Gender DIfferences Among Entrepreneurial Leaders

Does identity shape an entrepreneurs experience? This question is the main concern of many people especially when it is related to gender identity. I found very interesting article on how gender identity shapes an entrepreneurs experience, which can be found here: https://noppa.lut.fi/noppa/opintojakso/…/referointitehtava_12.pdf  (The role of gender identity in explaining sex differences in business owners’ career satisfier preferences by Kimberly A. Eddleston and Gary N. Powell)

According to Eddleston and Powell, “gender identity, represented by the dimensions of masculinity and femininity, serves as a cognitive mechanism that contributes to sex differences in business career satisfier preferences”. Their research was done in the United States on entrepreneur alumni.  As a result, “entrepreneurship is a gendered process” because it is viewed in two different ways by women and men.

The main goal in business, according to the authors of the article, is related to career motivation. While men look for financial success and business growth, women are interested in socio-emotional relationship. So, gender identity shapes an entrepreneurs experience. Both, men and women can be satisfied with their entrepreneurial experience and career but in two different ways: men are satisfied when they make more money and their business is growing, while women are satisfied when they have positive socio-emotional relationship with their customers and employees. These two different approaches to business experience, in my opinion, are connected to traditional gender stereotypes. However, sometimes in real life female and male identities can behave in opposite ways: women can look in business experience for financial growth and stability, while some men aim for successful interpersonal relationship.

Different ways of career satisfier lead to two different ways of leading business. Those who are emphasized on financial growth in entrepreneurs experience lead faster growing business then those who are aimed on building socio-emotional career because they need more time to build the relationship. This is the second feature how gender identity shapes an entrepreneurs experience.

Third feature of how identity shapes an entrepreneurs experience is related to influence of sex on gender identity: masculinity and femininity. Personal gender traits are associated again with traditional gender stereotypes. Males are associated with aggressiveness, dominance, and independence, while females with compassion, sensitivity, and warmth. Therefore, people expect from certain gender certain underlined behavior.

Hi everyone, while researching  on women entrepreneurship for our class, I came across this interesting research paper written by a graduate student on the topic of  female entrepreneurship. Since female entrepreneurship is the fastest growing segment in the United States economy, this paper explore the factors that encourage or discourage women in entrepreneurship. Women had to shatter the  glass ceiling and jump hurdles in order to overcome much obstacles. If any woman want to realize their own dream, this is a very helpful study and really worth reading. Enjoy !

http://domapp01.shu.edu/depts/uc/apps/libraryrepository.nsf/resourceid/6DFFE4A5371FA7FF8525716A00578E4B/$File/Patterson-Katie-Masters6.pdf?Open

Hey everyone, I really liked the article we read ” A modest manifesto for shattering the glass ceiling”. I have found an article which speaks further on this topic. As we know this has been a term used for a long time now, but we have yet to truly break this “glass ceiling”. This article gives one woman’s opinion on it, and also some tips on how we can overcome this.  I have attached the link to it below. Enjoy.

http://www.officearrow.com/job-satisfaction/cracking-the-glass-ceiling-has-anything-changed-for-women-in-the-workplace-oaiur-5542/view.html

This is an event open to everyone in the class:

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN AN EXCITING ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERIENCE

 Sunshine Suites Job Opportunities

 Where: Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship, NVC 2-140

 When: February 6, 2012; 7:30 – 8:15PM

 The Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship will be hosting a meet and greet with New York Entrepreneurs (Shiners) located at Sunshine Suites.

 You will have a chance to learn more about Sunshine and meet and greet Shiners who are looking for undergraduate and graduate interns.

 Bring your resume and business card

 **************

Sunshine Suites is a strategic partner of the Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship. We have partnered with Sunshine on consulting and research projects and most recently the CUNY/IVE SmartPitch Challenge Competition.

 The Sunshine Suites is a hybrid business incubator company that is home to approximately 2,000+ dynamic entrepreneurs, business owners and freelancers from multiple industries and specialties. “Shiners” as they are called, are launching or running businesses from multiple Sunshine Suites’ facilities. Sunshine is much more than office space where entrepreneurs, freelancers, business owners and their staff go to work. It is a collaborative workspace where opportunities are created and results produced.

 Sunshine is in the middle of a national rollout that is dramatically impacting the way entrepreneurs work, over the next several years. The first of many new locations is the Sunshine Bronx Hybrid-Business Incubator, the first City-sponsored, privately operated incubator, created to bring entrepreneurs to the South Bronx. It offers world-class technology, security and a wide array of business services designed to nurture startups and give them the tools they need to succeed. Sunshine Bronx is a joint venture between the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Sunshine Suites and Sunshine’s strategic partners from government, business and academic institutions. Sunshine’s other locations are in Tribeca and No Ho.

 For more information you can visit: www.sunshineny.com

Open for students attending college and graduate school throughout New York City.

The SmartPitch Challenge Kick-off Event, which will take place Friday, February 3, 2012 at Baruch College at 9:00am The event will be held at the The William & Anita Newman Conference Center, 151 East 25th Street (Room 750), New York, NY 10010. Even if youcannot attend the kickoff event, please register for more information on the Eventbrite page found via www.smartpitch.org.

As a participant in the 10th Annual SmartPitch Challenge, you will get a chance to start your own business as part of an entrepreneurship community of students, entrepreneurs, private and public sector mentors, and experts. In addition, you will be informed about a variety of resources with regards to entrepreneurship, paid internships and job offerings at start-ups.

The best 15 teams will be invited to present their concepts at the SmartPitch Event on June 6, 2012.

If you are one of the top 5 finalists you will be able to participate in a Virtual Business Incubator, which will help you to launch your businesses in the real world and includes:

• Entrepreneurship Boot Camp in Vermont
• Incubator Space at Sunshine Bronx (more info)
• Mentorship from Experts at IBM
• Access to the entrepreneurship network in virtual and real space
• Access to stipends and angel investors.

In addition, winners will present their new businesses in the fall of 2012.

The SmartPitch Challenge is a coordinated effort among the CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise (IVE), Baruch’s Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship, IBM, and the City-sponsored Sunshine Bronx Business Incubator. SmartPitch offers your students the chance to develop, pitch, and launch their business idea with the help of business mentors, IBM’s Smarter Cities and Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC frameworks. It’s a great opportunity for them to meet and network with entrepreneurs and nurture their own start-ups with the support of their peers, CUNY IVE, IBM, Sunshine Bronx and the entire SmartPitch team.

This blog is an opportunity for you to:

1) Share information, news, articles, resources, stories, research, etc. that you think adds to the class discussion;

2) Explore more in depth an area of the course that is of particular to interest to you

Some examples of topics that you might post about include:

• Discuss feminism as it pertains to business
• Explore resources available to specific entrepreneurs (i.e. Asian American women entrepreneurs, LGBT entrepreneurs, etc.)
• Learn more about how identity shapes an entrepreneurs experience (i.e. gender, religion, race, socio-economic class, etc.)
• Cover current articles on women in the VC world
• Look at studies on work/life balance and identify cases of businesses that have offered creative solutions

Just to refresh, here’s the assignment. Each student must contribute to this blog. Each month, at a minimum you should make one original post that enriches the class discussion, read through your classmates’ contributions, and comment on at least two of your classmates’ posts. (The schedule of due dates is listed under the Course Schedule on BB.)

Please note that the de facto privacy setting is that everything is PUBLIC. If you would like to opt to make your posts more private, please read: https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/support/faqs/#privacy.

We look forward to seeing what we will all learn and discover.

Best,

Prof. Lehr Samuels and Prof. Dean