Abstract:

There has been a steady growth in the study of female entrepreneurs over the past several decades. Cultural barriers that traditionally restricted entry into entrepreneurship are lessening and consequently progressive societies have witnessed increased numbers of females successfully founding and leading large businesses. Building on the need to challenge the masculine paradigm that has traditionally entrenched classical studies of entrepreneurship feminist standpoint theory suggests that female and male entrepreneurs differ in regard to their experiences and values. This opens a pathway beyond traditional male dominated measures of entrepreneurial performance that have resulted in a female ‘under performance’ hypothesis and acknowledges the positive and unique contributions that can be made by all entrepreneurs based on several valuable outcome goals. The socialisation process for two individuals will not be the same and thus more information is required to illuminate potential differences in experiential trajectories. The purpose of the present conference paper is two-fold. Firstly, through the use of a case study approach it will seek to provide a profile of a successful female entrepreneur. Secondly, the main themes identified from the case study will be extracted and comparisons will be made with relevant literature surrounding the area to see if they ‘fit’ the traditional mould. The aim will be to present an alternative discourse that opens possibilities for the unfolding of a diversity of entrepreneurial outcomes.

Keywords:

Entrepreneurship, Female, Gender, Stereotype, Discourse.