An insight into potential male and female entrepreneurs in Greece KaterinaSarriStavroulaLaspita Katerina Sarri, Stavroula Laspita

1 Ongoing financial crisis In Greece financial aspect social aspect psychological aspect

2 Entrepreneurship structural change innovation competition job creation

3 Entrepreneurial culture creation of a new business entrepreneurial values

Literature Review Entrepreneurship education in universities Many universities offer a number of entrepreneurship courses and programs, support endowed chairs of entrepreneurship (Katz, 2003; Kuratko, 2005) Research provides a somewhat inconclusive picture (Kolvereid and Moen, 1997; Oosterbeek et al., 2010; Weber et al., 2009) whether entrepreneurship education at the university level:  triggers the entrepreneurial intention of students  triggers motives towards entrepreneurship  affects students’ business goals  affects male and female students differently towards entrepreneurship 4

Introduction Entrepreneurial intention Motives Business goals 5

Introduction Female Entrepreneurship There is a gender gap in the entrepreneurial activity (Kelly et al., 2010) Female entrepreneurship is considered to be an important source of growth, employment, and innovation (Birley, 1989, Mueller, 2004, Verheul and Thurik, 2001) 6

Problem definition In Greece there are very few studies that examine: The entrepreneurial potential of Greek students (intention, activity, motives, business goals) The entrepreneurial spirit in Greek universities (e.g. offers in entrepreneurship) Gender similarities or differences among potential young entrepreneurs 7

Our study focuses on the population of potential entrepreneurs (students) sheds a light on students’ founding intention and activity examines students’ entrepreneurial motives and business goals the entrepreneurial spirit in universities examines the above mentioned aspects through the gender lens 8

Sample characteristics 9 Age (mean) Undergraduate, BA-level (%) Graduate, MA-level (%) PhD-level (%) Male (%) Female (%) Business-related sciences (%) Natural sciences (%) Social sciences (%) Other fields of study (%) 23,2 61,6 21,5 16,9 37,0 63,0 43,0 3,2 43,7 10,2 284 participants

Results 10 Figure 1: Aggregated career aspirations directly after graduation

Results 11 Figure 2: Aggregated career aspirations five years after graduation

Results 12 Entrepreneurial intentions and activity (%) Male Female No, never Yes, briefly Yes, quite specifically Yes, but I dropped the idea Yes, I am determined to become self-employed in the future Yes, I am just starting to do so Yes, I am already self-employed Yes, I was self-employed, but no longer am

Results 13 Entrepreneurial motives (AM) MaleFemale To challenge myself To fulfil a personal vision 3.57*3.87* Grow and learn as a person To lead and motivate others Power to influence an organization Earn a larger personal income Financial security Build great wealth, high income Build a business my children can inherit 3.03*2.42* To continue a family tradition 2.20*1.74* Follow example of a person I admire To be respected by my friends Innovative, be at the forefront of technology 2.75*2.31* To develop an idea for a product 2.93*2.45* Achieve something, gain recognition Gain a higher position for myself Get greater flexibility for personal life Free to adapt my approach to work Notes: male sample n=103, female sample n=179, scale used: from 1= to no extent to 5= to a very great extent, * significance (2-tailed) at 0.05 level

Results 14 Business goals (AM) Male Female Net Profit over 5 years Rate of growth Market share Employee rewards and benefits 3.06*3.45* Net profit over the coming year Company prestige Innovation Assets and reserves Dividend pay out 3.25*3.53* Price leadership Services to community 3.37*3.66* Notes: male sample n=83, female sample n=110, scale used: from 1= not at all important to 5= extremely important, * significance (2-tailed) at 0.05 level ** significance (2-tailed) at 0.01 level

Results 15 Importance of university offers (AM) Male Female Business plan project seminars Start-up coaching Entrepreneurship seminars and lectures Start-up business games / start-up simulations Regular round tables for founders (e.g. exchange of experiences) 4.20 Contacts for general questions Start-up financing through the university 4.76 Incubators (service centre for early stage start-ups) 4.34*4.67* Notes: male sample n=105, female sample n=179, scale used: from 1= very unimportant to 6= very important, * significance (2-tailed) at 0.05 level ** significance (2-tailed) at 0.01 level

Results 16 Existence of university offers (%) MaleFemale YesNo Don’t know YesNo Don’t know Business plan project seminars Start-up coaching Entrepreneurship seminars and lectures Start-up business games / start-up simulations Regular round tables for founders (e.g. exchange of experiences) Contacts for general questions Start-up financing through the university Incubators (service centre for early stage start-ups)

Summary - Discussion 17

Summary - Discussion 18

Research Questions 19

Research Questions 20

Research Questions 21

research on entrepreneurship education should be extended in primary and secondary schools the factors that lead to the gender gap in entrepreneurship still remain open longitudinal studies are needed to examine: o whether students’ intention to become self-employed has been realized or not o the temporal stability of entrepreneurial intentions and factors that affect it o how entrepreneurship education indirectly influences entrepreneurial intention Future research 22

Thank you very much for your attention Questions-Comments 23