1. Gender in Entrepreneurship
By Hala Hatoum

2. The aim and objective of the study
Explore societal perceived gender differences and their effects on female entrepreneurship.
Identifying factors affecting female entrepreneurship
Analyzing the effects of these factors on female entrepreneurship development.
Highlight the female entrepreneurs’ perspective on the state of female entrepreneurship

3. Overview
Female entrepreneurs lower participation rates than male entrepreneurs (GEM, 2015)
Half of society composed of women
Significant influence on national economies (Alsuwaigh 1989; Alsahlawi & Gardener 2004).
Still underexplored field, especially in MENA region (Dechant and Lamki, 2005, Hattab 2012).

4. Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA)
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Women’s Report, 2010.

5. Graph 1: Comparison of Female and Male TEA rates by Region
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2012.

6. Around the World
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Women’s Report, 2010.

7. Male Entrepreneurs Outnumber Female Entrepreneurs
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Women’s Report, 2010.

8. Belief in One’s Own Abilities

9. Statistics On Arab Female Entrepreneurs
In Bahrain: Ownership 10.2 years
Spend the most time working in their businesses than other Arab counterparts.
Table 1: The Number of Hours Businesswomen Spend Operating their Enterprises. Source: Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa: Characteristics, Contributions and Challenges, published by The Center of Arab Women for Training and Research and The International Finance Corporation Gender Entrepreneurship Markets, 2007.

10. Statistics On Arab Female Entrepreneurs (continued…)
Graph 2: Women Optimistic about their Business and Economic Growth
Source: Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa: Characteristics, Contributions and Challenges, published by The Center of Arab Women for Training and Research and The International Finance Corporation Gender Entrepreneurship Markets, 2007.

11. The Literature supporting the study
Female entrepreneurial studies started gaining prominence in the 1990’s (Moore, 1990).
Entrepreneurship historically studied through male lens (De Bruin et al., 2008).
Studies mainly used male-led ventures as a standard benchmark with which to compare female entrepreneurial ventures.
Unfair practice because males and females are inherently different essentially as members of society and subsequently as business owners.

12. The Literature supporting the study (continued)
Female experiences are different but equally significant (Hurley, 1990).
Gender as a social construct NOT as biological sexual category (Ahl and Marlow, 2012; Foucault, 1978).
Patriarchal societies habitually devaluate the features, values and specificities of female entrepreneurship effectively rendering them un-meaningful (Calas, Bourne, & Smircich, 2009).
Female entrepreneurs face different obstacles and deal with difficulties differently than their male counterparts.

13. Entrepreneurship Frameworks
Framework 1: New Venture Creation Framework
Figure 1: A Framework for Describing New Venture Creation (Source: Gartner, 1985)

14. Framework 2: The 3M Model for Entrepreneurship
Market
Management
Money
Figure 2: The 3M Model. “Introduction to the Special Issue in Advancing Research on Minority Entrepreneurship”, Developed by Bates et al., 2007, Annals of the American Academy of Political Science and Social Science.

15. Framework 3: The 5M Model- A Gender-Aware Framework for Women Entrepreneurship
*Motherhood is a metaphor representing Household/family context
Figure2: “A Gender-Aware Framework for Women’s Entrepreneurship”, Brush et al.,2009. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship

16. Conceptual Framework Feminist Lens Female Entrepreneurship Motherhood
P1: Interplay between Macro and Motherhood Factors
P2: Interplay between Motherhood and Meso Factors
P3: Interplay between Macro and Meso Factors
National Policies
Macro
(Environment)
Traditions
Society
Feminist Lens
Female Entrepreneurship
Family
Motherhood
Household
Children P1 P3
Regulations
Meso
(Organizational)
Support policies
Services/ Initiatives P2

17. Main Research Question
How does the interplay between environmental, organizational and motherhood factors affect female entrepreneurship?

18. The Methodology used to obtain the data
Research Philosophy
Ontological stance: Subjectivist
Seeking a relationship between the perceptions of the social actors (female entrepreneurs) and their consequences on the social entity (the phenomena- female entrepreneurship)
Epistemological Stance: Interpretivist as it seeks to take impressions and to make meaning of the female entrepreneurship phenomena.
Inductive approach –Starting with a research question
Ontological stance: inclined to understand the nature of reality Answering to the question of how the world operates

19. The Methodology used to obtain the data (continued…)
Phenomenological
Studying female entrepreneurs as a phenomenon
Feminist lens:
Raising the voice of the female entrepreneurs
Celebrating their experiences
Development of entrepreneurial models adapted solely for the study of female entrepreneurial experiences.

20. The Methodology used to obtain the data (continued…)
Qualitative Approach
Semi-Structured Interviews
Personal one-on-one interviews
Around interviewees (still ongoing)
Data Collection: Snowballing technique/referrals
Very rich and insightful data

21. Results
Expected findings to help better understand the struggles and supporting factors affecting female entrepreneurs
Practical implications: Assist in shaping policies and initiatives
Academic implications: advance the knowledge on female entrepreneurship through gender specific models.

22. Thank you
Questions?