THE FEMALE-ENTREPRENEURSHIP FIELD: 1990-2004

Maika Valencia, ESADE. maika.valencia@esade.edu

0. Abstract

The present literature review is an attempt to trace the actual state of academic research
on female entrepreneurship. Reviewing and summarizing the trends emerging from the
findings of previous studies on women’s presence in the entrepreneurial activity during
the last decade. The studies were classified using Gartner’s (1985) new venture creation
framework, involving the individual characteristics of the entrepreneur, the nature of
women-owned business, the process by which the new business is started, and the
environment surrounding the new venture. It also summarizes emerging trends, future
research questions are proposed, and implications are discussed.

1. Introduction

The increasing presence of women in the business field as entrepreneurs or business

owners1 in the last decades has changed the demographic characteristics of
entrepreneurs. Women-owned businesses are playing a more active role in society and
the economy, inspiring academics to focus on this interesting phenomenon. Could the
increase of women in professional activities such as entrepreneurship result from social
evolution in regard to gender role perception? Do sociocultural factors have a direct
positive influence on the increasing presence of women in the entrepreneurial world?
Are changes in institutional factors such as public economic policies conducive to
female entrepreneurial activity? These are some of the questions that need to be
explored in order to explain the increasing presence of women as business owners.

1
For the purpose of this paper no distinction will be made between the terms ‘women entrepreneurs’ and ‘women
business owners’, since the study focuses on venture creations by women.
This phenomenon has been recognized in the business and management scientific
community within the last decades. Important academic publications such as Frontiers
of Entrepreneurship (Babson conference proceedings, 1981-), Journal of Business
Venturing (1985-) and Entrepreneurship, and Theory & Practice (formerly American
Journal of Small Business, 1988-) have encouraged the creation of studies on women as
business owners (Swedberg, 2000; Veciana 1999; Brush, 1992). Advances in this field
of studies have been helped by the fact that world institutions such as the United
Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have
recognized the importance of producing reports and statistics separated by gender and
have encouraged their member countries to carry out such studies.

This paper attempts to present the state of academic research on women entrepreneurs.
A review and summary of trends emerging from the findings of previous studies of the
presence of women in entrepreneurial activity is presented. Using Gartner’s (1985)
model for describing new venture creation, as a useful model to classify research on
women entrepreneurship. This paper first presents the empirical support for the
characteristics of the ‘individual’ dimension, followed by studies focusing on the
’organization’ level, the ‘process’ of venture creation, and ending with the
‘environment’ dimension.2 The final section presents conclusions.

2 Literature review

2.1 Model and source review

In order to present the literature review of female-entrepreneurship in the last decades,

authors have used different models to put the existing general literature in the field of
entrepreneurship in order, but similar dimensions of analysis are suggested in their
proposed frameworks (Veciana, 1999; Bull and Willard, 1993; Bygrave, 1993; Low and
MacMillan, 1988; Gartner, 1985).

2
See anexes 1 and 2 for the conclusions and references of authors who have researched the field, in the respective
order of each dimension.
For the present work we have decided to choose the new venture creation phenomenon
as the criteria to organize and review the literature. There exist differents models to
describe the venture creation (e.g. Timmons, 1977; Gartner, 1985), but due to the
research developed in the female-entrepreneurship area, we considered the model
proposed by Gartner in 1985 more suitabled.

The four dimensional conceptual framework of Gartner (1985) provides a way of

analyzing past research studies, at the same time of being useful drawing researcher’s
attention to considerations inherent in each of the four dimensions. Resulting in a useful
and practical model to organize the research work realized about female-
entrepreneurship. Gartner (1985) provided that framework for describing the creation
of a new venture, taking into consideration four dimensions: the individual (the
entrepreneur), the organization (the venture created), the process (previous activities to
start a venture) and the environment (external factors). This comprehensive model
recognizes the complexity and variation that thrives in the new venture creation
phenomenon. Then, the model allowed us to make a classification of studies according
to the dimensions involved in the venture creation, providing a more accurate analysis
of entrepreneurial activity. Indeed, this model has been used by other authors within the
female-entrepreneurship field because of its adaptation and practicity to it.

