Are family ties an opportunity or an obstacle for women entrepreneurs? Empirical evidence from Italy

Micro-enterprises are important drivers of economic growth and women entrepreneurs are key developers of these businesses. It is therefore important to understand factors that affect their existence and their success or failure. In this study, our aim is to describe some typical women—family relatio...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Humanities & social sciences communications 2016-01, Vol.2 (1), p.16088, Article 16088
Hauptverfasser: Cesaroni, Francesca Maria, Paoloni, Paola
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Micro-enterprises are important drivers of economic growth and women entrepreneurs are key developers of these businesses. It is therefore important to understand factors that affect their existence and their success or failure. In this study, our aim is to describe some typical women—family relationship profiles, characterized by families playing a central role in influencing the choices, behaviours and activities of women entrepreneurs, in positive and negative ways. We address the research question by adopting a qualitative approach based on multiple case studies—an approach that is particularly well suited to assessing people’s experiences in depth. Our data collection is based on direct interviews with Italian women entrepreneurs through a semi-structured questionnaire, guided by a checklist. This analysis helps us to better focus on one of the key issues facing women entrepreneurs—namely, balancing family life with their work and professional aspirations. Clearly, it is important to know and understand the role of the family in women’s entrepreneurial experiences to interpret the reasons why women-owned businesses succeed or fail, as family ties will inevitably have an impact on their performance. The analysis presented in this paper demonstrates the existence of a strong bond between female entrepreneurs and their families. We conclude that female entrepreneurial experiences—that is, women’s individual choices to become entrepreneurs and the characteristics of their businesses—cannot be truly understood if attention is not additionally paid to the “family” dimension. This article is published as part of a collection on the role of women in management and the workplace.
ISSN:2055-1045
2055-1045
2662-9992
DOI:10.1057/palcomms.2016.88