DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE SCHOOL

Entrepreneurial Intentions and

Capabilities of Women

Research Paper

Submitted to:
Dr. Juris C. Ponio

Submitted by:
Kim Arrianne A. Cunanan

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Women and men aren't as different as you might think: A review of dozens of studies

found that men and women are basically alike when it comes to personality, thinking ability and

leadership. The differences that do exist may reflect social expectations, not biology. Despite

this evidence, the media continue to spread the idea that the sexes are fundamentally different

— with real-life consequences.

Entrepreneurship has traditionally been defined as the process of designing, launching

and running a new business, which typically begins as a small business, such as a start-up

company, offering a product, process or service. It has been defined as the "...capacity and

willingness to develop, organize, and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in

order to make a profit.

For centuries females have taken the back seat in male oriented social systems.

Globally, the number of women entrepreneurs lags behind the number of men. In the

Philippines, though women are playing a key role in society, still their entrepreneurial ability has

not been properly tapped due to the lower status of women in society. The main purpose of this

paper was to find out the entrepreneurial intentions and capabilities of women in a rural area.

The researchers used the quantitative research with survey questionnaire and a total of 150

women was targeted as respondents of this study. Other relevant information was gathered

through an online researches. The adequate related literature and studies gave the researchers

the proper direction on how the investigation was done. Most of the women were aged 26 - 30,

married, with at least two children, and a baccalaureate degree holders. They managed their

own businesses and earning a monthly income of Php 10,001 to Php 20,000. The women

entrepreneurs were good in marketing (selling), record keeping, business management, critical

thinking, planning and research, decision-making, organization, and oral communication skills.

However, they needed training in written communication and managerial skills. The local

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government unit must encourage more women to join seminars and training to improve their

skills in the identified areas, and community must promote and institutionalize the women's

business activities to promote their enterprises.

Many researchers and policy formulators consider entrepreneurship as the link to

increased and sustained economic development and growth. While this is particularly the case

in developing countries with significant poverty and high unemployment rates, it also relates to

developed economies because entrepreneurship is considered a driver of accelerated economic

growth as opposed to stagnating growth (Ambrish, 2014; Meyer, 2017; Meyer and Meyer,

2017).

According to the Asian Development Bank (2007), females in Asia contribute significantly

towards economic development, but face different constraints and opportunities when compared

to males. McAdam (2013) adds to this by indicating that female entrepreneurship has drawn

enormous attention to policy formulation, literature studies and practical research since

entrepreneurship of this type is recognised globally as contributing to the growth of many

countries’ economies. Furthermore, female entrepreneurial activity has been accepted as a vital

part of the economic profile of a country, as has the argument that empowering female

entrepreneurs act as fuel for flourishing economies (Ambrish, 2014; Kot et al.,2016).Carter et

al., (2006) assert that females are becoming essential change agents within the social and

economic environments and are globally responsible for making valuable contributions towards

job and wealth creation and economic growth. Notwithstanding the impact and role females

have in today’s economies, their contribution is often understated and undervalued (Carter et

al., 2006).Despite female enterprises being a growing phenomenon and comprising a

noteworthy proportion of economic production in many economies, women still face tremendous

challenges when it comes to the growth and expansion of their businesses. In some cases,

even starting a business can be a challenge for some females (Gatewood et al., 2009). Over the

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decades, many different definitions explaining the terms entrepreneur and entrepreneurship

have been formulated. Schumpeter’s definition during the early 1930 considers entrepreneurs to

“be those who create new combinations, new markets, product, or distribution systems” (De

Bruin et al., 2006). More recent definitions by Shane (2003) and Ambrish (2014) also refer to an

entrepreneur as an individual who possesses the skill to exploit opportunities by introducing new

or better ways to provide goods and services to the economy, to enhance methods and improve

ways of organising and by establishing a new business or revitalising an existing one by such

means as improved service or product delivery. Historical and recent definitions in the field of

entrepreneurship include the following character words: opportunism, innovation, risk-taking,

designing new combinations of processes; while one of the principal traits of entrepreneurship is

ultimately starting new organisations (Bird and Brush, 2002). Various definitions for female

entrepreneurs have also been established in recent years. In the UK and US, a female-owned

business refers to one that is either fully or majority (51% or more) owned by females. The

Indian government defines a female entrepreneur as one owning at least 51 percent of a

business and ensuring that at least 51 percent of employment provided by the business should

be to female employees (Ambrish,2014). Based on the aforementioned, the question could be

posed: If the concept of entrepreneurship has been clearly defined by so many researchers and

experts in this field, why is it so important that continuous new research paths focussing on

females entrepreneurs be developed?

