportunities (including their access to different market) and resources differently. Research indicate, women are better educated, skilled and start businesses that have growth potential. That is, there are a select few High-Growth and Impact WomEntrepreneurs among the female population. These High Growth and Impact WomEntrepreneurs, even strive under great resource scarcity and high uncertainty. This is despite the challenges of stereo types that want women to constantly prove themselves. The word "WomEntrepreneur, High Growth and Impact WomEntrepreneur and WomEntrepreneurship" has been coined by the researcher to identify opportunity driven women entrepreneurs within the "high growth" women entrepreneurship space which adds as a contribution, and might also prove useful in entrepreneurship studies. Gender plays a huge role in society, as men tend to have easy access to education, business, family and financial support and their businesses are growth driven and perform very well financially. While on the other hand, data indicate that, women find it difficult to secure financial resources. Hence, the aim of this paper is to discuss High-Growth and Impact WomEntrepreneurs, as a recognized gender of recent times in growing global economies and the individual factors (tested: confidence and risk-taker, reliability and determination) that drive this phenomenon. The paucity of studies addressing women theories and individual WomEntrepreneurs entrepreneurial attributes has led the call for incorporating the validated SIGMO Model, which considers the individual, the firm and the environment, as tested in South Africa which is considered as an economy that is still developing, using data collected from WomEntrepreneurs. WomEntrepreneurs are identified as highly educated than their male counter-parts. The paper addresses High Growth and Impact WomEntrepreneurship as a gender issue and also looks at the individual factors that influence and propel WomEntrepreneurs into High-Growth and Impact WomEntrepreneurs. Thus, in order to answer the research question of this study: How High-growth and Impact WomEntrepreneurs contribute to economic growth? The study undertook a quantitative research method, where online surveys were undertaken to access High Growth and Impact WomEntrepreneurs individual factors that positively contribute to High Growth Formation in firms managed by High Growth and Impact WomEntrepreneurs. Recommendations to policy makers have been drafted, which will encourage and support such an activity to sustain, grow and remove stereo types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environment of 21st century encourages many people to face the "digital entrepreneurship" and for the successful business development it is important they to have adequate skills. The aim of this paper is to discuss some of the outcomes from a comparative study about gender expectations on the required key digital entrepreneurship skills. The research tasks are: (1) to outline the essence of the digital entrepreneurship and the required / necessary skills through which the entrepreneurs would have been successful in the digital age; (2) to design a research methodology to study the attitudes of males and females regarding the skills of young entrepreneurs in the digital world; (3) to summarize the findings from a survey conducted in Bulgaria in 2020 among 774 people and analyse the differences in the opinions of the two gender populations; (4) to present some of the key conclusions and formulate a few proposals about further studies and practical applications. The analyses in this paper could be useful to other researchers, interested in digital entrepreneurship skills on gender approach, as well as to digital entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID -19 crisis is a current and existing phenomenon that affects all activities in society, changing the way things are done and changing the way of life (even a new word has emerged from it - "new normal"). Entrepreneurial activity in SMEs has been greatly affected by the pandemic due to the general vulnerability of small businesses in general; women entrepreneurs are even more affected because the pandemic has a strong impact on industries/sectors where women are in the majority and because it places an additional burden on family care in addition to job requirements. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the pandemic has had a more negative impact on female entrepreneurs than their male counterparts. The study found that women were 20% more likely to leave their jobs due to a pandemic (41.9% of women versus 35.5% of men). This has raised fears that the crisis COVID -19 could wipe out years of prosperity for women entrepreneurs. Women represent 51% of the total population in Europe and 51.7% in the Republic of Croatia. Although the percentage of employed women in Europe has increased to 67.3%, in Croatia it is only 60%; only 34.4% of all self-employed in Europe are women. In Europe, women are considered to be the least utilised entrepreneurial and leadership potential. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of COVID -19 on business performance of women-owned businesses in Croatia. We used a qualitative research design to examine the impact of the COVID -19 crisis on women-owned businesses, specifically, we conducted semi-structured interviews. The results of this study suggest that the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs intensified during the COVID -19 pandemic. In addition, the results have shown and confirmed that the COVID -19 crisis has a strong impact on women-led businesses and also affects the work-life balance potential of women entrepreneurs, but also show that women entrepreneurs are finding ways to continue their businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I situate the Instagram ‘momfluencing’ industry within Betty Friedan’s framework of the feminine mystique, specifically the sexual sell. The sexual sell is the concept of targeting housewives for profit, promising identity and fulfilment in exchange for product purchase. I bring this into conversation with the momfluencing industry by integrating Friedan’s research on the impact of 1950s women’s magazines with modern research on the impact of social media advertisements (specifically through influencers) on women. Then, I apply my comparative work to some of the most popular momfluencers. I claim that while advertisements today do not appeal so explicitly to a woman’s rightful place in the home, the sexual sell has not been eradicated—it has mutated. What makes the momfluencer different (and more dangerous) than the straightforward magazines of the 1950s is her marketing approach: she is not just selling products. Rather, she brands herself and she is the product. Furthermore, I illustrate how momfluencing has armed and mobilized the sexual sell by exploiting the existing identity crises in women. Their lack of fulfilment is what feeds, and has always fed, the feminine mystique. I then state that because the momfluencer can only succeed at the financial and emotional expense of other women, the industry is ultimately destructive. While the momfluencing industry has the potential to be a powerful feminist play with its opportunities for women entrepreneurs, its rampant success must be interrogated: Why is the flawless housewife who ‘has it all’ still the picture of achievement for women? This leads to my conclusion that despite isolated empowerment to the momfluencer herself, the success of her industry limits the role of women everywhere because it squanders women’s