Title: Gender and entrepreneurial intentions in a transition economy context: case of the Czech Republic

Authors: Bénédicte Branchet; Alena Křížková

Addresses: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CERAG UMR 5820, CNRS, 150 avenue de la Chimie, BP 47, 38040 Grenoble cedex 9, France ' Institute of Sociology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Jilská 1, 11000 Prague 1, Czech Republic

Abstract: This study examines the effect of gender on students' entrepreneurial intentions in the Czech Republic, a country that exhibits a particular transition economy context with private entrepreneurship being relatively recent. While gender equality is in general legislatively enshrined in Czech society, one can ask whether in reality gender equality displays in the entrepreneurial intentions of students. Our theoretical framework is based on Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour. Based on a survey of 200 students, our results show that gender and level of entrepreneurial intentions are not independent. We examine the phenomenon by considering the beliefs, antecedents of intention, and we find noticeable gender-related differences in their nature. The contribution of this article is two-fold. First, we show that entrepreneurial intentions are slightly gendered. Secondly, we analyse which determinants of these intentions following the Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour are concerned and discuss the way to act upon.

Keywords: gender equality; entrepreneurial intentions; transition economies; Czech Republic; student intentions; theory of planned behaviour; TPB; quantitative study; entrepreneurial beliefs; professional values; entrepreneurship vision; normative beliefs; control beliefs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2015.069696

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2015 Vol.25 No.3, pp.260 - 281

Received: 02 May 2014
Accepted: 04 Nov 2014
Published online: 29 May 2015 *

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