As more females venture into the field of entrepreneurship globally, research approaches and

theoretical perspectives to understand the role women play within this sector require clearer

definition (De Bruin et al., 2007; Onyishi and Agbo, 2010).Since females have been formally

entering the sector of entrepreneurship during the last few decades, they can be considered as

one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial populations in the world (Brush and Cooper, 2012).

According to the OECD (2004) female entrepreneurship needs to be studied as a separate

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group for two reasons. Firstly, it has been recognised as a valuable and unexploited source of

economic movement and growth that creates not just jobs for themselves, but for others as well.

In addition, females in some cases often provide society with alternative solutions to various

social problems. Secondly, the topic of female entrepreneurship has previously been neglected

in social sciences and in general society. However, this is slowly changing as more women are

entering into the market and policies assisting in the development and management of such

entrepreneurship are gradually becoming more prevalent in many countries. The World Bank

(2015) states that the empowerment of women is fundamental in achieving continued

sustainable development and that succeeding in this endeavour could enhance economic

efficiency. Because business and entrepreneurship are still perceived in many countries and

cultures as a male dominated sphere, it remains a priority to provide women with equal access

to opportunities and continuous research on female entrepreneurship could assist in doing so.

Bird and Brush (2002) and De Bruin et al., (2006) suggest that historical theory and research on

entrepreneurship focussed on men and that the perception was created that entrepreneurship is

formed around male experience and capabilities. Various allusions regarding entrepreneurship

as a male dominated field have been made in the past. In 1921, a reference was made to the

“active businessman” while in 1934 an entrepreneur was described as a “captain of industry”

(Scranton, 2010). This trend continued with a statement made in 1968 terming an entrepreneur

as a “hero who perceives the gaps and connects markets” (Bird and Brush, 2002) whereas, in

1982 Hebert and Link referred to an entrepreneur as the “key man”. It makes sense that the

literature and theory was viewed from a male perspective in the past, because for many years

females were not active in the business and economic sector. But as times have changed and

women are entering this previously male dominated industry, the need for new and female-

relevant research is growing (Heber and Link, 1982). Leading researchers in the field of female

entrepreneurship have emphasised the importance of studying this as a separate research

entity as there are significant differences between male and female motivations, characteristics

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and business growth and development with regard to entrepreneurship. There are also clear

distinguishing features in some of the methods and ways that female entrepreneurs manage

their businesses and compile strategies(Bird and Brush, 2002; Greene et al., 2003; Brush et al.,

2006; Carter et al., 2006; Meyer and Mostert, 2016). Carter et al., (2006) specifically refer to

women being more risk and debt averse, which could lead to certain conclusions about why

their businesses are in many cases not attracting the investment opportunities that their male

counterparts so often do. In addition, Botha et al., (2007) suggest that some women might need

more assistance with regard to self-esteem and confidence than traditional male entrepreneurs.

Barsh and Yee (2011) further contend that women face different structural obstacles, lifestyle

issues and individually embedded mind-sets when compared to men. While there is proof that

similarities between certain entrepreneurial traits in men and women exist, there are clear

differences in many other aspects. Greene et al., (2003) report that over the last 25 years

various research have identified similarities between male and female entrepreneurs, but that

these investigations lack substantial discussion of the differences. Some of the most compelling

differences between male and female entrepreneurs include: reasons for starting a business,

the choice of business, how they finance their start-ups, governance structures, growth patterns

and some aspects of the entrepreneurial process. Various differences are present in the

traditional way in which entrepreneurship is perceived when compared to a female perspective.