The elaboration of the present literature review was based mainly on an exhaustive
identification of academic articles published during the period of 1990-2004 in the
leading entrepreneurship journals, such as Frontiers of Entrepreneurship (journal with
more publications in this field), Journal of Business Venturing, and Entrepreneurship,
and Theory & Practice (formerly American Journal of Small Business). Other sources
were also incorporated, including books, conference proceedings, and the Global
Entrepreneurhsip Monitor (GEM), created in 1999, due to its importance in the
entrepreneurship field3.

3
The GEM is the world’s largest and longest-standing study of entrepreneurial activity, a project which
focuses on researching in the entrepreneurship field, creating large data set and entrepreneurial
measurements, and running several studies oriented to measure differences in the level of entrepreneurial
activity among countries with the objective that results may contribute to enhance this activity.
2.2 The Individual Dimension

In the field of entrepreneurship, the earliest studies had focused on the figure of the
entrepreneur, concentrating on the sociodemographical and psychological
characterization at an individual level. Empirical studies tried to identify the personal
characteristics that could define and differentiate entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs
(Low and MacMillan, 1988; Fagenson, 1993). However, as a result of these studies,
some authors suggest that it would be more fruitful to investigate the different types of
entrepreneurs, instead of differentiating them from non-entrepreneurs, due to the
enormous diversity of entrepreneur profiles (Amit, 1994). It was believed research from
these perspectives could offer significant explanatory and predictive potential about the
entrepreneur. However, research from the traits perspective has not, progressed beyond
the early foundations of McClelland (Shanthakumar, 1992), and has even been labeled
as a “dead end” (Gartner, 1988).

The GEM realized on 2004 a cross-national study on women’s entrepreneurial activity,

--the first study launched by the Consortium on female entrepreneurship-. This study
included 34 country members from all over the world4, for each income group of
countries was analysed the behavior of women entrepreneurs’ dimension, wich
considered universal factors such as: age, education, work status, network, perceived
skills, opportunity recognition, and fear of failure. (Minniti et. al; 2005). The results
related to the traits perspective (e.g. women entrepreneurs’ age are in the range of 25-34
years old, except in the high-income countries where it was 35-44 years old) do not
differ from male entrepreneurs. Moreover, other studies concluded the same, not
significant demographic distinctions were found between the characteristics of male and

4
In order to present the results of the study, the GEM grouped the countries in three levels according to
their GDP per capita: low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. Levels were determined as
follows: not exceeding US$10,000, between US$10,000 and US$25,000, and exceeding US$25,000
respectively. Low-income countries: Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Ecuador, Hungary, Jordan, Peru, Poland,
South Africa, and Uganda. Midle income countries: Grecia, Hong Kong, Israel, New Zealand, Portugal,
Singapore, Slovenia, and Spain. High-income countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK, and the USA.
Minniti et al., GEM (2005).
female entrepreneurs (Sexton and Bowman-Upton, 1990; Brush and Bird, 1996; Hisrich
et al., 1997).

Nevertheless, among personal characteristics of women entrepreneurs, there were clear

differences in two background variables: education and professional experience. These
variables turned out to play an important role in venture creation success and survival
(Dolinsky et al., 1993; and Fischer et al., 1993). Educational level has been shown to
have a positive impact on initial entry and future business performance, and there is a
strong causal link between experience (industry and managerial), formal education and
successful performance (Hisrich and Brush, 1988; Fischer et al., 1993). Further,
professional experience is considered by many authors to be a key structural factor
having a major impact on the ability of women to start a business and to improve their
business performance (Shabbir and Di Gregorio, 1996; Catley and Hamilton, 1998).

A study carried out in the USA by Boden and Nucci (2000) states that women
entrepreneurs have a lower educational background than their male counterparts, but it
is worth mentioning that the samples considered in this study were from 1982 and 1987,
which clearly implies a different scenario from that of today. Furthermore, Fischer et al.
(1993), and Dolinsky et al. (1993) maintain that there are no relevant differences in the
educational levels between men and women entrepreneurs. These studies were carried
out in developed countries, Canada and the USA respectively, and the results cannot be
generalized to fit other contexts, such as those of developing countries. As it was
showed in the GEM study (Minniti et al., 2005), women entrepreneurs that are the most
likely to start a new business in high-income countries have some graduate experience
while that in low-income countries the majority have not completed a secondary degree.

