GENDER DIVERSITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

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GENDER DIVERSITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Government efforts in many nations now place greater attention on the empowerment of its populace by redirecting the attention of its able-bodied men and women to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. These initiatives are most welcoming, particularly in the case of developing countries where women’s place has been considered to be at home taking care of the family or parents (Goliber, 1997; Boolaky and Gungaphul, 2009). Although women have responded positively to government’s efforts towards them and started joining the workforce either as a paid employee or self employed, women are still an under-represented group within entrepreneurship and within the higher positions in organisations (Patterson et al. 2012). Recently, the world recorded an upsurge in the number of women involved in entrepreneurial activities yet there is still a large gap between the two genders in what they are currently achieving in business (Kirkwood, 2009: 347). It is acknowledged that a higher percentage of men are engaged in entrepreneurial activities in developed and developing economies for various reasons (Parker, 2009; Humbert and Drew 2010). Along this line, Zoltan et al (2011) argued that women may find it harder to get motivated for their business intentions in established institutions and are forced to be self-motivated through working in their own enterprises. The self employment option is echoed by several other researchers who suggest that self-employment may be the only available alternative to unemployment and this mainly because of dissatisfaction from previous jobs, difficulties to re- enter the labour market, the ‘glass ceiling’ and family related matters (Mattis, 2004; Sarri and Trihopoulou, 2004; Taylor and Newcomer, 2005). This wave of women joining the workforce has developed into serious issues that called the attention of researchers to look into gender differences across the world in various business disciplines including entrepreneurship.

Whether an economy is developed or not, the discrimination that surrounds the gender peculiarities of individual rights is always coming up (Verheul et al, 2006). Gender issue is a subject that can generate heated arguments and are most noticeable when discussants try to impress their opinion on others in areas of economic and social significance. One such economically significant theme that cannot be trivialised is when the male entrepreneur sees his female counterpart getting involved in an area meant for men alone. Some studies mention that women are behind men when it comes to socioeconomic development; other studies point out women are living below the poverty line with the possibilities of getting the worst effect of economic recessions (Aigboje, 2000: 7; Kargwell, 2012:51; Abimbola, 2011: 278). According to Aigboje (2000), this issue of gender inequality has been known to attract much attention because several reports evoke contradictory inferences about the effect of gender peculiarities on how men and women fare during economic adjustments. In connection to this, Hughes (2003, p434) asked the questions ‘Have workers been pulled into self employment by a growing entrepreneurial culture and the desire for independence and autonomy? Or have they been pushed into such work, as restructuring, downsizing and flexibility employment practices have eroded once secure jobs?’ Dawson and Henley (2011: 698) also raised the question relating to ‘‘whether women are more likely to report “push” motives to do with a desire for flexible work, whereas men are more likely to be motivated by financial and market-led concerns”. According to Kirkwood (2009: 347) researchers have devoted “relatively little attention” in determining whether gender differences exist in the push and pull motivators for becoming an entrepreneur. There is unquestionably a lack of empirical research regarding gender differences and its association with entrepreneurship in Nigeria. The study is amongst the first of its kind to bridge this gap. Its purpose is to explore the motivational factors of women and men as entrepreneurs and determine whether gender differences exist and if so, the implications of the same. This study thus helps to provide some empirical evidence on gender differences from the entrepreneurial sector in Nigeria

Statement of the problem

There may have been previous researches in this subject. This work gives further explanations and analysis in gender diversity and entrepreneurship development

Research Objectives

(1) To understand the motives do people have to be self-employed and join the entrepreneurial field accordingly?

(2) To know how the motives relate to push or pull factors?

(3) To know what gender differences, if any, exist in push or pull factors and selected demographic profile in entrepreneurial organisations in Nigeria? What are the implications of any differences observed?

Research Questions

Hence, to properly investigate the influence of gender differences on entrepreneurial motivation in Nigeria, this study focuses on the following main research questions:

(1) What motives do people have to be self-employed and join the entrepreneurial field accordingly?

(2) How do the motives relate to push or pull factors?

(3) What gender differences, if any, exist in push or pull factors and selected demographic profile in entrepreneurial organisations in Nigeria? What are the implications of any differences observed?

Hypothesis 1:

Ho: There is no significant difference in demographic profile of males compared to female entrepreneurs.

H1: There is a significant difference in demographic profile of males compared to female entrepreneurs.

Hypothesis 2:

H0: There is no relationship between gender diversity and entrepreneurship development

H1: There is a relationship between gender diversity and entrepreneurship development

CHAPTER TWO

Literature review

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Apart from a few other explanatory variables that include amongst others culture, ethnicity, religion (Dana, 2009), the push (extrinsic motivators) and pull (intrinsic motivators) factors have been more commonly used to explain the move towards the entrepreneurial path (Khan et al, 2009: 1). Push factors are attributed to the need for earning a living because of insufficient alternative income or finding it hard to get a job, flexibility at work to take care of family life and responsibilities and dissatisfaction for various reasons with a salaried job (Islam, 2012; Ismail et al, 2012; Ghosh and Cheruvalath, 2007; Dawson and Henley, 2012; McClelland et al., 2005; Wang et al., 2004; Wilson et al., 2004). There are recorded cases of women leaving their positions in larger enterprises to run their own businesses for lack of promotion and equal treatment with men in their previous organisations (Orhan and Scott, 2001; McClelland et al., 2005).

On the other hand, pull factors relate more to the higher level needs of human beings as suggested by Abraham Maslow and these relate to self-actualisation such as being one’s own boss or self-esteem in terms of independence, self-fulfillment and earning more than an average person (Idemobi, 2011:177; Benzing and Hung, 2009; Segal et al., 2005). This study uses the concepts of push and pulls factors as differentiating ones for why some prefer to pursue an entrepreneurial career instead of enjoying the safety of a well-paid or secure job. It is worth taking into consideration that in term of Hofstede’s cultural values (Hofstede et al, 2010), Nigeria is more a collectivist society where long term commitment and loyalty prevail although it has become relatively more individualist since Hofstede’s study (Iguisi, 2009). The Nigerian society also has a preference for avoiding uncertainty, has a short term orientation culture (implying great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save, strong social pressure to keep up with the Joneses, impatience for achieving quick results), is a more masculine society whereby work is valued and competition is seen as positive and logical (The Hofstede Center, 2013)

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