Clearing the Hurdles: Women Building High-Growth Businesses

CHAPTER 4•MOTIVES, ASPIRATIONS, AND COMMITMENT 87

panies. On the other hand, women are still spending more time in

unpaid household activities, and have less free time, which might not

only take time away from the growth and success of the venture, but

also create a perception that a woman is less committed, whether or not

this is the case.

In summary, the net effect of aspirations and commitment shows

that we can’t put women into a single category when referring to their

aspirations and commitment. The generalization of these expectations

to all women, and the indication that women are still putting more time

into household and family activities, does make the hurdle higher, no

matter what their aspirations and intended business commitment. How-

ever, aspirations and commitment are only a small part of the key

ingredients for success. The experience and education of women entre-

preneurs is the foundation on which the business is founded. Do

women have what it takes in terms of experience and academic stud-

ies? The next chapter explores these questions in detail.

Notes

1. See Vesper, K. 1990. New Venture Strategies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice

Hall; Cooper, A. C., & Gimeno-Gascon, J. 1992. The process of founding and

new firm performance, in Sexton D., & Kasarda J. (Eds.). The State of the Art of

Entrepreneurship, Boston: PWS Kent, 301–340.

2. Stuart, A. 2002. Beauty and the best. Inc. Tech 2000, No. 2, 53.

3. Roddick, A. 1991. Body and Soul. New York: Crown, p. 223.

4. See Vesper, K. 1990. New Venture Strategies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice

Hall; Brush, C. G. 1992. Research on women business owners: Past trends, a

new perspective and future directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice.

16:4, 5–30.

5. Bird, B. J. 1989. Entrepreneurial Behavior. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.

6. McClelland, D. 1985. Human Motivation. New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston.

7. Lau, C. M., & Busenitz, L. 2001. Growth intentions of entrepreneurs in a transi-

tional economy: The People’s Republic of China. Entrepreneurship Theory and

Practice. 26:1, 5–20.

8. Hopkins, J. 2001, August 14. A woman’s work is rarely funded. www.usatoday

.com/money/covers/2001-08-15-bcovwed.htm.

88 CLEARING THE HURDLES: WOMEN BUILDING HIGH-GROWTH BUSINESSES

9. Vesper, K. 1990. New Venture Strategies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

10. Graves, H. 2003, January. Women to watch. Women’s Business Boston, 5.

11. Torres, N. L. 2003, August. Biz 101: Best of both worlds. Entrepreneur Maga-

zine, 100.

12. Brush, C. G. 1992. Research on women business owners: Past trends, a new per-

spective and future directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. 16:4, 5–

30; Bird, B. J., & Brush, C. G. 2002. A gendered perspective on organizational

creation. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. 26:3, 41–65.

13. Shapero, A., & Sokol, L. 1982. The social dimensions of entrepreneurship, in

Kent, C., Sexton, D., & Vesper, K. (Eds). The Encyclopedia of Entrepreneur-

ship. New York: Prentice Hall, 72–90.

14. Bird, B. J., & Brush, C. G. 2002. A gendered perspective on organizational cre-

ation. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. 26:3, 41–65.

15. Ducheneaut, B. 1997. Women Entrepreneurs in SMEs. Paris: OECD.

16. Tannen, D. 1991. You Just Don’t Understand Me. New York: Ballantine.

17. Smith, D. 2000. Women at Work: Leadership for the Next Century. Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

18. Ibid.

19. Longsworth, E. (Ed). 1991. Anatomy of a Start-Up: Why Some Businesses Suc-

ceed and Others Fail. Boston: Goldhirsch Group.

20. Katz, M. 2002, September–October. ABWA Entrepreneurs Are Making Fun

Their Business, ABWA Newsletter, Vol. 1, 18.

21. Longsworth, op. cit.

22. Katz, op. cit., 19.

23. Carter, N. M., & Brush, C. G. 2004. Gender, in Gartner, W. B., Shaver, K. G.,

Carter, N. M., & Reynolds, P. D. (Eds.). The handbook of entrepreneurial

dynamics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, forthcoming.

24. Fleming, R., & Spellerberg, A. 1999. Using time and use data: History of time

use surveys and uses of time use data, Statistics New Zealand, Te Tari Tatu,

Wellington, New Zealand, catalogue number 04.021.0098.

25. Owen, M., & Greene, P. G. 2004. Time use, in Gartner, W. B., Shaver, K. G.,

Carter, N. M., & Reynolds, P. D. (Eds.). The handbook of entrepreneurial

dynamics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, forthcoming.

26. Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics.

27. Owen & Greene. 2003.

28. Sherman, A. P. 2002. The opposite sex, women in search of money still face a

man’s world. www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,302235,00.html.

29. Ibid.

30. www.bsr.org/BSRResources/IssueBriefDetail.cfm?DocumentID=48809.