The dimensions of the entrepreneurial process: time, concept of reality, action and interaction,

ethics and power are all often performed in a different and more subtle manner when viewed

from a female perspective. In addition to this, Bird and Brush (2002) further explain that there

are clear differences in the way that traditional and new ventures and organisations are started

and the way that they would be managed from a female perspective. For example, the way a

traditional entrepreneur might make use of resources would be to “lease” people, show low

commitment and be a promoter, whereas a female entrepreneur might take a different approach

by committing to people and taking the form of a trustee. There are also differences in the

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structure, method of controlling of systems, culture and policy integration. McAdam (2013)

asserts that there are many similarities in the operating profile of small businesses despite the

varying traits of the owners, but that there is indeed a significant difference within the operating

profiles of female owners. Many still follow a feminised working pattern, trying to balance work,

home and childcare. While some might say this pattern is acceptable, many may see it as

discrediting the value and growth potential of the business (McAdam, 2013). This need for

supplementary research on female entrepreneurship further extends to developing and

emerging countries where culture still plays a huge role in the development and empowerment

of women. Many cultures still believe that women are solely responsible for home and family

related tasks as well as purposes of reproduction (De Bruin et al., 2006; Karanja and Bwisa,

2013). This could restrict women from starting a business or hinder their growth potential owing

to their status within the community. Many African cultures still implement a policy where

women are not allowed to own any assets and which holds that everything they own actually

belongs to their husbands, creating structural and cultural challenges for female entrepreneurs

(Chitsike, 2000; Mungai and Ogot, 2012). According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor

(GEM) women tend to lack confidence compared to their male equals when it comes to

business matters, despite their origin, education level, work status and so forth (Herrington et

al., 2009). Research has also consistently confirmed that early-stage entrepreneurial activity

(TEA) is gender sensitive due to societal, cultural and economic issues (Singer et al.,

2015).Furthermore, perceptions that women are less capable than males in the field of

business, are still widely held by many cultures; even by some westernised economies.

McAdam (2013) asserts that females are a diverse group and that deeper studies into culture,

ethnicity, class and education are also important and could indeed influence the way women

perceive business ownership and manage their ventures. As research in many cases have a

direct and indirect link to management policies and improvements in strategies, having more

high impact data available could contribute to improved management in certain cases.

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Due to the increased participation and growth in numbers of women business owners,

many would agree that more, and a better body of research is needed in the area of female

entrepreneurship. One of the discussions by experts in the literature concerns the gap in

research into female entrepreneurship. Despite more studies in this area being undertaken over

the past few decades, there is still a gap in the available literature. From the studies on female

entrepreneurship, one may note that many of them focus on investigating individual level and/or

country or regional profiles. Few studies pursue general research on entrepreneurship that

involves analysis at firmlevel and integrated-level (De Bruin et al., 2007). It has also been

suggested that cross-country studies will be desirable in future. In addition to this, comparisons

between different women groups or samples are necessary. For example, will women from a

rural African community display the same entrepreneurial characteristics as women from a

sophisticated first world country? Greene et al., (2003) furthermore suggest that additional

research is required on the role of human capital, strategic choices and structural barriers in

female entrepreneurship. A report issued by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in

South Africa indicated that there is a major absence of high quality empirical studies on female

entrepreneurs and that statistical data is lacking (Jiyane et al., 2012). Brush and Cooper (2012)

further assert that female entrepreneurship is understudied and not well-documented. De Bruin

et al. (2006) scrutinised the number of publications placed in the top eight entrepreneurship

journals between 1994 and 2006 and found that a mere six to seven percent related to female

entrepreneurship. In addition to this, Greene et al.,(2003) prepared a similar study on nine of the

leading entrepreneurial journals from 1976 to 2001 and found that in 661 issues published

during that time, a mere 129 articles concentrated on women entrepreneurship or business

development. Adding to this is the fact that most of these publications appeared after 1990 and

that just 7 percent of these articles used a conceptual approach or were based on literature

reviews. Ahl (2002) found that some of the so-called “A-journals” in the field of management did

not publish noticeably on entrepreneurship and even if they did, there was almost nothing on

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female entrepreneurship. She found that of seven of the leading American based management

journals (Journal of Management, Academy of Management Journal, Management Science,

Organization Science, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal,

and Administrative Science Quarterly) between the years 1985 and 1999 just 97 articles out of

5291 were entrepreneurship related and of these, just three reported on female

entrepreneurship. This equals a mere 0.056 percent of all articles from these journals. She

conducted a similar search in five leading European journals ranging from 1981 to 1993 (first

publication issues of each journal) until 2002 and found just 12 research articles that were on

the topic of entrepreneurship while none of these addressed female or gender related

entrepreneurship.

