Networking by female business owners in Northern Ireland

doi:10.1016/0883-9026(92)90029-Q

Journal of Business Venturing

Volume 7, Issue 3, May 1992, Pages 237-251

https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-9026(92)90029-Q Get rights and content

Abstract

Women form a very significant proportion of the labor force in the U.K., but both their salaries and their organizational status lag significantly behind those of men, even in female-dominated industries. Consequently, women are turning increasingly to business proprietorship as a means of overcoming labor market and organizational subordination. However, research to date has shown some evidence that female entrepreneurs face more problems and are in an even more precarious position than their male colleagues.

A multitude of factors can have an influence on the viability of a new venture, but recently researchers have begun to focus on the significance of the owner-manager's personal contact network as an aid to business development. Thus, for example, those entrepreneurs with large, diverse, and closely knit networks of associates are likely to draw their advice and assistance from an equally large pool. However, networks are the product of personal drive and historical experiences, and the social structure and domestic duties of many women together with their subordinate organizational roles may result in female entrepreneurs having less developed, more closely knit networks than men.

Using a modified version of the personal contact network instrument developed by Aldrich et al. (1987), the authors collected data on the size, diversity, density, and effectiveness of the networks of 204 male entrepreneurs and 70 female entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland in an attempt to discover whether the personal contact networks of women are significantly different from those of men. The research posed four basic hypotheses:

1.
1. Women will be less active networkers than men.
2.
2. Women will have less dense networks than men.
3.
3. Women will incline towards discussions with other women.
4.
4. Family members will be the most important persons in the contact network of female owner-managers.

Contrary to expectations, the results indicate that, with the exception of the gender of the individuals in the personal contact network, female networks are remarkably similar to those of men. Thus, for example, they are just as active in their networking as men, their personal contact networks are as diverse as those of men, and they are no more likely to consult family and friends than are men. However, analysis of the cross ties shows that they tend to rely heavily upon a male colleague as their prime contact but to revert to their own sex for the rest. In contrast, their male colleagues relied almost entirely on members of their own sex for advice.

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Networking by female business owners in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Enterprise through social networks

The impact of social networks on business founding and profit

Women on the verge of a breakthrough: networking among entrepreneurs in the United States and Italy

Networking among women entrepreneurs

A women's place is with other women: sex segregation in the workplace

The role of new firms: Births, deaths and job generation

Strategic Management Journal

Do Women Entrepreneurs Require Different Training?

American Journal of Small Business

Entrepreneurial networks: their emergence in Ireland and overseas

International Small Business Journal

Women and minority entrepreneurs: a comparative analyses

Women in Business

Employment Gazette