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International audience; This research examines the selection practices used by a small public incubator (SPI) and its strategic implications. SPIs generally depend on small cities and often face difficulties due to a lack of resources and inadequate competitiveness in comparison with well-equipped and more reputed incubators. The selection of projects is the keystone in the development of these small structures. We develop a qualitative approach based on a single case study. Representatives from all the incubated projects were interviewed, as well as all the managers and we performed a thematic analysis of the discourses. The in-depth study of the selection practices and the project portfolio reveals a paradox regarding the incubator’s strategic positioning objectives and the availability of resources. We conclude by discussing the strategic positioning of SPIs regarding in-house resources and the selection practices.

While previous studies have demonstrated the importance of personality traits in the decision to pursue a career in entrepreneurship, more empirical evidence is needed to explain the mechanism through which entrepreneurial intention (EI) is strengthened. Accordingly, espousing a gender-based perspective, the current paper identifies characteristics that positively affect EI in a sample of 531 students in France. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis is performed yielding four alternate combinations that are likely to lead to high EI, of which two are gender specific. The inherent findings advance previous studies by offering entrepreneurship educators in France and similar contexts a new understanding of entrepreneurial intention from a gender perspective. Similarly, the results offer first-hand evidence to inform university students’ career choices.