International Handbook of Women and Small Business Entrepreneurship

Citation

Shaw, E. (2006), "International Handbook of Women and Small Business Entrepreneurship", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 107-109. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552550610658170

This edited collection of 20 chapters draws on the work of 29 researchers representing eight countries and five continents to present a global perspective of women's business ownership and issues relevant to understanding the particular and unique circumstances and challenges faced by women business owners. The editors refer to this collection of chapters as a “handbook”. This suggests the book provides an overview of issues central to understanding, researching and supporting women's entrepreneurship and in this respect their description of a “handbook” is appropriate. However, the inference that a “handbook” in some way provides a rudimentary introduction to this subject is more problematic. As discussed below, while some sections of the book are perhaps better suited to the novice researcher, the term “handbook” fails to capture the more sophisticated arguments and discussions presented particularly across Parts 2 and 5 of the book.

Presented in five parts, this book addresses key topics within this growing body of entrepreneurship research. Part 1 includes four chapters which consider the “Personality and behaviour characteristics” of female entrepreneurs. Since the inception of entrepreneurship, issues relating to why individuals enter into entrepreneurship (Orhan, Chapter 1), the characteristics of small business owners (Taylor and Newcomer, Chapter 2) and the entrepreneur's drive and need for achievement (Langan‐Fox, Chapter 3) have attracted significant research attention. Consequently, it is unsurprising that these topics would be explored from the perspective of female entrepreneurs. Much of the research discussed across these chapters presents familiar arguments, well rehearsed within the entrepreneurship literature. There is also some overlap between the chapters presented by Orhan (Chapter 1) and Langan‐Fox (Chapter 3) chapters. Of more interest is the final chapter of this section in which Moore discusses the career paths of women business owners. This chapter considers distinctions between owning a small firm and being entrepreneurial and discussed ways in which established entrepreneurial typologies might be applied to women entrepreneurs.

The second part of the book considers the constraints and conditions of success surrounding women's enterprise. Comprising four chapters, this section makes important and key contributions both to this book and to our understanding of the particular and often unique challenges facing women entrepreneurs. Still's chapter (Chapter 5) is well positioned as the opening chapter to this section as it presents a competent overview of the various constraints faced by women entrepreneurs. Concentrating specifically on the challenges which women entrepreneurs face in accessing and acquiring finance, the chapter by Marlow and Patton (Chapter 6) presents a stark discussion of the barriers women entrepreneurs face when trying to capitalise their business at start‐up and the subsequent negative impact that initial under capitalisation can have on the performance and growth of their firms. After capturing these challenges the authors draw upon feminist analyses to suggest that “the wider influence of female subordination” (p. 73) provides both a relevant explanation for these challenges and continues to present a key hurdle which will take time and wider societal changes to be overcome. They conclude their chapter by identifying focused policy initiatives which facilitate women's access to funding as “a critical facet of any strategy” which seeks to improve women entrepreneurs access to and acquisition of finance for business. In the third chapter of this part Martin and Martin (Chapter 7) consider the complex issue of the impact of gender on succession planning in small firms. This chapter questions the value of extant succession literature which the authors argue “assumes a traditional model of small firm entrepreneurship … [which] … views a small business as set up by a male entrepreneur, alone or in partnership with other male entrepreneurs” (p. 78) and consequently has neglected to consider the role of female entrepreneurs in small business succession. While their concession that succession planning is not a well‐researched subject is a point well made, their recognition that the effects of gender on entrepreneurship have been neglected by the main body of entrepreneurship research is one of the key arguments made by this book. Building on the relationship between succession and the often unrecognised and undervalued contribution that women make to family businesses, this chapter offers insight into an important and to date largely un‐researched topic. Building on this, Roger's chapter (Chapter 8) considers the impact of family support on the success of women business owners. Recognising the significant work‐life balance challenges faced by working women, Roger's chapter questions the extent to which business ownership offers women increased flexibility and the opportunity for greater work‐life balance. Her discussion of issues including the work‐home conflict, marital status and the various role commitments of women (business owner, partner, mother, daughter, sister, friend) suggest that the need for family support when establishing and running a business can be critical to both the levels of stress experienced by women and the success of their business.