identities while capping their potentials at housewifery, impeding progress that could be made otherwise. By showcasing unachievable domestic fantasies and capitalising on women’s lack of fulfilment, the momfluencing industry perpetuates Friedan’s feminine mystique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The gender gap in entrepreneurship persists across the globe. Although many governments are making significant efforts to change the landscape, there is still much work to close this gap, especially in developing countries. Morocco, a Muslim and patriarchal society, does not escape this reality. It has one of the lowest rates of gender equality in entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial gender gap in Morocco is alarming since it is manifested throughout the entrepreneurial process (from the intention to action), and female TEA has been far below male TEA for many years now (GEM, 2021). By analyzing the paths of Moroccan entrepreneurs, this paper proposes exploring the characteristics of the entrepreneurial process from a gendered perspective. Through semi-structured interviews among nineteen entrepreneurs, this study explores the entrepreneurial process in its complexity and diversity of contexts. The aim is to deeply understand how female and male entrepreneurs live their entrepreneurial adventures in a patriarchal and Islamic context. The results show that the entrepreneur's gender is not the relevant factor to analyze gender gap in entrepreneurship but rather context which justifies the emergence of new typology of female entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of social media on female entrepreneurs in developing countries, with a focus on microenterprises and poverty alleviation. The paper uses a comparative approach, combining desk research with an analysis of recent case studies from various developing countries, to examine how digitalization through social media can be used to overcome traditional barriers and enhance the competitiveness and growth potential of female entrepreneurs' businesses. The study investigates the extent to which social media platforms can be utilized to increase visibility, access to markets, and financial resources for female entrepreneurs, ultimately leading to the alleviation of poverty and economic empowerment. In addition, the study will shed light on the obstacles female entrepreneurs confront in adopting technology, gaining access to it, and utilizing it in the present context. This article contributes to the literature on female entrepreneurship and economic development by emphasizing the significance of leveraging digital technologies to promote inclusive economic growth. This research has the potential to inform future policies and programs designed to promote entrepreneurship and reduce poverty in developing countries, particularly among women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last few decades, researchers and policy makers have begun aiming and channeling their attention, efforts and hopes towards sustainable entrepreneurship. Thus, new businesses have increasingly started considering the interests and needs of all involved parties, in order to promote innovation for the development of new products, processes and sustainable working methods. This focus on innovation has contributed to the "creative destruction" of conventional methods, market structures and consumption patterns, whilst also being a source of/for competitive advantage. These concerns bring forth key questions which are necessary to be answered in order to develop a sustainable economy, i.e.: Are people who are concerned with environmental or social issues able to initiate successful (or at least functional) start-ups? Do industrious individuals see sustainability as a factor influencing the success chances of their business? Usually, the common opinion is that entrepreneurs endowed with high human capital are more involved in green entrepreneurship, but there is consistent empirical evidence that points to the fact that many successful "green" projects combine social involvement, the desire to make the world a better and cleaner place whilst maximizing profit and profit goals. In this paper, by using data from a survey-based research among a considerable number of start-ups from around the world, which was made available by the Entrepreneurship Database Program (EDP), we have analyzed the connections between sustainable impact, age and gender of entrepreneurs. We have found a relatively low intention of new, ambitious business owners to focus on sustainable areas, and if they do focus on such areas, this interest is focused towards sectors that can provide them with a consistent and immediate return (e.g. waste management). In terms of gender and age, it seems that women and middle-aged individuals are more in favor of focusing on sustainability and environmental protection issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if the knowledge transfer process comes from business incubators can improve the female startups' competitive advantage in terms of the attractiveness of financial resources and subsequent acquisition by larger companies. This paper is a part of ongoing research on the gender studies field and it focuses on the study of relationship evolution between the woman startup (WSU) and its business incubator (BI), during three main company lifecycle stage: i) start-up or early stage, ii) equitycrowdfunding campaign and iii) the acquisition of WSU by a larger company. The qualitative methodology of a single case study was adopted. Particularly, thanks to a dynamism approach of the CAOS model is possible to observe, during the time, how the relationships' evolution can contribute, in term of relational capital, to reach the declared goal. Assuming that variable (S) refers to the sustainability of the woman startup and identify the stages before, during, and after the equity crowdfunding campaign, it was needed to apply a triplication to the variable (S). Utilizing this framework, it is possible to recognize which types of relationships acquired by the female entrepreneur during the incubation phase, has reverberated in the following life-cycle phases until its acquisition by a larger company. Findings show that BI's knowledge transfer process plays a central role in the development of woman start-up. Especially, it is possible to appreciate how knowledge transferred not regards only to the company dimension but it increases the personal sphere of entrepreneur that, thanks to the skills acquired, she will continue to retain a strategic management role also into the new company - after the M&A. This paper contributes to the literature in three different fields: i) gender studies; ii) knowledge transfer process and the relational capital; iii) the use of alternative ways of finance. Limitations concern the SMEs (startup) dimension. Analysis of data has been available only through direct interviews with the female entrepreneur. Future research perspectives will be focused on the acquisition of more data on the topic of woman startup and crowdfunding to reply the analysis by multiple case studies and try to understand which relational capital's factors recurring for the sustainability of the start-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to consider the impact of the crisis caused by Covid-19 on tourism and on women's entrepreneurship in tourism in Serbia. The paper will use the methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, abstraction, specification and generalization, observation, testing, content analysis, and case study. Based