Several empirical studies reveal that women entrepreneurs have had less experience
than men entrepreneurs in managing employees, less years of industrial experience, less
experience working in similar firms or helping to start new businesses (Brush, 1992;
Fischer et al., 1993; Carter et al., 1997; Lerner et al., 1997; Boden and Nucci, 2000).
Considering this precedent, women appear to be at disadvantage with respect to men in
venture creation activity.
In an attempt to find a psychological characterization of the entrepreneur, empirical
studies exploring cognitive and personality aspects such as the studies realized by
Catley and Hamilton (1998) and Sexton and Bowman (1990) maintain that there are
no significant differences between male and female entrepreneurs regarding
psychological characteristics. A recent theory developed by the psychologist Baron-
Cohen (2003) indicates, from a genetic and biological foundation, women are physically
better “wired” (brain’s structure) for empathy than men, implying that they are better at
social skills, such as their perception of other people and social adaptability.
Furthermore the social feminism theory suggests women are better empathizers due to
the fact that persons are shaped by different societal experiences. Where men are
socialized to be masterful, dominant, and competitive, women are socialized to be
nurturing and relational (Gilligan, 1982 and Aldrich, 1989; in Greene et al., 1999).
Despite of these theories suggesting same profile for women and men behavior not
conclusive results are found in empirical studies on entrepreneurs, e.g. Leahy and
Eggers (1998).

Women’s own attitudes about and perceptions of themselves are in line with the
theories mentioned above. Empirical research carried out by Hisrich (1996, 1997) found
that women rated themselves higher in the capacity of dealing with people. According
to Kamau (1999), and Fagenson and Marcus (1991), women perceived entrepreneurship
more positively than men, and considered a good relationship with employees, clients
and other professionals vital for business success and growth. Baron and Markman
(2003) have stated that an entrepreneur with greater social competence has better
performance.

Within the psychological characterization studies, what motivates the entrepreneur to

create a business? This is one of the questions being explored most. In the individual
dimension, male and female entrepreneurs have shown differences. There are many
motives for a person to become an entrepreneur. Institutions and authors have classified
them as ‘necessity-push’ and ‘opportunity-pull’ motivations (e.g. The GEM). ‘Push’
motivated entrepreneurs are those whose dissatisfaction with their current position, for
reasons unrelated to their entrepreneurial characteristics, pushes them to start a venture.
‘Pull’ motivated entrepreneurs are those who are attracted by their new venture idea and
initiate venture activity because of the attractiveness of the business idea and its
personal implications (Amit, 1994; GEM, 1999; Bygrave, 2002).

According to various empirical studies (Kourilsky and Walstad, 1998; Kyro, 2001;
DeMartino and Barbato, 2003), some of the main ‘push’ and ‘pull’ motivations for
women to become entrepreneurs are the following: 1) ‘push’ factors are dissatisfaction
with their job, flexibility to manage family obligations, independence and work
aspirations; and 2) ‘pull’ factors are self-fulfillment, family and lifestyle motivators, and
social recognition. In a study run by Amit (1994), ‘pull’ entrepreneurs were found to be
more successful than ‘push’ entrepreneurs.

There are mixed results as to which motivators have a stronger influence on women to
become entrepreneurs. Catley and Hamilton (1998) suggested that women and men
entrepreneurs are similarly motivated, and it is by ‘pull’ factors. And the same result has
been supported in the “GEM. 2004 Report on women and entrepreneurship” (Minniti et
al., 2005), where respondents said they were involved in entrepreneurial activities
mainly because of opportunity. A 71,4% of women choose entrepreneurship in order to
exploit an opportunity, and the number of women who choose entrepreneurship because
of necessity were concentrated in low-income countries. Although, there exists other
empirical studies supporting the view that women are more motivated to become
entrepreneurs because of ‘push’ factors (Fischer et al., 1993; Marlow, 1997; and Glas
and Petrin, 1998). DeMartino and Barbato (2003) suggest that career motivation
differences between men and women entrepreneurs become greater when the
comparison takes into account the status of “married with dependent children”. Caputo
and Dolinsky (1998) found that the presence of children increased the propensity of
women to start their own businesses. This finding results coherent because women deal
with the problematic of balancing family and business.
Even though most of the articles published in the last decades are about the individual
dimension (Annex 1), many discrepancies can be observed in the findings, principally
in the professional experience and cognitive skills defining women entrepreneurs.

2.3 The Organization Dimension

The research realized in this dimension –the organization- have studied the following
objectes of study: ownership, sectors of activity, management strategies, business
performance and success.

