Presentations and discourses of male and female entrepreneurs in Norway
Elisabet Ljunggren and Gry Agnete Alsos
Introduction
In the twenty-first century, entrepreneurship is still a male-dominated activity. In spite of growing rates of participation in new venture creation among women, particularly in North America, women are even now substantially under- represented among entrepreneurs in Western countries (Reynoldset al., 2003).
In the Nordic countries, the share of women entrepreneurs is especially low. In Norway, for example, about one-quarter of new business founders are women, a share that has been remarkably stable over the last ten years (Ljunggren, 1998;
Kolvereid and Alsos, 2005). As the Scandinavian countries are frequently por- trayed as leaders regarding equality between the genders, the low number of women entrepreneurs makes one particularly curious. When formal gender dis- crimination is essentially removed, gender equality has become politically correct, and there is an apparent push towards creating a gender-equal society amongst politicians and authorities, as well as the “man in the street”. However, this does not seem to be the case with regard to women’s entrepreneurship.
During the last twenty years, a number of studies have focused on the gender issues of entrepreneurship resulting in studies on women entrepreneurs, as well as some comparative studies on entrepreneurship and gender. In 1992, Brush reviewed articles in this field from the 1980s and concluded that there seemed to be more similarities than differences between the genders when it comes to geo- graphic factors, problems and business characteristics, but that men and women differ in experiences, goals and motivations. Ten years later, Ahl reviewed art- icles on entrepreneurship and gender from a feminist perspective. She concluded that most research in this area looks for differences between male and female entrepreneurs, but that “contrary to expectations, few such differences were found. Within-group variation was typically larger than between-groups vari- ation” (Ahl, 2002:114).
More recently, some criticism has been raised concerning research on entre- preneurship and gender. Carter and Weeks (2002), for example, argued that, while there is no real shortage of research in this area, it is still underdeveloped.
They claimed that there is a lack of cumulative knowledge, conceptualization and explanatory theories. Marlow (2002) argued that studies on entrepreneurship and gender have largely ignored women’s subordination within the broader
society both as a conceptual notion and as an empirical explanation. Hence, in this respect, the earlier studies are only partial. Adopting a social-constructionist and feminist perspective, Ahl (2002) showed how even research texts on gender and entrepreneurship are themselves gendered. The manner in which these texts raise questions, and argue and explain their findings, serves to recreate women’s subordinate role in society.
Consistent with this, Holmquist (2002) suggested two approaches or perspec- tives concerning the theoretical approach to gender and entrepreneurship. First, that some researchers maintain that gender theory and feminist perspectives are necessary in order to understand the phenomenon. Second, that others argue that differences and similarities between women and men should be considered within conventional theories relating to the entrepreneurship research field.
Holmquist concluded that contributions from both perspectives are needed.
Studies focusing on differences between women and men concerning entrepre- neurship contribute to our understanding of an interesting imbalance in society, which demands attention and requires action. However, there is also a need for studies which provide an insight into the “mechanisms” behind this imbalance.
How can the gender aspects of entrepreneurship be studied without implicitly holding men as the norm, as often found in the comparative studies (Haavind, 2000)? What alternative perspectives can be applied in order to obtain an under- standing of the imbalance?
In this chapter we use an understanding of entrepreneurship and gender as social constructions to explore how images of men and women as entrepreneurs are created in Norwegian society. The empirical data comprises newspaper art- icles on entrepreneurs in the leading Norwegian commerce and trade newspaper Dagens Næringsliv. These articles not only create (male and female) entrepre- neurship through their description of entrepreneurs and their actions; they also reflect the social construction of (male and female) entrepreneurship in the wider society. Consequently, they constitute an interesting and suitable basis for the study of such constructions. Parallel to the societal perceptions or discourses of entrepreneurs there also exist discourses of gender and gender differences.
Hence, these discourses represent understandings of women and men which can be claimed to be social constructions (see for example, Alvesson and Billing, 1999; Haavind, 2000).
The chapter investigates the discourses created and expressed by the Dagens Næringslivnewspaper about entrepreneurs, and in particular, the extent to which there are differences in the descriptions of female and male entrepreneurs.
