Gender differences in the use of assistance programs
| Date | 13 April 2015 |
| Pages | 85-101 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEPP-02-2013-0009 |
| Published date | 13 April 2015 |
| Author | Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf |
| Subject Matter | Strategy,Entrepreneurship,Business climate/policy |
Gender differences in the use
of assistance programs
Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf
Department of Urban Studies and Public Administration,
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine differences in factors influencing use of entrepreneurial
assistance programs by male and female entrepreneurs.
Design/methodology/approach –Data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics I are
used to determine drivers of assistance program use by men and women using logistic regression.
These drivers include size and composition of the start-up team and personal network, experiences of
the entrepreneur, team and network; support provided by the team and network, and other factors.
Findings –In total, 31 percent of female entrepreneurs and 24 percent of male entrepreneurs in the
sample used entrepreneurial assistance programs. Results show that drivers of assistance use do vary
by gender. Education, business/entrepreneurial knowledge and involvement in a technology-based
start-up are drivers of program use by women. Personal network size, entrepreneurial experience of
start-up team, and having worked for parents’business are drivers of program use by men.
Practical implications –This study inform policy and support practices about use of assistance
programs and suggests that the support drivers of women are different, justifying continued need for
targeted assistance programs such as those specifically for women starting technology-based ventures.
Originality/value –This research addresses gender differences in use of assistance programs.
Results provide support that a “one-size-fits all”support may not be useful, and that there may be need
for targeted assistance programs.
Keywords Gender, Business development, Start-ups, Policy, Resources, Social Capital
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In the USA and many other countries, significant resources are committed to promoting
and supporting entrepreneurship, especially through entrepreneurial assistance programs.
Recent empirical studies have shown that use of assistance programs have had a positive
effect on start-up and entrepreneurial outcomes (Mole et al., 2008; Greene, 2009; Yusuf, 2012;
Delanoë, 2013; Solomon et al., 2013). At the same time, however, take-up and use of these
programs remain fairly low and some research shows that the extent of use varies by
gender. The last two decades have seen greater recognition of the importance of women
in entrepreneurship and subsequently an emphasis on policy that supports women
entrepreneurs. In the USA, the Small Business Administration funds Women’s Business
Centers that provide assistance to women entrepreneurs, with particular focus on those
who are socially and economically disadvantaged (Langowitz et al., 2006). Similarly, the
Australian government has established assistance programs to support the growth of
women-owned businesses (Farr-Wharton and Brunetto, 2007). As the number of similar
programs geared toward women entrepreneurs grows, so does the need to examine the use
of entrepreneurial assistance programs and more explicitly consider the issue of gender.
The goal of this research is to study gender differences in the determinants of
nascent entrepreneurs’use of assistance programs. The research question is twofold. Journal of Entrepreneurship and
Public Policy
Vol. 4 No. 1, 2015
pp. 85-101
©Emerald Group Publis hing Limited
2045-2101
DOI 10.1108/JEPP-02-2013-0009
Received 11 February 2013
Revised 18 November 2013
Accepted 22 November 2013
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2045-2101.htm
This research was funded in part by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The contents of
this publication are solely the responsibility of the author.
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Gender
differences
First, are there differences in the determinants of entrepreneurial assistance
program use by men and women entrepreneurs? Second, what are these differences?
A recent study by Yusuf (2012) on the determinants of assistance program use noted
that women entrepreneurs may have different support needs, but did not examine
the specific differences. Other studies have explicitly acknowledged that women
entrepreneurs face different challenges and have different needs. This study examines
how the factors influencing the use of external assistance programs vary between
women and men entrepreneurs. The literature suggests thatthe human and social capital
of the entrepreneur, the start-up team,and the entrepreneur’s personal network drive the
entrepreneur’s useof assistance programs. This study seeks toinform public policy and
support practices about the different factors contributing to why men and women
entrepreneurs obtain support from assistance programs such as those offered by
professional organizations, educational institutions, public agencies, or private firms.
Noguera et al. (2013) note the recent interest in grounding the study of
entrepreneurship in the social and cultural context and the socio-cultural factors that
influence entrepreneurial activity. Following their approach, this study of determinants
of entrepreneurs’use of assistance programs uses the institutional economics approach
to focus on the role of socio-cultural factors. As Thornton et al. (2011) argue, variations
in entrepreneurship can be better understood by considering the social and cultura l
context within which entrepreneurship takes place. “While the economic conditions
may explain some of the variation, any convincing explanation must take account
of the social and cultural aspects of entrepreneurial activity”(p. 106). They adopt an
institutional-based framework to analyze the socio-cultural factors that influence the
entrepreneurial decision, arguing that “Because institutions are constituted by culture
and social relations, and because human,social and cultural capital are oftenantecedents
to acquiring financial capital and other resources needed to start a business, an
institutional approach […] holds out the promise of developing future entrepreneurship”
(Thornton et al., 2011, p. 110).
In this paper, the institutional-based framework is applied to analyzing the
socio-cultural factors that influence the decision to seek support from entrepreneurial
assistance programs during the start-up process. These socio-cultural factors comprise
the informal institutions that underpin and influence entrepreneurial activity (Noguera
et al., 2013) that may differentially apply to men and women. The concepts of networks
and embeddedness are critical elements of social factors (Thornton et al., 2011) and the
cultural dimension moderates how these social factors differentially apply to men and
women entrepreneurs.
Drivers of entrepreneurial support needs
The entrepreneur’s human and social capital are critical endowments that shape both
the entrepreneur’s decision to pursue an idea and the choices made in pursuit of the
idea and business (Greene et al., 1997; Manev et al., 2005). However, some entrepreneurs
may face capital deficits and will need to turn to their support systems to address these
deficits (Dawson et al., 2011; Yusuf, 2012). For example, support from members of the
entrepreneur’s personal network may compensate for deficits in the entrepreneur and
start-up team human capital, such as lack of management experience or lack of market
experience.
The entrepreneurial support system can generally comprise of three sources: family
and friends; professional sources of support (e.g. former colleagues, business partners,
lawyers and accountants); and public assistance agencies ( Jansen and Weber, 2004).
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