According to Rosa and Hamilton (1994), there were no significant differences between
men and women entrepreneurs in forms of ownership of ventures. Some differences
were found in forms of association. Men frequently form associations with four or more
other owners, while women form associations with just one other owner (most likely a
domestic partner). Other distinction in women’s organizations is that they tend to have
domestic partners and other relatives who contribute to the business in some way, even
in the ‘individual’ cases where there is a sole woman in business. Rosa and Hamilton
(1994) describe the findings related to kinship and ownership as institutionalized social
trends. Their findings show that inheritance levels for women were very low compared
with those for men, and this was more dramatically observed in traditional sectors.

Regarding to strategies in the new venture created, a general strategy follow in greater
degree in women-owned businesses is a product-service quality strategy (Chaganti and
Parasuraman, 1996). With respect to the rhythm of growth, tend to have slower early
growth trajectories (Minniti, 2005). Women showed a preference for slower-growth
strategies due to the risks associated with fast-paced growth strategies (Cliff, 1998), .
Gundry and Welsch (2001) analyzed rapid-growth-oriented women entrepreneurs and
identified their distinctive characteristics as having a team-based form of organizational
design, strong leadership, and utilizing a wider range of financing sources for the
expansion of the venture.

In relation to financing strategies, women and men entrepreneurs generally use one
external source of finance - a credit bank (Hokkanen et al., 1998). Due to the
characteristics of the women-owned businesses and their activity sector, they are more
likely consumer-oriented businesses, small companies, and involve in traditional sectors
(low-risk) Minniti, 2005; Anna et al., 1999. All these factors influence that financing
strategy to be very simple; providing most of women all the required start-up capital
themselves.

Financing through the use of venture capital in women-owned businesses is still very
uncommon; very few women entrepreneurs receive equity. Those who do, are women
whose companies have large sales figures and whose owners have more training or
expertise in finance and prior experience as senior executives (Allen and Carter, 1996;
Brush et al., 2000; Carter, 2002). It is important to point out that these cases were
observed in the USA, where women-owned business are more diversified than those in
developing countries, and are able to have access to this kind of financing.

Business performance is one of the more reviewed topics within this field, and findings
on it can be grouped into two categories: authors who maintain that there is a similar
performance in women- and men-owned organizations (Watson, 2002; Watson and
Robinson, 2003), and authors who suggest women-owned organizations are lower in
performance than men-owned organizations (Fischer et al., 1993; Srinivasan et al.,
1994; Sexton & Robinson, 1989). Watson and Robinson (2003) point out that
in performance measurement, if risk is controlled then no significant differences result
between the performances of male- and female-controlled small and medium
enterprises. Watson (2002) found no significant differences between male and female-
controlled businesses, referring to total assets (TITTA), return on assets (ROA), or
return on equity (ROE). But, according to findings of other authors stating that women-
owned organizations have a lower performance than men-owned organizations, the
average sales, earnings and growth rate of women-owned business were significantly
lower than those of their male counterparts (Sexton & Robinson, 1989). In terms of
survival and growth rates, women-owned firms had lower rates than those of men-
owned firms (Fischer et al., 1993; Srinivasan et al., 1994). As the above empirical
studies cited, it can be observed the way in which performance is measured results
diverge. All these studies have in common that they make reference to performance as
equivalent to an economic performance, and not considering other variables to measure
such as owner’s expectations, company goals, etc. As Solymossy (1998) refers,
measuring success is to some extent problematic due to an absence of consensus as to
what constitutes entrepreneurial success; various success dimensions belong to
economic performance, measuring only one aspect of success: economic. And there is
other aspect, frequently missed that refers to the subjective part of the entrepreneur’s
expectations, which in the case of women entrepreneurs result very significant.

Research carried out on this dimension implies the need of further studies that could
give a better understanding to the women entrepreneurs’ phenomenon. For instance, it
would be interesting to explore the role that play personal achievement rather than
economic achievement as success indicator, or identify key variables involved in
organizational strategies adequated to the type of companies created by women.

2.4 The Process Dimension

There are very few studies focusing on the process dimension within the female-
entrepreneurship field of research (Annex 2). The studies reviewed in the present paper
on this dimension involve start-up activities, strategies, and organization design.