Newspaper presentation of phenomena such as entrepreneurship can be compre- hended as an expression of general attitudes and understandings in society about a phenomenon – one can interpret current discourses from the written texts in the media. As such, studying a newspaper representation of entrepreneurs makes it possible to interpret societal attitudes towards entrepreneurs by analysing the newspaper’s expression of them.
The study presented in this chapter consists of two parts: part one commences with a quantitative account of the exposure of entrepreneurs in the articles in the Media and entrepreneurs in Norway 89
newspaper, providing us with an overview of the frequency with which entre- preneurs appear in articles featured in the paper. In part two we analyse how the newspaper describes male and female entrepreneurs, and what may be under- stood and interpreted concerning entrepreneurship and gender from the news- paper texts. Among the questions explored are; what subjects are discussed in the articles on female and male entrepreneurs, how female and male entre- preneurs are presented, and whether certain characteristics are emphasized.
The chapter proceeds as follows: first, as social constructions of entrepreneur- ship and gender are clearly embedded in the processes, discourses and other aspects of the society of which they are a part, the Norwegian context is exam- ined. Second, a brief review of the literature within the area of gender and entre- preneurship is presented. This review serves two purposes. First, as research is affected by, as well as affects, the discourses and social constructions of phe- nomena, the literature review reflects what input entrepreneurship research has made to the social constructions of entrepreneurship and gender, and vice versa.
Second, this research is the basis upon which we, as entrepreneurship researchers, depart and, as such, impacts our perspective of entrepreneurship as it is presented in newspaper texts. In addition, the method applied for this study is briefly described prior to the analysis of the newspaper texts. Finally, conclu- sions and suggestions for further research are given.
The Norwegian context
Norway is a country perceived by many as one where equality between the genders is highly developed. A consideration of the Norwegian welfare state and initiatives for families reveals, for example, generous maternity leave, i.e. one person in the family is entitled to one year’s leave with 80 per cent of their salary paid,1and four weeks of leave are mandatory for the male partner. If the male partner is unable to take advantage of this, the family loses these weeks.
Norway also has generous health insurance, even for shorter sick leave, with full-payment entitlements from day one. In addition, parents can stay home for twenty days annually when a child is ill without income reduction. The demand for kindergarten places is almost fully satisfied, and families with children up to three years not availing of such places are entitled to a cash benefit. In addition, within politics, gender (women) quotas are common and relatively accepted as a means to get more women into the field; such quotas often requiring 40 per cent female participation in the government sector.
In spite of this, Norway has very gender-segregated educational and labour markets, and is ranked as having the fifth most gender-segregated labour force among the OECD countries (OECD, 2000). Women constitute 94 per cent of preschool teachers, 90 per cent of nurses and 70 per cent of teachers; while men constitute 82 per cent of engineers and 78 per cent of chartered engineers (Statistics Norway, 2001). Even though 63 per cent of individuals in higher edu- cation are women (www.likestilling.no), women are largely educated for jobs in the public sector, while men are educated for work in the private sector.
90 E. Ljunggren and G. A. Alsos
Norwegian women’s participation in the labour force is high (84 per cent) compared to other countries (34 per cent), compared with 75 per cent in EU/EFTA countries, but this participation is marked by a high degree of part- time involvement (32 per cent in EU/EFTA countries) (www.ssb.no/vis/sam- funnsspeilet).
The gender skewness is also very visible when economic activity is scruti- nized. For example, the share of Norwegian women in management positions and in boardrooms is almost insignificant, and has actually decreased over the last five years. With regard to management positions, 6 per cent of senior execu- tives in the private sector are women, as opposed to 16 per cent in the USA and 9 per cent in the UK (Catalyst, 2002; Fortune 500). A recent study (AFF, 2002) showed that the proportion of women managers had declined from 23.8 per cent in 1999, to 21.4 per cent in 2002. Similarly, women’s participation in board- rooms is seemingly limited to 5.9 per cent of a total of 1,164 board positions (Økonomisk Rapport, 1999). When the employees’ representatives are sub- tracted, women hold 3.4 per cent of the board positions. The debate on women’s participation in the private sector has been particularly intense in recent years, with a 40 per cent women’s quota on board membership in private companies now being suggested.2
It is argued that one reason for the generous Norwegian welfare state is the national income derived from the oil and gas industry.3 However, Norway has now started to prepare for the post-oil era, and entrepreneurship and innovation are fast becoming key concepts. As already highlighted, few women become entrepreneurs. It is, therefore, agreed that there is high potential among women for entrepreneurship, and this societal resource has yet to be utilized.
