Researching Female Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment presented to The World Bank - Europe and Central Asia Region Panel 2: Workshop on Sharing the Growth Dividend: Women in the ECA Region by Sammie Robinson, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Management & Marketing ■ College of Business ■ Prairie View A&M University

Presentation Agenda  Introduction  Research Perspective & Strategies  Insights from Current Research  Reactions?

Introduction  Background  Research Influences and Experiences

Research Perspective & Strategies Investigating issues faced by women in Central Europe and Asia Answers depend on questions raised

The Appropriate Approach Asking New Questions

Approach to research Radical HumanistRadical Structuralist FunctionalistInterpretivist Burrell & Morgan, 1979 The sociology of radical change The sociology of regulation Subjective Objective

New questions … Radical Humanist How can the increases in the number of women entrepreneurs take place in society ? Radical Structuralist What kinds of changes would have to take place in society to enhance the status of women as entrepreneurs and business owners? Functionalist How do women compare to men? Interpretivist How do women view entrepreneurship and business ownership (in their own words)

New questions … Radical Humanist How can the increases in the number of women entrepreneurs take place in society ? Radical Structuralist What kinds of changes would have to take place in society to enhance the status of women as entrepreneurs and business owners? Functionalist How do women compare to men? Interpretivist How do women view entrepreneurship and business ownership (in their own words)?

Research Approach  Raises questions that generate different answers  Privileges “women’s voices”  Takes “context” into account

Methodological Landscape  Researching in a social context  Role of theory  Working with an emergent design  Collecting case study data  Generating researchable propositions

What did we do?  Broad description of research approach, and actual activities

Preparing for First Contact First Contact Getting the Participants The Group Interview Post Interview Wrap-up Setting the Stage Next Study Site or Research Activity Model for Data Collection Step One Step Two Step SixStep Five Step Four Step Three

Insights from Current Research  Attributes represent analogues to traditional functionalist criteria Transferability Credibility Confirmability Dependability

Preliminary Themes The double minority challenge; Calling and community orientations; The significance of family history and family support; The trade off between passion and growth; The nature of the social networks and social organization; The meaning of success

Reactions?