Title: The influence of roles and identities on female entrepreneurial agency

Authors: Mona Toft Madsen, Helle Neergaard, John P. Ulhoi

Addresses: Centre for Organizational Renewal and Evolution, Aarhus School of Business, Haslegaardsvej 10, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark. ' Centre for Organizational Renewal and Evolution, Aarhus School of Business, Haslegaardsvej 10, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark. ' Centre for Organizational Renewal and Evolution, Aarhus School of Business, Haslegaardsvej 10, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark

Abstract: Research suggests that barriers and constraints encountered by women are gender-specific, and that women are subject to discriminatory practices. However, by focusing on what women are prevented from doing, much research portrays women as victims of circumstance rather than as individuals with different identity constructions and value systems. This paper challenges the widespread assumption that female entrepreneurial agency is confronted by gender specific barriers, and proposes an alternative perspective based on the integration of role and identity concepts. This portrays women as agents in their own lives rather than merely victims of structural gender-specific barriers. In consequence, the paper proposes that female entrepreneurs construct and reconstruct their identity under the influence of institutionalised practices, which can only be changed from within.

Keywords: female entrepreneurs; women entrepreneurs; gender; entrepreneurship; structural barriers; institutional barriers; preferences; roles; identities; structuralist approach; interactionist approach.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2008.017309

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2008 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.358 - 372

Published online: 24 Feb 2008 *

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