The literature on mainstream entrepreneurship primarily focusing on the male

entrepreneur emerged in the 1930s. The late 1970s witnessed the emergence of an explicit

sub-domain of women entrepreneurship (Jennings and Brush, 2013). This section outlines the

chronological history of development of the literature on women/female entrepreneurship. Table

3 presents a summary of the key historical milestones in this sub-domain.

In 1976, Schwartz published the first academic paper on female entrepreneurship in the Journal

of Contemporary Business and the first policy report in this area titled “The bottom line: Unequal

enterprise in America” was released in 1979 in Washington DC. Hisrich and O’Brien (1981)

made the first academic conference presentation on women entrepreneurs at the Babson

College Conference on Entrepreneurship in 1981. The first academic book on female

entrepreneurs was published in 1985 (Goffee and Scase, 1985).

Initial research on entrepreneurship assumed that male and female entrepreneurs were

generally the same and there was no specific need for a separate investigation (Bruni et al.

2004). As a result, the sub-domain of women entrepreneurship did not develop as a significant

area until the late 1990s to early 2000s (Jennings and Brush, 2013) with the launch of two

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dedicated conferences. First, a policy oriented Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development (OECD) Conference on women entrepreneurs in small and medium sized

enterprises was held in 1998. Second, an academic conference Diana International was held in

2003.

It was not until 2009 that a niche journal titled the International Journal of Gender and

Entrepreneurship was launched. Eventually, leading journals in the mainstream

Entrepreneurship area recognized the growing need for research in this area. The journal of

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice published a special issue on women entrepreneurship in

2006 and 2007 (de Bruin et al. 2006) and then again in 2012 (Hughes et al., 2012).

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM, http://www.gemconsortium.org/) also published a

special report on women and entrepreneurship in 2006 followed by subsequent reports in 2010,

2012 and 2015. In 2015, Global Entrepreneurship Development Institute published the Female

Entrepreneurship Index report that analyzed conditions for fostering women entrepreneurship in

77 countries. As per the report, the top ten countries for female entrepreneurs in 2015 were-

United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Iceland, Sweden,

Finland and Norway (Terjesen and Lloyd, 2015).

In recent years, the debate about the marginality of women in academic science has

been extended to academics’ engagement with industry and their commercial efforts

(Tartari & Salter, 2015). Globally, women’s entrepreneurship is increasingly understood to be a

key driver of economic growth and job creation. Indeed, an estimated $4.5 trillion would be

added to Asia and the Pacific’s gross domestic product by 2025 by closing the gender

disparities in economic opportunities. Widely recognized as a key component of women’s

economic empowerment, women’s entrepreneurship has the potential to contribute

significantly to advancing women’s rights and increasing their influence (The Asia Foundation,

2018). Women form a nation’s significant human resource (Pierce, Achdiawan, & Roshetko,

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2016; Tartari & Salter, 2015). They should be sued as instruments for the growth and

development of the economy as well as to their community. Women, on the other hand, are

willing to take up business and lend their contributions to the growth of the nation. Women are

now ready to do all business and enter all professions like trade, industry, engineering, etc.

(The Asia Foundation, 2018; Pedro, 1942; Pierce et al., 2016) The role and participation of

women are recognized and steps are being taken for the promotion of women entrepreneurship,

women must be shaped up properly with other entrepreneurial traits and skills to face the

challenges of world markets, meet the changes in the trends, be competent enough to

sustain and strive for excellence in the entrepreneurial field (Bumatay, Sulabo, & Ragus,

2008; Fini, Marzocchi, & Sobrero, 2009; Holwerda, 2018). Complete entrepreneurial

development in a nation can be achieved by the participation of women and therefore the

growth and development of women entrepreneurs must be accelerated. Entrepreneurship

plays an imperative role in the growth of any community. Development of

entrepreneurship culture and qualitative business development services are the major

requirements for industrials growth, especially contribute to the growth of every woman.

Entrepreneurial skills are essential for industrialization and for the alleviation of mass

unemployment and poverty. Today, women in advanced market economics own more than 25

percent of all businesses and women-owned businesses in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe,

and Latin America are growing rapidly. In some regions of the world, the transformation of the

market economy, women entrepreneurs is a growing trend. A woman as an entrepreneur is

economically more powerful than as a mere worker because ownership not only confers

control over assets and liabilities but also gives her the freedom to make decisions. Through

entrepreneurship development a woman will not only generate income for other women in the

locality, but also will have a multiplier effect in the generation of income and poverty

alleviation (Emm, Ks, Gomolemo, & Oa, 2017; García-rodríguez & Gil-soto, 2017; Junior,

Antonio, Gimenez, & Wendling, 2018; Mamun, Binti, Nawi, Farhah, & Binti, 2016; Sánchez-

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escobedo, Fernández-portillo, Díaz-casero, & Hernández-mogollón, 2016). A woman as an

entrepreneur is economically more powerful than as a mere worker because ownership not only

confers control over assets and liabilities but also gives her the freedom to make decisions.