It was found little research about the stage previous to beginning the start-up process -
business start-up intentions-. In a study realized by Gatewood (1995) explored cognitive
factors related to internal and stable explanations of intentions to start a business, she
stated that these intentions play an important role in successful business start-up
activities for women, whereas external factors, such as market needs, are more
significant for men.

According to the study by Alsos and Ljunggren (1998), there were differences between
men and women in the variety of entrepreneurial activities carried out during the start-
up process. They state that women entrepreneurs elaborate on business plans to a lesser
extent, have a larger need for external capital, hire employees to a lesser extent and on
the average, and take more time between initiations of activities. These observations are
in correspondence to what have been mentioned above in the organization dimension,
regarding to the type of business created by women –e.g. involved in traditional sectors,
small business size, etc.-, because of their business characteristics it is not necessary a
large external capital nor hire employees, etc.

Srinivasan (1994) recognizes that start-up activities play a critical role in both the
survival and growth of a business. In his study he used data from two different periods
of time, taking the first year (start-up) and the third year (survival and growth) as
reference. Alsos and Ljunggren (1998) state there were similar success rates for men
and women in setting up a business even their start-up activities had differences. But
Srinivasan (2004) suggests that maybe these differences are determining factors in why
women-owned businesses present lower rates of survival and growth than men-owned
businesses. Taking into account the kind of women owned-companies, micro and small
businesses most of them, we considered that the manner of how venture creation
process is completed results vital for their survival.

The process of how men and women entrepreneurs organize their businesses seems
similar. Both prefer to start a business with someone they know well or have had ties
with on a social level, and both prefer same-sex teams. Social networking and social
capital play an important role for women entrepreneurs (Aldrich et al., 2002). Lerner et
al. (1999) recognize the fact that a single strong affiliation with a women’s organization
can improve business performance.

As we have observed thorugh the literature revision, new venture creation process is the
least explored within the female entrepreneurship literature. Therefore, several topics
under this field need to be explored in order to indentify the critical variables presented
in the venture creation process.

2.5 The Environment Dimension

Entrepreneurship is generally accepted to be a contextual phenomenon, affected by the

economic, political, social, and cultural environment in which it occurs (Steams and
Hills, 1996; Lumpkin and Dess, 1996 in Solymossy, 1998). In the female
entrepreneurship field, literature reviewed under this dimension has focused mostly in
issues referring to accessibility and availability of capital through debt financing, from a
perspective of gender discrimination. Hardly any studies focus on other variables
influencing venture creation by women entrepreneurs.

The economic theory formulated by North, D. (1990), institutional economy, utilized in

studies in the entrepreneurship field, e.g. Veciana, 1999; Urbano, 2003; results useful to
give an order to empirical studies, classifying them into ‘formal institutions’ and
‘informal institutions’, former term referring to all legal frames, and the latter refering
to sociocultural values within the society. Taking this into account it could be said that
most of the empirical studies reviewed are focused on the ‘formal institutions’, e.g.
capital access, regulations, etc., and very few others focused on the ‘informal
institutions’, e.g. attitudes and perceptions of society, family support, etc.
Formal institutions, mixed results were found concerning external debt financing -bank
loans-. Several studies state that there was no proof of discrimination against women on
the basis of gender in terms of access to capital and terms of credit (loan size, interest
rate or interest margin). Lenders mainly discriminate on the basis of business size,
preferring to lend to larger businesses. Women-owned businesses in most of the cases
are smaller than men-owned businesses (Read, 1994; Fabowale et al., 1995; Coleman,
1998; Hokkanen, 1998). Here again, it is important to point out that all the empirical
studies cited above make reference to samples in developed countries and therefore
differ from the situation found in developing countries. In the case of developing
countries inaccessability to external financing for women is notorious. The existence of
special financing programs for women through development banks or women’s
associations (ie. the Women’s World Bank) are examples that the necessity exists and
that market institutions are not fulfilling it. Even in developed countries, women
perceive difficulties in access to financing. According to Fay and Williams (1993) and
Coleman (1998), women may experience gender discrimination when seeking start-up
capital and with the terms of credit, but that a high level of education and a good
relationship with the financial institution may help them compensate for this
disadvantage.

Read (1994) concludes in his study of the UK, there are no relevant differences between
women and men entrepreneurs in the use of banking facilities, in attitudes towards bank
charges and in experiences in dealing with banks. The only difference detected was that
women not only used the bank as a financial source but also as an advisor. This may be
due to the fact that the UK is one of the countries with a highly progressive society and
strong banking infrastructure. These characteristics are certainly not present in many
other countries, and taking this fact into account the conclusion of the study cannot be
generalized for all women entrepreneurs.