Interestingly, factors such as role models, cultural variables and attitudes towards entrepreneurship have been shown to affect the number of business start-ups in general. The media plays an important role in the creation of atti- tudes, as well as making potential role models visible. Studies of nascent women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial intentions among women indicate that the gender dimension of such factors may be an important explanation for the low propensity to establish businesses among women (Alsos and Ljunggren, 1998;
Alsoset al., 2000; Ljunggren, 2002). The Scandinavians have the highest level of purchase and readership of newspapers in the world and, in this regard, Norway ranks second with 600 issues per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to France which has 160 issues per 1,000 inhabitants (ranked twenty-third) (Dagbladet, 18 October 2004).
Entrepreneurship and gender in the literature
Virtually all research conducted on entrepreneurs and business start-ups until the early or mid-1980s was gender “blind”, implicating either that women were not thought to start new businesses, or that those who did acted no differently from men (Marlow and Strange, 1994). During the last two decades researchers have platformed the gender issues of entrepreneurship, resulting in a number of Media and entrepreneurs in Norway 91
studies on women entrepreneurs and others that compare the genders. These vary largely, both regarding the variables measured and the methods used, resulting in few conclusive results being generated (Brush, 1992; Fisheret al., 1993). Using Gartner’s (1985) new venture creation framework to organize the studies, we summarize some of the findings to date. This framework, suggested by Brush (1992), distinguishes four categories of entrepreneurship studies:
studies focusing on individual characteristics, studies focusing on the entrepre- neur’s environment, studies focusing on the organizations created and those focusing on the entrepreneurial process.
The individual
The largest number of studies of gender differences has concentrated on the individual entrepreneur, reflecting variables such as demographic background, psychological characteristics, motivation, and educational and occupational experiences. This is consistent with most research into entrepreneurship (Gartner, 1988; Aldrich, 1999). According to Brush’s (1992) review of the liter- ature, this research has shown that there are more similarities than differences between men and women entrepreneurs across individual characteristics such as demography, business skills and some psychological traits. Some differences have been found in educational and occupational background, motivation for business start-ups, business goals and approaches to business creation (Brush, 1992; Fisheret al., 1993). Studies have also identified different age distributions between the genders and different marital status (Watkins and Watkins, 1984;
Stevenson, 1986). Contrary to this, Brush (1992) noted several studies which found demographic characteristics, such as marital status, age, birth order and having a self-employed father, were similar for both genders.
The gender-segregated labour market, which is especially obvious in Scandi- navia, leads to differences in work experience between the genders. Several studies found, not surprisingly, that these differences also applied to entre- preneurs (Brush, 1992). Further, compared to female entrepreneurs, male entre- preneurs seem to have more experience in managing employees and working in similar firms (Fisher et al., 1993), and tend to be more likely to have previous entrepreneurial experience (Kalleberg and Leicht, 1991; Rosa and Hamilton, 1994; Alsos and Kolvereid, 1998). In their study, Birleyet al.(1987) found no significant differences in the education levelbetween men and women who had enrolled in small business training courses. However, differences were found with regard to the kind of education they had received (Brush, 1992). For example, while Fisher et al. (1993) found that male entrepreneurs had a more production-related business education than their female counterparts, they did not find statistically significant differences between the genders with regard to marketing, finance, personnel, accounting, strategy or general education. In their study of Norwegian entrepreneurs, Ljunggren and Kolvereid (1996) found that women perceived themselves as possessing more entrepreneurial abilities than men.
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Interestingly, Hisrich (1986) claimed that there are strong similarities between male and female entrepreneurs when it comes to measuring personality.
For example, entrepreneurs tend to be energetic, goal-oriented and independent, regardless of gender. Similarly, Birley (1989:33) concluded that it is “clear from the literature that the motivation of female entrepreneurs is similar in most respects to those of their male counterparts”. In a study of male and female entrepreneurs versus managers, Fagenson (1993) found that gender had very little impact on personal value systems. In a similar vein, Bellu (1993) also found that female entrepreneurs did not differ from male entrepreneurs in values and attributional style (typically related to success or failure). However, it is notable that many of the instruments used to measure personality and entrepre- neurial traits are derived from research on samples of male entrepreneurs, and may, therefore, be inappropriate for measuring gender differences (Brush, 1992).