Recognising that women entrepreneurs are not a homogenous group, the third and fourth parts of the book explore the diversity of women's entrepreneurship by considering in Part 3 (Chapters 9‐12) black and ethnic minority women's enterprise and in Part 4 (Chapters 13‐17) global perspectives on women's entrepreneurship. Each of these parts of the book and their related chapters make significant contributions by discussing women's entrepreneurship within these wider perspectives. By considering the strategies and goals used by African and American women in Chapter 9 (Inman and Grant), the start‐up experiences of Asian women in the UK (Dave and Fielden, Chapter 10), the experiences and trends of Polynesian women entrepreneurs in New Zealand (Pringle and Wolfgramm, Chapter 11) and the growth of Hispanic women entrepreneurs in the USA (Sarason and Morrison, Chapter 12), Part 3 provides insight into the globally unique experiences of different women business owners. Usefully, most of these chapters include min‐cases studies which help illustrate key points and will be of interest to both researchers and business advisers. Similarly, in Part 4 women's entrepreneurship is considered from European (van der Boon, Chapter 13), Singaporean (Lee, Chapter 14), Australian (Dann and Bennett, Chapter 15), Indian (Pillai and Amma, Chapter 16) and American perspectives (Mattis, Chapter 17). As standalone chapters, each of these provides some insight into the often unique experiences of women entrepreneurs across different continents. As a collective, the chapters comprising this part of the book provide a useful comparison of the numbers, position and trends regarding women entrepreneurs across the world.

The concluding part of the book, which is presented across three chapters, provides an agenda for future research on the topic of women's entrepreneurship. In the first of these Oppedisano (Chapter 18) discusses the global lessons which can be learned from women's entrepreneurship in the USA. Arguing that America's population is a ‘conglomeration of the world's cultures’ (p. 239), Oppedisano suggests that women's experiences of entrepreneurship in the USA have global resonance and that entrepreneurial American women can be regarded as world role models or, ‘as inspirational beacons for women the world over’ (p.239). She goes on to review the hurdles faced by women entrepreneurs in the US and identify the lessons learned ‐ the need for women to be resiliant and the benefits of social networking for women entrepreneurs – before suggesting appropriate global strategies for encouraging and supporting women's entrepreneurship. In the following chapter (Chapter 19), Mirchandani presents an excellent discussion of how entrepreneurship can be better understood by drawing from feminist anti‐racist theory. This chapter presents a sophisticated, theoretical discussion of the social location/ social and economic environment/ entrepreneurship nexus which helps drive forward a more nuanced understanding of entrepreneurship and the implications of this for women's entrepreneurship. Following this discussion, the chapter concludes with a range of pragmatic, practical recommendations for policy makers, women business owners and supporters of small firms. In the concluding chapter (Chapter 20), the editors (Fielden and Davidson) draw on the research presented to suggest “a way forward” for progressing the theory, practice and policy of women's entrepreneurship. As the conclusion to such a lengthy book which discusses a wide range of topics, while this final chapter does not provide an overview or summary of the book, it does succinctly identify key themes discussed and offers some useful recommendations.

To conclude, this book addresses a relevant area of entrepreneurship research which, on a global scale, is attracting the increasing attention of researchers, policy makers and practitioners involved in supporting and developing entrepreneurship. While in places, the book suffers from a lack of feminist theory to critique established entrepreneurship perspectives, this is by no means a significant weakness. Rather, as a collection of readings, this book will be of interest to researchers at various stages in their career, with different levels of knowledge about the subject of women and small business entrepreneurship. For example, while the first four chapters comprising the opening section of the book should be of interest to doctoral researchers and others new to this area of entrepreneurship, other sections of the book, particularly Parts two and five will be of interest to readers seeking to further develop their knowledge of various aspects of women's business ownership.