Through identifying entrepreneurial skills, a woman generation the skills for their own self-

development (I. Ismail, Husin, Abdul, Mohd, & Che, 2016; Jovane, Seliger, & Stock, 2017;

Wickstrøm, Liu, & Schøtt, 2017). Empowering women is a challenge. Micro-enterprises not

only enhance national productivity, generate employment, but also help to develop

economic independence, personal and social capabilities among women. Economic

empowerment of women by micro-entrepreneurship led to the empowerment of women in

many things such as socioeconomic opportunity, property rights, political representation,

social equality, personal right, family development, market development, community

development and at least the nation development (D. Ismail, Khairy, & Domil, 2014; Schneider,

2017; Suzana et al., 2014). Entrepreneurship development among women can be considered

a possible approach to economic empowerment of women. Human resources and

technology are the two important factors of growth in the new economic order. To activate

these two factors require entrepreneurship development in a big way in an economy.

Entrepreneurship and economic development have been found as positively correlated

variables in various research studies conducted in different nations. The growth of

developing economies may be attributed to a large extent to the growth of their

entrepreneurship. Further, the growth of women entrepreneurship has been relatively high in

developing nations as compared to developing countries(Khayri, Yaghoubi, & Yazdanpanah,

2011; Nardi & Fella, 2017; Rachwa, 2011; Sánchez & Sahuquillo, 2012; Stephany, Fontinele,

Maria, Barros, & Moraes, 2017; Yang, Liu, & Mai, 2018).

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report for Women 2016/17 reports that

274 million women were already running their own businesses across 74 economies, of which

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111 million were running well-established businesses by 2016. As globalization is breaking

down the barriers that limited businesses by cultures, gender and geography, many partnership

and trade agreements have been developed in an attempt to encourage global economic

activity among women. Women are known to give back about 90 percent of their earnings to the

health and education of their communities and families, contributing to development directly, so

it’s easy to see why it is critical. Understanding women’s entrepreneurial attitudes, trends and

activity from all over the globe will help shape government policies at various levels along with

the numerous educational and training programs aimed at improving the business environment

for women.

Here are some interesting findings -- and paradoxes -- from the GEM Women report:

1. Developing economies see a higher male-female parity among entrepreneurs than developed

economies.

Asia and Latin America showed the highest parity between male and female entrepreneurs,

resulting in higher Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) in factor-driven economies. Economies at

the innovation-driven stage of development saw women start businesses at 60 percent the rate

of men -- a surprisingly sharp decline from factor-driven economies. Despite the advantage of

technology in a typical innovation economy, fewer women were inclined towards

entrepreneurship.

2. More women than men cite opportunity motives for business.

More women than men, about 20 percent more, cite opportunity as the primary reason for

venturing into business even in factor-driven economies. This only becomes more pronounced

in the innovation-driven group, where women are three and a half times more likely to cite

opportunity motives rather than necessity motives.

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The increased opportunity perception is associated with the higher TEA. Also, the report shows

that women entrepreneurs have a 5 percent greater likelihood of innovativeness than men

across all 74 economies.

Related: Danica Patrick Spent Years Preparing to Retire -- by Laying the Groundwork for a New

Career

3. More women than men never start their business.

Though the number of women who aspire to start their businesses is closer to the number of

men, the gap widens among business-owners, indicating that women are less likely to start their

business and also more likely to exit at early stages or between phases of transition (4 out of 10

in factor-driven economies). This trend slightly improves in innovation-driven economies where

there are two exits for every 10 businesses owned by women.

Business discontinuance among women is associated with lower growth expectations and

dealing with their expected roles as primary caregivers for their families.

4. Women gravitate towards community-driven initiatives.

In the developed economies, more than half of women-led businesses are seen to be clustered

around government, health, education and social services. The report shows that women are

geared towards sectors typically dependent on human capital -- possibly due to women’s

inherently greater emotional appeal.

