Gender and entrepreneurship: a review and process model

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on gender, and specifically, women and entrepreneurship as well as present a process model of gender and entrepreneurship to guide future research.

Following research from Baron and Henry, the literature is organized into a process model of gender and entrepreneurship and a brief review of the research on each stage of the model is presented. Further, building on the process model, specific propositions associated with each stage that are motivated by expectancy theory are developed.

Research on women and entrepreneurship has increased over the last two decades and there is much research yet to be done.

Practical implications include that women may engage in networking activities focused on family and friends for obtaining financial resources.

Based on this review, evidence suggests societal attributions and socialization processes relative to the sexes may create barriers to entry for women due to the uneven distribution of assets, educational foci, and daily life activity expectations amongst the sexes. These factors, in effect, create the glass ceiling that women are often described as facing that extends to entrepreneurship. To lessen these effects, women might be advised to pursue education within fields more closely linked to high‐growth industries.

The authors review research on women and entrepreneurship from 1993‐2010 and organize the literature within Baron and Henry's process model of entrepreneurship. As such, the paper illuminates a process model of gender and entrepreneurship that builds from and extends research linking the I/O psychology and entrepreneurship literatures.