In terms of motivational attributes, Shaneet al.(1991) found no gender dif- ferences regarding independence as a form of start-up motivation. Male and female entrepreneurs both reported controlling their own time, flexibility in per- sonal and family life, and freedom to adapt one’s own approach to their work as the most important reasons for a business start-up. However, they found that achieving a higher position in society, together with more status and prestige for the family, were more important for men than for women. On the other hand, women, more so than men, valued acquiring recognition and achieving some- thing higher. Ljunggren and Kolvereid (1996) found that female entrepreneurs placed stronger emphasis on independence as an expected outcome of starting a business than male entrepreneurs. However, no statistically significant gender differences were reported in expectations related to risk, profitability or the per- sonal challenge the new business might offer. Likewise, Gatewoodet al.(1995) found that men and women had different reasons for going into business, and that these appeared to be significant indicators of their future ability to success- fully start a business.
Environment
A few studies have concentrated on the impact of environmental factors on male and female entrepreneurs and their enterprises. In particular, there has been a focus on the issue of discrimination in access to capital and credit. Buttner and Rosen (1992), for example, found no evidence of gender discrimination in bank loan considerations, and similarly, Fabowale et al. (1995) found that, when structural factors were taken into account, no evidence of gender discrimination by banks’ loan officers was evident. However, women still perceived that they were discriminated against. Contrary to this, Fay and Williams (1993) found indications of gender discrimination. Identical loan applications were sent to bank officers in New Zealand, with only education and gender varying. Interest- ingly, they found that education was judged to be significantly more important for female than for male applicants. Further, women were significantly more fre- quently judged to have insufficient equity/security, and that loans were granted Media and entrepreneurs in Norway 93
more frequently to male than to female applicants. Riding and Swift (1990) con- cluded that, while the terms of loans granted to male and female business owners did not vary significantly, there were gender differences in the banking relationship. This was further supported by a recent Norwegian study which indicated that ownership of capital and property is unevenly distributed among men and women (Jensen, 2005a). Consequently, women do not have the possi- bility to obtain a mortgage and thereby acquire equity for the business. This situ- ation is, more than likely, not unique to Norway, as indicated by an EU report (Jensen, 2005b).
Organization
International studies have indicated that businesses started by women are more often in the service sectors (Johnson and Storey, 1993; Miskin and Rose, 1990), are smaller in terms of revenue and employment (Fisheret al., 1993; Rosa et al., 1994), are more likely to employ women (Johnson and Storey, 1993), tend to grow less (Cliff and Cash, 2006; Cliff, 1998; Fisheret al., 1993; Kalleberg and Leicht, 1991) and are less profitable (Fisheret al., 1993; Rosaet al., 1994) than businesses started by men. Some of these differences can be explained by the sector within which most women-owned businesses are found, namely the service sector where businesses are smaller and less profitable.
Process
Some studies have explored gender differences in the process of creating a busi- ness, reflecting how male and female entrepreneurs behave in opportunity iden- tification, resource acquisition, organization building, managing the business and responding to the environment (Brush, 1992). One area of research which would appear to be particularly important is networking as a means of obtaining information or resources. In this regard, Aldrich et al.(1989) did not find any gender differences in the process of building network contacts. In a later study, Aldrichet al.(1996) concluded that women entrepreneurs are as active as men in networking in order to obtain assistance, and as successful as men in obtain- ing high-quality assistance. With regard to support systems, some studies indi- cate that women entrepreneurs tend to have strong supporters, particularly a spouse or a “significant other” (Brush, 1992). For example, Ljunggren and Kolvereid (1996) found that women perceived a higher degree of social support during the business gestation process than men. In contrast, Alsos and Ljung- gren (1998), who studied the business start-up process among nascent entre- preneurs, found few differences between men and women with regard to the various activities undertaken to start a business. Moreover, the propensity to succeed in starting a new business as a result of this process was similar for women and men.
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