on the available data, it can be concluded that the crisis caused by Covid-19 on the one hand led to (1) the closure of a large number of entrepreneurial companies in the field of tourism, as a result of which a large number of women entrepreneurs lost their jobs; (2) the increased importance of domestic tourism due to the increase in the participation of domestic tourists in total tourist trends. In the future, more attention should be paid to the possibility of training women entrepreneurs in the field of tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some women are encouraged to establish entrepreneurial business by factors which are similar to male counterparts unlike majority of men, many women opts entrepreneurship to manage both the domestic and business chores simultaneously along with earning capability with family commitment. Despite of the increasing number of women obligations little attention has been paid towards the actual expectations and true picture of entrepreneurship along with the extent to which entrepreneurship offers an improved work life balance. So the present paper endeavors on the journey of 80 women entrepreneurs as to how they maintain a balance between the household and entrepreneurial work through the questionnaire and offers the reality of their experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current state of research in Germany shows that women are significantly underrepresented in innovative startups. The important potential of female founders for the innovation culture in Germany is thus not being exploited. The visibility of innovative female founders has an impact on their success, as it facilitates their access to capital, networks and markets. In addition, visible role models can motivate young women to contribute their own innovative potential to a startup. This work-in-progress paper provides insight into the conception and the methodical approach within the project “Visibility of Innovative Female Founders in Germany” which examines the mechanisms and structures that influence the visibility of innovative female founders. On the one hand, the activity/passivity of female founders with regard to public visibility is investigated. On the other hand, the project examines selection mechanisms of media professionals as well as venture capitalists and identifies the success factors for the public visibility of (female and male) start-up founders in hightech companies. By comparing the results of these two sub-surveys, best practices will be identified and measures to improve the visibility of innovative female founders will be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of strategic orientation on women small and medium business owners' ability to innovate. This study's strategic orientation utilised three constructs: market, learning, and technology. The data was acquired using random sampling from 149 small and medium-sized enterprises in the typical culinary industry in Indonesia. The data analysis technique is multiple regression. The findings demonstrated that market, technology, and learning orientations have a favorable and significant impact on female entrepreneurs' innovative ability. In general, women small and medium entrepreneurs in Indonesia are entrepreneurial because they wish to support the family economy, not as their main work. So, our comprehension of the strategy's direction and innovation potential is still limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, industrialization and globalization have prompted small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to implement a significant technological and managerial innovation process. In Italy, it leads to new entrepreneurial pathways, such as innovative start-ups. The new solutions' implementation becomes even more crucial for a company's sustainability during crises since it improves the organization's flexibility and encourages the development of new tools and techniques. Previous research recognized the intangible assets' relevance in the innovation's creation process, mainly referring to Intellectual Capital (IC) and its components. In particular, Relational Capital (RC) fosters reactive firms' resilience, whereas Structural Capital (SC) helps SMEs respond to challenges proactively. Focusing on the agri-food sector, it has recently reached considerable results in terms of innovation, but it still appears insufficient to stimulate female entrepreneurship. Recent data confirm a remarkable gender gap: for 107 innovative agri-food start-ups in Italy, only 14 are led by women. Given all this, the paper aims to answer the following Research Questions (RQ). RQ1: How could RC and SC promote women innovative start-ups in agri-food? RQ2: How did these factors foster proactive and reactive firms' resilience during the pandemic? The work uses an exploratory, descriptive qualitative analysis performed during the pandemic emergency and applies the CAOS model, an interpretative model widely used in SMEs' studies since it allows a deep analysis of relational capital. Moreover, the CAOS model can be helpful to observe the SC's innovation. From a theoretical point of view, the research contributes to gender studies, identifying critical, innovative elements that similar women start-ups could implement. From a managerial perspective, findings could increase the firms' competitiveness in the current crisis period and reduce gender inequality. The application of a single case study could represent a research's limit. Thus, in the future, the authors aim at replicating the analysis considering a more comprehensive sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research about women entrepreneurs is not new. In addition to the body of work on women entrepreneurship, networks and businesses, several resources, assistance, and support have been provided through various channels to assist women in their business and entrepreneurial pursuits. Although, research in these areas is popular, there is an aspect that has not gained as much attention - formal women business networks (FWBNs). FWBNs are networks that run like organisations and provide a way for women to network and pursue shared interests while gaining business benefits. These networks provide benefits such as funding, trainings, access to business resource, and are funded by various organisations as well as patronized by several women seeking the benefits they provide. Hence, there is a high expectation on these networks to not only deliver on the very much needed support for women entrepreneurs, but also, to deliver on the ROI to groups, organizations, bodies, and women that give to these networks. Furthermore, recent environmental/external influences like a pandemic have impacted the way entrepreneurs do business and increased the need for support and networks. Thus, it is important that FWBNs that serve to help women businesses be examined more closely and holistically. While literature provides some evidence of the importance of FWBNs, there is limited research about these FWBNs. This could be due to the limited number of frameworks, models or theories that holistically examines all the various possible elements in these networks, as well as the relationships between them. Therefore, a holistic and integrated framework that draws from existing frameworks and provides a lens to measure and explore all possible elements that impact a FWBN, can help provide better insights and understanding in several aspects. This paper is an attempt to provide a holistic and integrated framework that draws from different theories and literature concepts to examine