5. Entrepreneurial activity declines as economic development increases.

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Surprisingly, entrepreneurial activity among women showed a decline when economic

development improved, resulting in a wider gender gap.

While developing countries showed higher entrepreneurial activity, fewer enterprises were likely

to transition to a mature stage. Innovation-driven economies were seen to be more conducive

for sustainable businesses but registered slower growth than men-owned businesses.

Interestingly, women in innovation-driven economies displayed a less favorable view of their

own capabilities than women in developing economies.

Laurel Delaney, founder of Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global and author of the bestselling

book “Exporting: The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably,” says “Even in a developed

economy, women business owners are less likely to explore and expand their products or

services because they think they can’t do it, or that they don’t have access to the right training,

education, advisory networks, mentorships and community programs. This perceived deficiency

makes it difficult for women to access markets, conduct marketing and establish relationships.”

Related: A Day in the Life of Jen Gotch, the Female Badass Behind the Multimillion-Dollar

Company Ban.do

6. Entrepreneurial activity declines as education level increases.

Entrepreneurial participation was seen to decline with an increase in the level of education,

suggesting that general education is less relevant for building entrepreneurial skills or

competencies.

This fact is demonstrated by the emergence of entrepreneurial activities in the most unexpected

of places. A refugee camp in South Sudan was found to be flourishing with micro-enterprises

and small businesses, mostly led by women. Technology, the massive game changer is

crushing barriers between geographies and cultures, and unifying businesses with the perfect

customer to get them hooked without prohibitive costs.

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“A global mindset starts with self-awareness, reflects an authentic openness to and engagement

with the world, and employs a heightened awareness to the sensitivity of cross-cultural

differences,” noted Delaney.

A person’s intention to act entrepreneurially is a strong predictor of entrepreneurial action,

especially starting a firm. This begs the question, what explains entrepreneurial intention?

People’s intentions have been considered consequences of their personal traits, demographic

background, cognitive make-up, and their context. Here we combine these approaches into a

two-level model to account for how intention is shaped by individual and cultural conditions

around the world. We hypothesize that intention is promoted by perceived capabilities, risk

propensity and awareness of opportunities, and that these are affected by demographic

attributes, especially formal education and entrepreneurial training, and by cultural context. We

use the GEM adult population survey in 2008 in all the 34 nations where people were asked

about their entrepreneurial training. We also use the World Values Survey in which national

culture is measured along two major dimensions, traditionality versus secular-rationalism and

materialism versus self-expressionism. The hypotheses are tested by regressions. We find that

people’s entrepreneurial intention is promoted by their risk propensity, opportunity awareness

and especially their perceived capabilities. This entrepreneurial mindset is variously shaped by

demographics, notable gender in the way that men more often than women consider

themselves capable, risk-willing and aware of opportunities. People’s entrepreneurial attitude is

also shaped by their cultural context in the way that traditionality, more than secular-rationalistic

culture, promotes perceived capabilities, and also in the way that self-expressionism, more than

materialistic culture, enhances perceived capabilities and opportunity awareness.

Social psychology offers strong models of behavioural intentions with significant demonstrated

predictive value for several behaviours. Such models offer sound hypothetical structures that

particularly delineate the procedures underlying intentional acts. Metaexaminations (Kim &

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Hunter, 1993) empirically demonstrate that “Intentions effectively predict behaviour and attitude

(states of mind) effectively predicts intentions.” Over an extensive variety of studies identifying a

wide range of behaviours and intentions to take part in those behaviour’s, attitudes explain more

than half of the changes in intentions. Intentions clarify at least 30% of the changes in

behaviour. Clarifying 30% of the difference in behaviour analyses positively to the 10% level and

is ordinarily clarified straightforwardly by quality measures or attitudes (Ajzen, 1987). More distal

marvels, for example, profession decisions will probably bring about a smaller effect. Still,

intentions remain a huge, unbiased indicator of career choice (Lent et al., 1994).

The theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980)

generally asserts that “The central cause of an action/behaviour is the intention, more

specifically behavioural intention, that is, what one anticipates doing or not doing.” The intention,

on the other hand, is dictated by attitude (evaluation of the action/behaviour) and a subjective

norm (evaluation of other available options) (Trafimow, 2009). TRA is comprised of three

noteworthy constructs: (1) the behavioural intention that relies upon (2) subjective standards

(nor) (3) dispositions (attitudes). The more grounded the inspirational dispositions toward

conduct are and the more grounded the social standards toward conduct are, the more

grounded the intention is.

