Entrepreneurs and gender

Sep 26 2007 by Brian Amble Print This Article

What effect (if any) does gender have on entrepreneurship or the performance of new business ventures? That's the question Erin Kepler and Scott Shane set out to answer in a report for the U.S. Small Business Administration, Are Male and Female Entrepreneurs Really That Different? [Direct link to PDF].

It's conclusion? While there are structural barriers to female entrepreneurship, "when other factors are controlled for, gender does not affect new venture performance. However, several factors—differing expectations, reasons for starting a business, motivations, opportunities sought and types of businesses—vary between the genders, and these result in differing outcomes. Such observations should be taken into account when comparing the outcomes of ventures across genders."

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