The most recent studies on capital access explore the equity-financing market for
women-owned companies. These studies has been realized in the USA, Greene et al.
(1999) points out that a very small percentage of women-owned businesses has access
to these resources. It is important to note very few women-owned business are in the
high-growing sectors which are the ones characterized in this kind of lending market.
They explain that the institutional environment of the venture capital industry is a close
and tightly interconnected network. Women, by extension of the social network theory,
are left out of this formal venture capital network.

The rest of the articles reviewed within the environment dimension, not related to
capital, cover different topics, among them, company government regulations. Hisrich
et al. (1997) mention that women perceive this aspect more unfavorably than men. In
relation to the industry environment, interaction with industry forces was perceived as
similar by gender (Rosa and Hamilton, 1994). In reference to the possible problems
presented, they are related to business learning experience derived from the nature of
the industry, and are also perceived as similar by gender (Barrett, 1995; and Hisrich et
al., 1997).

As mentioned before, fewer studies have been developed in the field of ‘soft’ or
‘informal’ aspects. In this area, social networking has played a very important role in
the field of entrepreneurship and venture creation. As the GEM (2005) explored in their
study on women entrepreneurs, mentoring and network support are crucial in boosting
women’s attitudes with respect to leadership and new venture creation. Aldrich (1989),
and Moore and Buttner (1997) mention that men and women create different types of
networks, and that women’s networks are characterized by having more informal
associations and by having same-gender members.

Other variables explored within cultural aspects, referes to perception of

entrepreneurship, family environment, and formal employment barriers. A study by
Holmquist (2001) is one of the few studies analyzing the role of the sociocultural
variables. A cross-country comparative analysis between the USA and Sweden was
carried out, analyzing cultural aspects related to the presence of women in
entrepreneurship. Holmquist sustains that there are culturally based differences in
perceptions of entrepreneurship and gender roles. Her research proves that the distance
between being an entrepreneur and an employee, and between male and female roles
resulted different for each context analysed.

Other studies confirm the view that social attitudes towards women in business have an
impact on women’s aspirations towards business creation (Huq and Richardson, 1997).
Family support is crucial in the business set-up, especially in developing countries, as
was observed in several empirical research: Huq and Richardson (1997) run an
empirical study to explore the issues surrounding the aspiration of a woman to set-up
her own business in a developing country –Bangladesh-, findings showed family
support is a critical factor. Glas and Petrin (1998) found family support was an
important variable involved in entrepreneurial career choices of women entrepreneurs in
Slovenia. Shabbir and Di Gregorio (1996) realized a study in Pakistan exploring how
women interpret structural factors that influence the process of business start-up; and
women expressed that for them was essential to have internal resources e.g.
qualifications, experience; and family support in order to start a business.

It is well stated in all these studies mentioned above that social attitude to female
entrepreneurship play a critical role. As much as other formal structures, such as the
formal employment market and corporative world, affecting women’s decisions to start
their own businesses, due to the ‘glass ceiling’ issue (Alvarez and Meyer, 1998). These
two areas identified influence women’s decision to become entrepreneurs; we consider
that a cross-country study would be helpful to contrast how these factors affect women
in developing and developed countries.

2.6 Conclusion

The female-entrepreneurship is having a greater importance within economies,

according to the GEM (2005) estimates that about 73 million people are active
entrepreneurs in the 34 nations, of those 40,54% are women. It is important to note that
in the present literature review most of the empirical research reviewed did not clearly
state a theory supporting the studies. Female entrepreneurship can be considered a very
broad and recent field of study, where several theories can be linked to the study of this
phenomenon, such as gender theories, managerial theories, public policy, etc. that is
probably the reasons why most of papers in the area are empirical and not properly
theory development. The papers published by the management journals selected in the
present work review the feminist theories of social and liberal feminism as the most
frequently used theories. In this section it will be presented conclusions, and areas for
further research are proposed for each new venture creation dimension, and some
methodological aspects.

