Developing Entrepreneurial Women – Changing Horizons Erasmus Project

Project Title

Developing Entrepreneurial Women – Changing Horizons

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Gender equality / equal opportunities; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The project consortium involved the Women’s Entrepreneurship Hub of the University of South Wales (UK and lead partner), Novancia Business School (Paris, France) and the National Chamber Network of Women Entrepreneurs (Athens, Greece). The project addressed two inter-related challenges:
1. Under-representation and under-utilisation of women in entrepreneurship.
Increasing numbers of women are becoming involved in entrepreneurship and make vital contributions to economies, but in most contexts globally fewer women than men start and run new businesses; fewer still run mature businesses, indicating issues with long term sustainability (Kelley et al, 2013). Despite being contested, under-performance hypotheses, positioning female owned businesses as less successful than male owned, are perpetuated (McAdam, 2013) and distort policy, business support and education/training interventions in ways that are unhelpful.
2. Entrepreneurship education is still a relatively new field; little attention has been paid to gendered perspectives (Ettl and Welter, 2010).
There is over-reliance on inappropriate, traditional teaching methods and content more suited studying large organisations than preparation for future entrepreneurs and the start up and development of entrepreneurial organisations (Williams Middleton and Donnellon, 2014; Mwasalwiba, 2010). Research into enterprise and entrepreneurship education offered within European HEIs reveals an unconscious masculine bias in promotion, pedagogy and content (Jones and Warhuus, 2014; Jones, 2011). This may explain the lack of take up by female students of (optional) generic enterprise and entrepreneurship focused modules/courses and may contribute to a vicious circle which perpetuates negative stereotyping and alienates women from considering entrepreneurial careers.
In addition to generic barriers to start up and growth that may be encountered by any business, women may also encounter gender specific barriers including less social, human, financial, symbolic and entrepreneurial capital (McAdam, 2013); lack of confidence and lack of self efficacy may be of key significance (Kirkwood, 2009) together with greater degrees of difficulty in reconciling home or personal priorities with those of business.
Objectives were to contribute to: promoting and encouraging entrepreneurship as a viable career option for women and girls; developing knowledge and good practice in gender and entrepreneurship research and in women’s entrepreneurship education in HEIs; and.to develop an industry endorsed, validated, joint Masters in the area of gender and entrepreneurship (due to the Brexit decision and the French partner HEI being taken over, this was amended to a Masters programme to be validated by the UK HEI only).
The project was underpinned by an action research framework so that greater insights and more specific knowledge and understanding were accumulated as the project progressed and the project activities increased in quality and relevance.
The project engaged with 197 participants. Initial focus groups/group interviews were held with 7 women in the early stages of entrepreneurship in the UK, 7 in Greece and 1 in France; individual interviews were held with 19 established female entrepreneurs from the UK and Greece. Two intensive programmes (1 in the UK and 1 in Greece) were held with 20 early stage female entrepreneurs and with 17 established female entrepreneurs from the 3 partner countries. Two further focus groups were held with 69 leading female entrepreneurs in the UK. Final dissemination events in the UK, Greece and France involved 57 female entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship researchers, educators and policy makers.
Regarding challenge 1, the project promoted entrepreneurship as a relevant career choice for women. The research, development and dissemination activities raised awareness of limiting stereotypes and their negative implications at an individual level for female entrepreneurs and at an institutional level (policy, higher education) for female entrepreneurship.
Regarding challenge 2, new, gender sensitive approaches to course promotion, teaching and learning methods and content were developed, piloted and disseminated widely. Participants in the intensive programmes have since taken up positions as leading female entrepreneurs in local, national, regional and international business and related policy fora. It is intended that the future course will build on this beginning and will equip individual female entrepreneurs with strategies to help them overcome gender specific barriers to entrepreneurial careers. It will also empower them as entrepreneurial (future) leaders to contribute to the development and promotion of more relevant and gender aware entrepreneurial theory, policy and practice.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 151589 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH WALES PRIFYSGOLDE CYMRU & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Novancia
• ETHNIKO EPIMELITIRIAKO DIKTYO ELLINIDON GYNAIKON EPICHEIRIMATION KAI STELECHON EPICHEIRIMATIKON FOREON