the nature of FWBNs and how they contribute to the success of women entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to review existing literature and research on entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. It identifies major trends and issues and highlights gaps in the existing knowledge base on entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. A systematic literature review was conducted, following the PRISMA protocol for conducting and reporting systematic reviews. Based on a systematic search of Scopus databases, a total of 33 peer-reviewed articles were included. A research agenda for further work in this area is provided within the themes of conceptual development, research contexts, and measuring and evaluating on entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. The categorization of entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs is conducted to understand the direction of research in this field and the emphasis on specific aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to review existing literature and research on entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. It identifies major trends and issues and highlights gaps in the existing knowledge base on entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. A systematic literature review was conducted, following the PRISMA protocol for conducting and reporting systematic reviews. Based on a systematic search of Scopus databases, a total of 33 peer-reviewed articles were included. A research agenda for further work in this area is provided within the themes of conceptual development, research contexts, and measuring and evaluating on entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. The categorization of entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs is conducted to understand the direction of research in this field and the emphasis on specific aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurs in developing countries encounter several problems that might undermine their ability to become effective entrepreneurs and contribute to the national economy. These problems could exacerbate in micro-businesses and more specifically in women entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, women entrepreneurship is one of many sectors which potentially boost nation's income of the country. However, there is a paucity of studies about women entrepreneurship in general and Indonesia, a developing country, in particular. Therefore, barriers analysis is needed to examine the problem so that it can be used as a reference in creating an enabling environment. This paper examines barriers which faced by Indonesian women entrepreneur especially for Greater Jakarta area and having Micro and Small business scale using four indicators: individual-familial, socio-cultural, economic-financial-commercial and structural that we adopted from Niazkar & Arab-Moghaddam (2011) framework. An online questionnaire was spread out and data collected from 50 women entrepreneur respondents. Based on the survey, there were distinctive barriers among women entrepreneur in Indonesia. Orderly from the most important barriers as follows: economic-financial-commercial, structural, socio-cultural, and personal-familial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the formation of lifelong human capital among a group of Mexican immigrant women entrepreneurs and the role it plays in their entrepreneurial trajectories in the United States. The concept of lifelong human capital addresses not only the formal acquisition channels of skills and knowledge but also looks at the "learning and skill development as lifelong processes that begin at early ages in households and home communities, and may include formal schooling and training but also informal learning experiences" (Hagan et al., 2014:10). Thus, drawing on this lifelong human capital concept, this paper examines the biographies of a group of Mexican immigrant women in order to shed light on their pathways to the acquisition of their pre-migratory skills and how these abilities and knowledge serve to pave their entrepreneurial path in the US. Drawing on a multi-sited ethnographic study, the findings of this study highlight the gendered process in the formation of lifelong human capital in the case of these immigrant women. More importantly, the findings shed light on how this lifelong human capital becomes crucial not only at the time of launching their enterprises but also for equipping them with the skills needed to overcome the hurdles of being female, in general, and a Mexican immigrant woman in the US, in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on in-depth interview data from women entrepreneurs, this paper explores the discursive practice of innovation as reflected in the relationship between modes of innovative behaviour and women entrepreneurship in micro business. This qualitative study illustrates and links the elements of innovativeness that focuses on how women entrepreneurs practice and implement, in new modes, as well as adopt certain innovative behaviours. In being innovative, individual entrepreneurs need new directions and make choices which help sustain or develop their entrepreneurial skills. They have to draw on the pull and push factors to shape innovations. At the same time they need to reconcile the constraints of how they construct their lives and their businesses particularly within the gender framework. The paper is part of a bigger study that explores the micro and informal small-scale businesses from four different zones in Peninsular Malaysia. Based on a thematic analysis, is the study finds that innovation could transform the desired direction of gender entrepreneurship in micro-businesses. This exploratory study also shows that it is important to explore gender entrepreneurship and innovation across stages of economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is focused on whether female entrepreneurs face institutional discrimination based on prejudices. Therefore, in consideration of the institutional theory, this paper aims to clarify how informal institutions, such as norms, values and attitudes of society impact female entrepreneurship. To visualize these informal norms, values and attitudes of society towards women, common prejudices against women were utilized. The results revealed that the analyzed prejudices represent obsolete social perceptions against women which lack any validity and justification. However, these prejudices still negatively influence – directly or indirectly – the behavior, career choices, motivation and self-perception of female entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an initial perspective on the realities of female entrepreneurship in developing countries, focusing on Zimbabwe, based on research in progress. The research attempts to understand female entrepreneurship from the perspective of the female entrepreneurs themselves. Methodology - Qualitative analysis used in this paper is based on empirical findings from field-work undertaken in Harare (capital city of Zimbabwe) and Bulawayo (second largest city of Zimbabwe). In-depth face to face interviews were conducted by the researcher with forty-three female entrepreneurs running their own businesses. The sample consists of female entrepreneurs who started their entrepreneurial activities in the formal sector and have since formalised their businesses or are in the process of formalising their businesses. Further interviews, and re-interviews, are continuing. Results obtained - Preliminary findings indicate that