In relation to the individual dimension, it could be said not major differences exist
between male and female entrepreneur, both utilize a common entrepreneur profile;
except for experience in professional activities. Special attention should be paid to the
most recent studies that explore a genetic basis for special attributes of women in social
ability and empathy, and the role these attributes play in venture creation. The social
feminism theory should be further studied to determine how the societal experience of
women influences their entrepreneurial activity. This conclusions were made as a result
of what have been observed in the tendency of latest papers published, the small
quantitiy of research dedicated to this less explore areas, and because it would result
more interesting to focus on this theories since most authors conclude women and men
use common personal characteristics as entrepreneurs. So, it will worth to look in new
theories that point on new aspects of skills and personality.

With regard to the organization dimension, future studies should draw special attention
to the sector or industries in which the venture created by women is situated (Anna et
al., 1999; Rosa and Hamilton, 1994), and focus to the performance measurement
indicators used in women-owned businesses. Because what we have been observed in
this revision are differences on performance measurement and then, different
conclusions have been produced. Besides that most performance studies just consider
the economic elements and not deal with levels of satisfaction; which should be take
into account since women consider them very important. Very small quantity of
research was dedicated to the analysis of strategic and structural forms of organizations
run by women.

In the field of female entrepreneurship, the venture creation process dimension is the
level least studied. Very few papers have been written on the subject, therefore making
it still necessary to explore and identify key variables as well as specific activities
women engage in to create a new business, giving special attention to networking
theory and social capital roles.

Concerning the environment dimension, it was showed entrepreneurship is a contextual

field, and for women sociocultural aspects have a great influence, the family support,
sex roles variables, and other sociocultural factors such as society’s perceptions of or
attitudes toward venture creation and the image of women entrepreneurs are very
influencing in their career choice decision to become an entrepreneur. Even though
these significant indicators were identified within the empirical studies reviewed, few
studies had focused on them.

Respect to methodological aspects results important to mention the limited existence of

comparative studies, and studies involving developing countries (annex 3). Very little
research pertaining to developing countries has been carried out, according to the
studies reviewed here, it is mentioned differences in women entrepreneurs from one
society to another exist. Then, more comparative studies that include developing
countries should be carried out and the influence of situational environment on venture
creation by women should be further studied.
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Allen, K., & Carter, N. (1996). Women entrepreneurs: Profile differences across high and low
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ANNEXES
Annex 1. Summary of empirical research by authors, classified according to
Gartner’s model.
Dimension Empirical support

Individual Amit, 1994

Anna et al., 1999
Baron and Markman, 2003
Baron-Cohen, 2003
Boden and Nucci, 2000
Brush and Bird, 1996
Brush, 1992
Caputo and Dolinsky, 1998
Carter et al., 1997
Catley and Hamilton, 1998
Chaganti and Parasuraman, 1996
Cliff, 1998
DeMartino and Barbato, 2003
Dolinsky, et al., 1993
Fagenson and Marcus, 1991
Fagenson, 1993
Fischer et al., 1993
Gatewood et al., 1995
Glas and Petrin, 1998
Greene et al., 1999
Hisrich et al., 1996
Hisrich et al., 1997
Kamau, 1999
Kourilsky and Walstad, 1998
Kyro, 2001
Leahy and Eggers, 1998
Lerner et al., 1997
Marlow, 1997
Sexton and Bowman-Upton, 1990
Shabbir and Di Gregorio, 1996

Organization Allen and Carter, 1996

Barrett, 1995
Boden and Nucci, 2000
Brush and Bird, 1996
Brush et al., 2000
Carter et al., 1997
Chaganti and Parasuraman, 1996
Gundry and Welsch, 2001
Hokkanen et al., 1998
Rosa and Hamilton, 1994
Sexton and Robinson, 1989
Srinivasan et al., 1994
Watson and Robinson, 2003
Watson, 2002

Process Aldrich, et al., 2002

Alsos and Ljunggren, 1998
Carter et al., 1997
Gatewood, 1995
Lerner et al., 1997
Srinivasan, 1994

Environment Allen and Carter, 1996

Alvarez and Meyer, 1998
Barrett, 1995
Carter, 2002
Coleman, 1998
Fabowale, et al., 1995
Fay and Williams, 1993
Greene, et al., 1999
Hisrich et al., 1997
Hokkanen, 1998
Holmquist, 2001
Huq and Richardson, 1997
Kourilsky and Walstad, 1998
Lerner et al., 1997
Moore and Buttner, 1997
Read, 1994
Rosa and Hamilton, 1994
Shabbir and Di Gregorio, 1996