Entrepreneurship from a gender perspective

Abstract

This paper synthesises the discourse produced by female employers regarding the influence of gender in the creation and management of business; that is, the influence of the gender variable in two dimensions. First, it has an effect on the assumption of the “superwoman” role by women who have intense, close and affectionate relationships with their families and who assume full compatibility between the reproductive sphere and the productive sphere. In this case, the enterprise is an instrument of autonomy which satisfies this compatibility. Second, the gender variable also influences their assumption of the  “superman” role whereby they imitate the social role assigned to men, and which implies the subordination of domestic issues to the goal of professional success.

Key words: gender; enterpreneurship; laboral conciliation; businesswomen.