context, in terms of culture and socioeconomic factors, shapes female entrepreneurial activities. All married women ran their businesses in partnership with spouses; this turned out to be a paper partnership, with little support, and often a lot of interference, coming from the husband. The paper offers some explanation as to why context and historical variables impact on the realities of female entrepreneurial activities. Conclusion - At a minimum, apparent or face-value collaboration with men is a necessity of culture and custom. The women interviewed construe entrepreneurship as self-fulfilling, allowing them the flexibility and freedom to balance work with family obligations whilst earning income to better their families and that of the community. Implications - To understand (female) entrepreneurship, researchers need to factor in culture, context, history and custom. This has implications for policy-making, training programmes and business support. Originality/ value- There are very few studies from a developing country perspective such as that of Zimbabwe, which take a positive stance towards culture. This paper therefore adopts an open-minded view of the role of culture as enabling, rather than disabling, in female entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to describe the ways in which the economic crisis has affected bank-firm dynamics and access to credit for male and female entrepreneurs. The issue of bank loans and access to credit has been widely covered in studies on female entrepreneurship. Countless research proves the existence of significant differences between male and female businesses, for example, regarding financial structure and the impact of debt finance. The causes of these differences, however, have not yet been clearly identified. In this context, one wonders whether male and female firms were affected by the crisis in the same way, or if bank-firm dynamics followed different trends in the two cases. This paper presents the main findings from an empirical research based on a questionnaire survey involving a sample of 300 (150 male and 150 female) sole-proprietors and owners of micro-enterprises located in the Marche region (central Italy). Data was collected in October- November 2013 and refers to the period 2008-2013. The purpose of the questionnaire was to understand if men and women entrepreneurs asked for new bank loans during the crisis, and if they obtained the required bank loans under the same conditions. Moreover we want to understand if other variables, other than gender, could have influenced access to bank credit. The empirical analysis has shown that firms were very cautious with access to finance during the crisis. In fact, only a few firms asked for new bank loans and female firms asked for bank loans more rarely than male firms. In contrast to previous studies, this analysis reveals no significant differences between male and female businesses on the possibility of attaining requested bank loans. Even the influence of other variables is statistically insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academics and economists seek for directions when intoning the debate on female entrepreneurship. While some school of thought expect the gender bias within the start-up community to eventually even out as soon as societies' mindsets change with respect to women's entrepreneurial reluctances; others assert that the even out of the bias is occluded by women's lack of entrepreneurial intention and competences. However, both proclaim a need to accelerate female entrepreneurship for two reasons: gender-equality concern and economic specificity. Female entrepreneurs worldwide still face an uphill battle in some more or less severe cases. They have to carry unnecessary baggage on their rise to the top. Here, one can wonder: Who packed it? Biology? Social conditions? Nations infrastructure? The anthropological theory of entrepreneurship has identified culture as a key determinant of venture creation behaviour, practices and outcome. This paper focuses on the extent to which the rise of female entrepreneursis especially cultural determined. We conducted a comparative analysis drawing on previous empirical studies and secondary data using Europe, Asia, and Africa for 1st, 2nd and 3rd world respectively. Evidences from our analysis reveal that cultural environment features a negative correlation of entrepreneurial interest to gender. This means, males are more likely to be entrepreneurial and more successful in their ventures than their female counterparts across the globe with slightly varying differences levelled by industrialization and socio-economic development. The paper discusses our conclusions on culture entailed threats and opportunities for female entrepreneurs. It comes up with implications for further directions of research to shed lighton structural and mental concepts maintaining the start-up gender bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women-owned businesses in Sri Lanka, has increased significantly, creating a new generation of women entrepreneurs. This paper aims to outline the research connecting business ethics displayed by Sri Lankan women entrepreneurs when they are running successful entrepreneurial ventures. Women entrepreneurs as decision makers come across ethical issues when managing their businesses. It is identified that entrepreneurs come across ethical issues when they carry out their management responsibilities. Therefore, ethics and virtuous perspectives in management are crucial for the success of women entrepreneurs. The focus of this paper is to encourage women entrepreneurs to maintain ethical practices that are essential for their business survival. This research was undertaken using data which was obtained using both primary and secondary sources. A structured questionnaire was used to acquire the primary data while secondary data was extracted from the literature. Qualitative methodology is used for analysis, and the total number of questionnaires distributed was 30 in a chosen sample of established women entrepreneurs of Sri Lanka. The study identified that there was a significant relationship between the ethical practices of the women entrepreneurs and the performance of their business. These findings will ensure a better understanding of how women entrepreneurs think and integrate business ethics into their decision-making. In conclusion, essential business ethics are suggested which should be adopted by the women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka as well as recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India the development of women entrepreneur is very low. Women's are excel in designing and producing cloths, jewelry, home décor, many hand crafts but they don't have that kind of market availability. They sell their product in local market or at tourist place at high rate. As a part of ‗Digital India' and ‗Stand Up India', the Minister of Women and Child Development, launched "Mahila e-Haat" portal specifically for Indian women's entrepreneur. It is an initiative for Indian women entrepreneurs more than 18 years across the country, where they can display their products. This paper focuses on study of Mahila e-haat portal, benefits, financial growth and issues by existing users, awareness about portal among women entrepreneurs in PUNE. How it helps women entrepreneurs from Pradhikaran area. to promote product on portal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the research paper "The Cognitive and Affective Dimensions of Gendered Language in Entrepreneurship" by Edie Williams et al. is presented.

