Abstract
There is a need to feminize the research on entrepreneurs — to include the experiences of women in what we know to be true about entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial process. This paper highlights some of the most significant methodological problems in researching women's entrepreneurial experience, problems which in the past, have prevented researchers from gaining an understanding of this experience, and which continues to stand in the way of developing female perspectives. Instead of using the existing “male-based” models, new approaches are called for in incorporating women's experiences into entrepreneurship theory. This paper outlines the state of research and suggests future directions for developing research on women as entrepreneurs.
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Lois Stevenson, B. Comm., M.B.A., PhD (submitted) was a professor in the Faculty of Management, Acadia University, Canada. Her research interests are in the area of entrepreneurship and new venture development, entrepreneurship education, and the emerging role of women as entrepreneurs. Several papers and articles have been published from her work and she is very active in leading seminars and workshops on business start-up and entrepreneurship development, particularly for women.
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Stevenson, L. Some methodological problems associated with researching women entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Ethics 9, 439–446 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380343
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380343