In comparison to other European countries, Greece exhibits a clear larger than average gender gap in entrepreneurship. The main idea of the proposed project rests on the fact that women’s culturally specific social identity is a potent predictor of their entrepreneurial motivation and predisposition for business growth. The purpose of the proposed project is to empirically test a theoretical model revolving around culture-specific social identity factors that can explain much of that gender gap in females’ lower predisposition towards entrepreneurship. The proposed project will (1) Investigate social identity factors that can explain differences in entrepreneurial motivation between men and women and among subgroups of women in Greece; (2) Investigate how varying those factors can explain predisposition for growth of female enterprises in Greece; and, (3) develop culture-specific measurement instruments appropriate for use in researching female entrepreneurship which can also be generalized cultures like Greece. The results of the project will be tested within the context of an organization that promotes female entrepreneurship (ERGANI) and will be further utilized to inform related established education and training programs to promote entrepreneurship in women. The project brings together a multidisciplinary research team of experts in entrepreneurship research, Female entrepreneurship in particular, and Cultural and Applied Psychology. The proposed project is theoretically timely, innovative, and impactful. Timely, as gender equality has a pivotal role in the political and academic debate in Europe and in the objectives set by the EU in the Europe 2020 growth strategy. It is innovative in that it introduces important novel social level factors as causal for gender differences in entrepreneurship. Finally, at a practical level, the results of the project will help Greek policy makers to render entrepreneurship as a desirable and feasible career choice for women, and also promote the growth potential of women’s ventures.
Foresmost is fully supported via the Grant 3864 from the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism, project: Sinking inequality: Business startup motivation and business growth in female entrepreneurship.