Behavioural Intentions measures the quality of the intention to execute a predefined activity.

Subjective standards depict the weight by associates or companions to conform to standards. If,

for instance, entrepreneurship is viewed as excessively unsafe by guardians and companions,

an individual will be more averse to entrepreneurial conduct. Attitudes comprise the

assumptions about the outcomes of performing a predefined activity. Behavioural beliefs are

assumed to be a principle impact on one’s attitude towards performing a certain

action/behaviour; normative beliefs on the other hand impact one’s subjective norm towards

performing an action/behaviour (Madden et al., 1992). In summary, according to the theory of

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reasoned action, the immediate precursor of behaviour is intention which is a function of

information and beliefs (Madden et al., 1992).

The TPB (Ajzen, 1985) extends the limit of unadulterated volitional control indicated by the TRA.

This is accomplished by including convictions with respect to the ownership of essential assets

and opportunities to proceed with a given conduct. The more assets and opportunities people

think they have, the more prominent their apparent behavioural control over their conduct ought

to be. As an account of behavioural and standardized convictions, it is additionally conceivable

to isolate these convictions and regard them as halfway autonomous determinants of conduct

(behaviour) (Madden et al., 1992). Marketing researchers, as well as social psychologists, have

had significant achievements utilizing intention-based models in pragmatic applications and

fundamental research. Such reliable, vigorous and replicable ideal models have been generally

applied in practical circumstances, such as career/profession preferences, weight loss and

coupon use (Ajzen, 1987; Kim & Hunter, 1993). TPB distinguishes three attitudinal

predecessors of expectation. Two mirror the apparent attractive quality of playing out behaviour:

individual attitude toward results of the behaviour and perceived social standards/norms. The

third, perceived behavioural control reflects observations that the behaviour is individually

controllable. Perceived behavioural control reflects the apparent feasibility of playing out

behaviour and is accordingly identified with a view of situational competence (self-efficacy). TPB

additionally determines the forerunners of each of these attitudes.

Shapero’s model of the Entrepreneurial Event (SEE) is another important theory in the

entrepreneurship intentions world. It has been referred to as an implicit intention model specific

to the entrepreneurship domain (Krueger et al., 2000). In this model, the intention to venture into

business is said to be derived from the propensity to act upon opportunities, perceptions of its

attractiveness and lastly, likelihood of its success (Krueger et al., 2000). The model assumes

that “human behaviour is guided by inertia until an outside force interrupts that inertia.” The

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interruption is most often negative such as an abrupt job termination; however, sometimes the

interruption of the inertia can be due to positive events such winning a lottery (Shapero & Sokol,

1982). The interruptions trigger a change in behaviour and the victim is always forced to make

decisions that seek the best opportunity available. (Krueger et al., 2000) According to Shapero,

behaviour depends on credibility and propensity to act. Credibility demands behaviour to be

both feasible and desirable. Thus, entrepreneurial events require both in order for the desired

potentiality, to start a business, to be achieved. In summary, the entrepreneurial event is viewed

as a result of cultural, social and personal factors further, Shapero defines perceived desirability

as the attractiveness of starting a business, i.e., both intra and extra personal impacts and

defines perceived feasibility as the level to which one feels capable of venturing into the

entrepreneurship world. This is achieved empirically by using his proposed testable, eight-item,

inventory questions that aim at various aspects of perceived feasibility and desirability.

“People act on decisions based on their own personal disposition and thus reflect the aspects of

intentions.” Acting on an opportunity is highly dependent on control perceptions; the urge to gain

control as a result of taking action.

References:

POLISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES Meyer N.

Women Entrepreneurship- A Literature Review
https://journal-jger.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40497-016-0055-x
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230681247_Women_in_Entrepreneurship
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/315416
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334165052_Entrepreneurial_Skills_of_Women_in_the
_Rural_Communities
https://www.academia.edu/948712/Entrepreneurial_Intention_Promoted_by_Perceived_Capabili
ties_Risk_Propensity_and_Opportunity_Awareness_A_Global_Study
https://www.abacademies.org/articles/what-influences-entrepreneurial-intentions-an-empirical-
study-using-data-from-the-global-entrepreneurship-monitor-7363.html

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