An abstract of the research paper "Gender Comparisons in Entrepreneurial Motivation and Self-Efficacy" by Kristie K. W. Seawright et al. is presented.

The research on women entrepreneurs has focused on the problems they face but largely ignores the possibility of entrepreneurial advantages. Using the stereotype boost and relative gratification theories, this paper explains how the attribution of feminine characteristics such as passion, affection, and understanding to entrepreneurship positively impacts women's entrepreneurial intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the policy of lockdowns, on business in general, and certain sectors of the economy, has been widely discussed during the last year. Less is known, however, about the impact on specific groups of economic actors within the UK economy. This small-scale research project explores the impact that the pandemic and lockdown has had on Nigerian women entrepreneurs with enterprises in the UK. The paper considers the context in which these women were operating before the pandemic, the additional challenges created by lockdown and the disruption to many of their businesses, and the impact it has had on these women's lives and their businesses. It concludes that more business support is needed for this highly resilient and versatile group of female entrepreneurs during this uniquely challenging period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender diversity within corporate boardrooms now faces increased scrutiny by stakeholders within many jurisdictions, and countries have implemented programs designed to increase the proportion of female directors in large public companies. While the implications of these policies have been studied, the diversity policies of 'smaller' public companies are unexplored and the subject of this paper. The paper conducts a comparative analysis of two national diversity initiatives, the Equal Participation Law in Germany, and the diversity requirements within the UK Corporate Governance Code. While compliance with all of these requirements is only mandatory for larger public companies, smaller entities may do so on a voluntary basis. This study focuses on the boardroom diversity policies of 'smaller' public companies across five industrial sectors in Germany and UK, including micro, small and medium sized entities as defined by the EC. The duty to report on boardroom diversity levels was introduced by the 2010 German and UK corporate governance Codes. As a result, financial statements published in 2011 were the first to include such data, and diversity information from this period was compared to the most recent data for each company. In total, boardroom diversity data for a total of 242 UK and German public SMEs was hand collected from financial statements published in 2011 and 2014. The comparative analysis suggests that the UK's approach for promoting boardroom diversity has been more successful in enhancing the level of female representation within management boards. In terms of sector specific diversity, the Financial Services, Software & Computer Services and Media sectors provide the highest proportion of female executive positions in both countries. In summary, in contrast to the German legislative approach, the UK's voluntary initiatives for increasing gender diversity appear to have had a greater influence on boardroom diversity within small public SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the meaning of entrepreneurial work for young entrepreneurs - and how it differs according to gender. Specific domains of emphasis are: the link between the individual and the business; the entwinement of self-esteem and business outcomes; and, the language of attachment. Multiple in-depth, phenomenologically oriented interviews with ten young entrepreneurs inform the paper. The nature of the relationship between the entrepreneurs and their work/business was intense and it was especially imbued with emotion by the women. They overlaid their stories with an emotional dimension that was inseparable from the narratives of 'business life'. In contrast, the male narratives were characterised by the tempering of the urge to be carried away 'heart and soul' by the business. The young female entrepreneurs openly advocated this emotional way of working. The implications of these findings for enterprise policy are drawn out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women represent 50% of the population, but are not present in this proportion in the social, political, cultural and economic activities. If women have sufficient training, why female entrepreneurial initiatives are less? How can affect the training received on the entrepreneurial intention?. A study group, of particular interest, is the young female university students, given the multiplier effect that can have their entrepreneurial intention. In this paper we study a case: Which is the effect of training received, depending on gender, in their self-efficacy, entrepreneurial attitudes and entrepreneurial intentions? Following the policy of the European Union ("Oslo Agenda for Entrepreneurship Education in Europe"), some European universities have been raised to promote entrepreneurial culture among students and provide entrepreneurial training. In this paper we analyze the case of students in a course of Entrepreneurship of the Degree of Business Administration at Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will report on the background and outline the progress and potential outcomes of a current research project to support young (20-35 years) female SME owners that can be described as "entrepreneurial". The work is looking to educate this body of entrepreneurs regarding the social, economic and legal position of women in business. Awareness of Intellectual Capital both in terms of legal awareness and in terms of "protected rights" is problematical for this group due to the political and historical background of the country. However as Poland is now an active member of the EU this situation needs to be redressed. This is ongoing work and it is expected that initial results will be available by May 2010. This paper will explore relevant aspects and outline the possible impact of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues arising with social media and its influence on women entrepreneurs trigged this investigation. The research will examine the impact of social media on online small businesses owned and run by women entrepreneurs with reference to London-based female eentrepreneurs. The work is a proposal for a PhD research and while waiting for the University for confirmation to conduct this area of investigation, I have decided to present this paper as part of my initial investigation on the issues around social media online on small businesses run by women entrepreneurs. Work used mixed research methods to investigate the impact of social media online on female entrepreneurs, their experiences and perceptions on their business activities and performance. The growth of social media as part of innovative technological development has enabled entrepreneurs to effectively carry out their business activities online, and an increasing number of female business owners are taking their businesses online and abandoning traditional, brink and mortar business model. