Informal learning of women small business owners

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate women small business owners’ informal learning behaviour. There is limited qualitative research that examines women small business owners’ learning process and this study aims to address this gap. The study was driven by the following research questions: “Do women small business owners prefer informal learning to formal training?” and if so, “Why do women small business owners prefer informal learning to formal training?” and “If informal learning is preferred, what role do networking and mentoring play in this learning process?” Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 Western Australian women small business owners who were recruited through purposive sampling methods. Findings The small business owners had a strong preference for informal learning. Participants used their own work experience and knowledge to start-up their businesses. A low uptake of formal training was found due to time and resource constraints and personal preferences. Participants relied on contacts within their networks to acquire knowledge or they hired others who possessed the requisite knowledge or skill. Only a small portion of participants had mentors or acted as a mentor. Research limitations/implications This study has limitations that tend to be commonly found in exploratory studies, such as a small sample size. Practical implications The research has implications for recognised training institutions that are engaged in entrepreneurship education. By gaining greater understanding of the nature of learning in small business, they may be able to offer more affordable and flexible informal courses that specifically target women small business owners, incorporate mentorship programs within their business courses by engaging with industry partners, or appoint instructors with industry contacts and experience, to provide mentoring support for these business owners. Originality/value This research responds to calls for studies aimed at developing a more nuanced understanding of the learning behaviour of women small business owners.

Keeping up the pace of digitalization in small businesses–Women entrepreneurs' knowledge and use of social media

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“…Small businesses tend to be slower than larger ones in incorporating ICTs in their work mainly due to limited resources such as time, money and digital competences (Fleet, 2012;Sharafizad, 2016). Furthermore, the increasing level of digitalization in workplaces causes a growing need to learn digital skills (Noonan et al, 2017;Sharafizad, 2018) and to adapt to new digital work processes in smaller businesses (Rajahonka and Villman, 2019;Taylor, 2015).…”

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“…Snowball-type sampling was used to select the interviewees. In this type of sampling, participants already in contact with the researcher referred other women with the potential profile to participate in the study (Sharafizad, 2018). In this present study, the starting seeds were women at academies, universities, and churches, in a city in the south of Brazil; these women told the researchers that they wanted to lose weight and that they had all been on a diet to lose weight when they were invited by researchers to participate.…”

Sistematización de un modelo de mentorías para mujeres indígenas

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