Changing Places Through Women's Entrepreneurship

Abstract

In this article, I focus on entrepreneurship as a gendered geographic process to examine how changes in people and place are linked. Although entrepreneurship is a process that is marked by deep stereotypical gender divisions, it is also one through which people can change the meaning of gender and the way in which gender is lived. In addition, entrepreneurship links people and place in a number of ways, most notably through networks of social relations in place. I discuss four geographic studies of women's entrepreneurship, each undertaken in a different country-Botswana, India, Peru, and the United States. These studies demonstrate that whereas entrepreneurship per se or access to microcredit alone is seldom sufficient to change the position of women or gender relations in a place, women are using entrepreneurship to change their lives and those of others and, in the process, are changing the places where they live. Key to this transformative process are programs of governmental and nongovernmental organizations and women's grassroots actions that are aimed at building women's skills, confidence, and business networks. Copyright (c) 2009 Clark University.

Testing the ‘Residential Rootedness’ Hypothesis of Self-Employment for Germany and the UK

“…In accordance with the economic conceptualisation of entrepreneurship as a 'local event' (Audretsch et al, 2010;Bönte et al, 2009;Feldman, et al 2005;Romanelli and Schoonhaven, 2001;Stam, 2007) the self-employed or entrepreneurs are thought to be strongly 'rooted' in place (Audretsch et al, 2010;Hanson, 2003;2009). The prevailing 'residential rootedness'-hypothesis is based on research focussing on firms and their networks within the region rather than individuals within firms (Armington and Acs 2002;Stuart and Sorenson, 2003; also noted by Hanson and Blake 2009, page 137), and these studies based upon micro data lack comparative research designs (Hanson, 2003;Harrison et al, 2004).…”

Unravelling the nexus between entrepreneurship, neighbourhoods and communities – introduction

“…Women appear to have a stronger reliance on local networks to set up a business than men (Hanson, 2009;Hanson and Blake, 2009;Ekinsmyth, 2011). However, other studies comparing women and men could not find gender differences in the use of neighbourhood resources for business purposes (Reuschke and Houston, 2016).…”

Family Friendly Entrepreneurship: New Business Formation in Family Spaces

“…In order to present detail of the research cases in limited space, this paper focuses upon two indicative businesses, but the themes that emerge from these cases were common for the S118 other businesses included in this project and, as previous research has suggested, other similar businesses in the U.K. and abroad (see for example Blake 2008;Hanson 2009;Oberhauser 2002). They are important themes that require attention because there is a great deal of this kind of entrepreneurial activity occurring (Harding 2006).…”

“…Aware of this, Aldrich and Cliff (2003) advocate the adoption of a 'family embeddedness approach' to female entrepreneurship; Moen and Sweet (2004), advocate a 'life course approach'; and several authors call for a gendered and/or feminist approach to the subject (for example ;Berg 1997;Bird and Brush 2002;de Bruin et al 2007;Hanson 2003;Ahl 2006;Mirchandani 1999;Bruni et al 2004;Buzar et al 2005). Having adopted a gendered approach, Hanson (2009) argues that we need to acknowledge the importance within entrepreneurship, of networks of social relations in place. What each of these approaches have in common is an acknowledgement that entrepreneurship as a process does not happen (solely within an economic realm) in isolation to the rest of life.…”

“…The conclusions they reached were that entrepreneurship researchers need to expand their definitions about what 'entrepreneurship' is, and look to new spaces and places for entrepreneurship activity. Such argument seeks to remind scholars that entrepreneurship happens in the sphere of life, not just within the limited sphere of the economic (Hanson 2009;Oberhauser 2002;Aspaas 2004;Jennings and McDougald 2007;Jack et al 2002;Aldrich and Cliff, 2003). Highly embedded in routines of daily life, 'mother-entrepreneurs' enable us to explore the basis for such claims.…”