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap chat, YouTube and LinkedIn along with other websites are incorporated into the businesses of modern-day women entrepreneurs. This research will examine, analyse and evaluate relevant theoretical framework on female entrepreneurship and social media engagement and impact on business performance. The research will develop a framework for best practice that can be used by women eentrepreneurs across Greater London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions about gender differences and the transformation of gender relations, especially in the business, are current and ubiquitous. There are many surveys on the status of women in the modern society and the results showed discrimination. This paper presents a scientific study of attitudes of respondents on the status of women in the business in the Republic of Croatia, and has the goal to determine opportunities for work and advancement and existence of gender discrimination among employees. The survey was conducted through a digital questionnaire designed for this research purposes. The questionnaire consists of 12 statements about attitudes and experience of respondents. The study involved 463 respondents of both genders and was conducted during January 2019. Two hypotheses were stated. The first one says that gender discrimination is still present in the Croatian business environment and the second one that male and female respondents in Croatia do not share the same attitude towards the status of women in business. Mann Whitney U test was used for verfiying the correlation between the respondents attitude and showed statistically significant difference in 5 statements. On the basis of the results obtained both hypotheses were confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstracts are presented for articles dealing with the topic of entrepreneurship. They include "Educational Strategies for the Professional Development of Womenpreneurs," "Leading Open Innovation: Creating Centripetal Innovation Capacity," and "Building Entrepreneurial Universities: Academic Entrepreneurship and Spin-Off Performance."

Among the many topics addressed within the rich scholarship on gender and work, a growing area of interest concerns differences in the entrepreneurial activity of women and men, as well as differences amongst women entrepreneurs themselves. Studies from a variety of countries note both a dramatic influx of women into the small business sector over the past two decades, as well as significant gender differences in the types of businesses and organizations women and men create, their motivations and business approach, and their economic success. However, while patterns of inter- and intra-gender difference in entrepreneurship are well documented in many countries, the reasons underlying them are less well understood. In an effort to contribute to our understanding of this issue, this paper explores the links between women's motivation and entrepreneurial success, using Canada as a case study. The analysis draws on The Survey of Self-Employment, a national survey of 3,840 Canadians that was conducted in 2000 by Statistics Canada and Human Resources Development Canada. Using three broad categories of motivation based on existing research -- classic, work-family, and forced- the paper examines how prevalent these motivations are amongst Canadian women, and how motivations are linked to the types of businesses women build and the economic rewards they receive. The findings suggest considerable diversity in the motivations and success of women entrepreneurs. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the social dimensions of microfinance programs which are credit and savings programs targeted at fostering financial self-sustainability of the poor. Such programs have become the most popular development strategy since the 1990's and microfinance groups are to be found in developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. These groups are rural neighborhood based groups composed almost exclusively of women in most cases. One of the central premises of these programs is that giving credit to women rather than men leads to their empowerment by giving them greater control over household economic resources. However, I find that there are also non-economic ways in which such group membership leads to women's empowerment. In this paper I will use the case study of one such group to demonstrate how social capital gained by the women through such group membership plays a key role in their empowerment. Enhanced social capital in this case finds expression through group based collective action for acquiring public goods. This in turn leads to a positive change in the public perception of women's collective power. This results in a "virtuous cycle" of a change in women's self-perception of their power which is reflected in greater agency. This calls for a more sociologically informed analysis of such financial programs and more attention to the social dimensions of economic interventions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section presents several conference symposia abstracts on careers. The symposium Becoming: Identity, Social Networks and the Dynamics of Transition brings together a diverse set of papers that explore transition processes that involve identity transformation and are mediated and/or moderated by social networks. The papers range from studies of individual work-role transitions, to studies that bridge the individual and the organizational field or occupation. IT Professionals, Careers and Organizational Learning focuses on information technology (IT) professionals, who are perhaps archetypal knowledge workers. Since IT professionals' knowledge is a source of competitive advantage, the integration of that knowledge into organizational learning is a key imperative for the firms that deploy their services. The symposium Leveling the Playing Field: Women's Entrepreneurship as an Egalitarian Choice brings together established researchers investigating why women choose or do not choose and entrepreneurial career path, the consequences of family responsibilities, women's passages in and out of corporate life, and the economic, social, and ethical impact of women's entrepreneurship. This is consonant with the democracy theme: Egalitarianism...diminishing differences among people of varying power... based on income, gender, or race.

