Allied Academies International Conference
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WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE WORLD: A COMPARISON OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS FROM POLAND, THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AND THE UNITED STATES
James Reagan McLaurin, American University of Sharjah Agnieszka Kuchta, American University of Sharjah
jmclaurin@aus.edu INTRODUCTION The level of entrepreneurial activity vary across the globe depending on the economy, culture, level of technological development and other factors. It has been noticed, however, that regardless of these factors, women are less likely to get involved in entrepreneurial activities than men (Langowitz & Minniti, 2006). For a long time because of socio-cultural status women’s responsibilities included mainly looking after the family and children and a job was seen only as a temporary solution, until a woman got married and had children. This is still the situation in many countries. Such status of course affects the number of women in the labor force but to an even greater extent, the number of women who would like to take the risk of running their own business. The social role taken by women has also contributed to the fact that they had more opportunities to develop interpersonal skills and are better at dealing with people. The vast majority of them undertake jobs in supportive roles, like secretaries or personal assistants or in traditionally female positions of beauticians, social carers, tailors, etc. Therefore, it is not surprising that two out of three women - owned businesses remain in the retail trade and service sectors (Chandler, Jansen, & Mero, 2000). Running their own business is regarded by many women only as a solution to problems they had trying to juggle full time job and family responsibilities. By stepping into an entrepreneur role they may add to their responsibilities but on the other hand they gain on flexibility. Women do not regard entrepreneurship as a career and therefore do not have intentions of turning their firms into... [continues]
page 179
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE WORLD: A COMPARISON OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS FROM POLAND, THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AND THE UNITED STATES
James Reagan McLaurin, American University of Sharjah Agnieszka Kuchta, American University of Sharjah
jmclaurin@aus.edu INTRODUCTION The level of entrepreneurial activity vary across the globe depending on the economy, culture, level of technological development and other factors. It has been noticed, however, that regardless of these factors, women are less likely to get involved in entrepreneurial activities than men (Langowitz & Minniti, 2006). For a long time because of socio-cultural status women’s responsibilities included mainly looking after the family and children and a job was seen only as a temporary solution, until a woman got married and had children. This is still the situation in many countries. Such status of course affects the number of women in the labor force but to an even greater extent, the number of women who would like to take the risk of running their own business. The social role taken by women has also contributed to the fact that they had more opportunities to develop interpersonal skills and are better at dealing with people. The vast majority of them undertake jobs in supportive roles, like secretaries or personal assistants or in traditionally female positions of beauticians, social carers, tailors, etc. Therefore, it is not surprising that two out of three women - owned businesses remain in the retail trade and service sectors (Chandler, Jansen, & Mero, 2000). Running their own business is regarded by many women only as a solution to problems they had trying to juggle full time job and family responsibilities. By stepping into an entrepreneur role they may add to their responsibilities but on the other hand they gain on flexibility. Women do not regard entrepreneurship as a career and therefore do not have intentions of turning their firms into... [continues]
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