Are Male and Female Entrepreneurs Really That Different?
We’ve frequently looked at traits and characteristics of small business owners on this blog (for example: here, here), and asked questions such as “Do women make better entrepreneurs?”
I was happy to stumble across a research study conducted by the SBA which lends some more data to our conversations.
Specifically the report looks a sample size of 685 small business owners, of which 349 are women owned firms, in hopes of answering the question:
Are Male and Female Entrepreneurs Really That Different?
While gender was shown not to affect new venture performance when preferences, motivation, and expectations were controlled for, the differences observed among men’s and women’s new business ventures include the following:
• Men had more business experience prior to opening the business and higher expectations.
• Women entrepreneurs had a larger average household size.
• The educational backgrounds of male and female entrepreneurs were similar.
• Women were less likely than men to purchase their business.
• Women were more likely to have positive revenues
• Men were more likely to own an employer firm.
• Female owners were more likely to prefer low risk/return businesses.
• Men spent slightly more time on their new ventures than women.
• Male owners were more likely to start a business to make money, had higher expectations for their business, and did more research to identify business opportunities.
• Male entrepreneurs were more likely to found technologically intensive businesses, businesses that lose their competitive advantage more quickly, and businesses that have a less geographically localized customer base.
• Male owners spent more effort searching for business opportunities and this held up when other factors were controlled for.
What do you think? Are these findings consistent with what you’ve experienced?
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If you are interested in reading the entire 65 page report, you can find it here: Male and female entrepreneurs.pdf
Photo Credit: Smoke Da Life
hey Matt,
Interesting study. Having both a daughter and a son, I can say that men and women are different. So it makes sense that male and female entrepreneurs would be different. But entrepreneurs in general are different, so I question whether some of the results are really gender specific. ~ Steve, trade show booths
Matt,
Very interesting question. I’d like to read the study. Do you have a direct link to it? Thanks.
Sheryl
@Sheryl
The report is linked at the bottom of the post, above the photo credit. It’s PDF, so you’ll need a reader.
Pretty interesting, 65 pages long I believe so it’s in depth.
Matt
@Steve
That’s a good point about entrepreneurs being a little different in general. I don’t know. I see the natural differences between men and women play out in the business world, but am not sure one or the other is necessarily using it as a competitive advantage…it’s just human nature type differences I see.
Matt
Matt,
I see it now. Guess I just have a case of tired ol’ (almost 60 yrs) eyes. Going to download. Thanks.
Sheryl
Just like there are both similarities and differences when comparing entrepreneurs to non-entrepreneurs, there are both similarities and differences between female and male entrepreneurs. As a Ladies Who Launch leader, I see the differences between the genders all the time – women launch for freedom and flexibility reasons and out of passion, where men tend to launch for money and power. And I agree with everything you’ve posted. Fascinating.
your article reveal that men are only enterprise and that is precisly the truth. why one need to experiment on already known and established fact !! ?
men are more connective and they ( i, we ) will be … and that makes enterprise.
isnt that amazing !
women might excel in selling sanitary napkin to her peer but thats none our concern. he he he
This study is a little silly. They want to claim that men and women are equal contradicting the results of all previous studies. Their justification is that men and women with the same motivations have the same level of success.
But that’s not the point. Women don’t often have the same useful motivations as men, so overall women make worse entrepreneurs.