New Zealand, like other countries, is becoming an increasingly multicultural society. Diversity of New Zealand has rapidly increased in the last ten years with 34 percent of the current population being Maori, Asian and Pacific community. We can see the reflection of super diversity in many areas of productivity, investment and particularly in innovation and entrepreneurial areas. Diversity has resulted in varied personal strengths such as language skills, social, cultural and international connections that can be channelled into entrepreneurship and easily transferable to New Zealand economy. New Zealand needs to adjust fast and invest in measures and programs to ensure we maximise the benefits of super diverse women population. These calls for a multi-voiced ``diversity'' discourse that would focus attention on the local demographics, cultural and political differences that adds value for entrepreneurial activities. As a country, New Zealand has acknowledged the influence of women on its growth and prosperity. Women entrepreneurs play a crucial role in country's economy, in terms of generating revenue and jobs, and creating an inclusive society; yet the entrepreneurial research to address diversity and promote entrepreneurial activities is largely invisible or marginal in mainstream entrepreneurship research. Despite a number of barriers, migrant women entrepreneurs are the fastest-growing group of business owners in advanced economies. In this paper, we aim to address the diversity of the women entrepreneurs and an attempt to provide a better understanding of the phenomenon by identifying and providing an overview of the possible barriers faced by diverse women entrepreneurs. It also explores challenges facing women entrepreneurs and various ethnic and cultural resources utilised by them to overcome such challenges. This paper will offer insights towards building a more inclusive framework for women’s entrepreneurship at a grass root level. Practical implication for future research and practice will be outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of socio demographic profile, social support, and government initiatives on entrepreneurial intention of home-based women entrepreneurs in Chennai. Data were collected from 15 entrepreneurs through in depth semi structured interview using purposive sampling technique. The interview questions mainly concentrated to extract the financial position, age, marital status, education, home ownership, household size, family support, business income, future plan and challenges influence the reason for choosing their entrepreneurship. Result suggests that financial independence, lack of employment opportunity, and freedom act as main motivators for choosing entrepreneurship. Results also indicate that women entrepreneurs are not aware of any government schemes which are introduced by the government for the development of Women entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the research paper "Do You See What I See? A Case Study of Kenyan Women on the Role of Culture and Entrepreneurial Skills on Opportunity Recognition" by Caroline Kinya Mbaya and Glòria Estapé-Dubreuil is presented.

The purpose of this research is to find out whether and how gender differences can affect online retail business entrepreneurship performance, and whether the effects are moderated by motivation. The examinations are based on a comprehensive dataset drawn from Taobao sellers' development status survey data conducted by Alibaba Institute in 2011 and 2012, which is composed of 1996 online retail stores. Taobao, the largest online retail Ebusiness platform in China, which handles more transactions than Ebay and Amazon, is a representative case for analysing. However, our findings show that female has significantly lower performance in both operation and credit. Moreover, a moderate effect of survival motivation on the relationship between gender and operational performance is identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is a relatively new research field and as a consequence, there is little or no research on designated research methods for this field. Within this context, Women Entrepreneurship as a new branch of Entrepreneurship is in greater need of a comprehensive review of strategies, methods and techniques used in this sub-field. In parallel, across different research fields there was an emergence of innovative ways of mixing quantitative and qualitative research methods and an effort to form the foundation of a new research method - mixed method research (MMR). This paper undertook a critical review into the research methods employed by previous studies on entrepreneurship with a focus on women entrepreneurship in particular. Additionally, the study will search for trends within the research methods used by studies on entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurship. This is a theoretical research where an extensive and systematic literature review was carried out across seven decades, with over 200 articles from more than ten ranked journals, relevant to this research field. The research paper critically evaluates the research methods used by studies on women entrepreneurs. The study attempts to answer the research question regarding the effectiveness of using mixed research methods as a research choice and the imminent trend of innovative ways in blending quantitative and qualitative methods in order to increase the validity of the research. The findings show a strong orientation towards using mixed research methods, with emphasis on the use of case studies as a qualitative approach. Also, there is an increasing use of triangulation of both data collection methods and data analysis. The findings of this research discuss the advantages of using mixed method approach in the research field of women entrepreneurship. Moreover, the results will enhance the body of foundational theoretical work for the third research methods - mixed method research. Further, this research will be of benefit for academics and researchers in the field of women entrepreneurship in particular and management in general and a contribution to knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the research paper "Women in Australian Fast Growth SMEs: How Do They Approach Growth As a Deliberate Choice" by Afreen Huq and Caroline Tan is presented.

This paper explores the role of respect from the perspective of women stakeholders in contentious public policy issues involving complicated science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]