Learning Objectives

This guide is intended to help you to focus on the key lessons in each chapter. We present the learning objectives to help assimilate theory and practice, create a vocabulary that defines your entrepreneurial leadership style, and to deepen your understanding about how gender influences the venture creation process.

Introduction

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Identify questions that confront business owners, policymakers and scholars about business ownership, entrepreneurship and venture creation.
• Identify different perspectives about how (and if) gender influences enterprise performance.
• Articulate your own views about how (and if) gender influences venture creation
• Understand the authors’ motivations for writing the book.

Reframing Entrepreneurship — Chapter 1

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Describe the evolution of thinking about entrepreneurship and how that has influenced current notions and expectations about women’s involvement in entrepreneurship
• Recognize traditional rationales advanced to explain the “underperformance” of female-owned firms.
• Understand how language, including classic feminine and masculine nomenclature, depicts entrepreneurs and influences our expectations.
• Describe feminist rationales, (liberal and social feminism), advanced to explain gender influences in enterprise performance.
• Explain the theoretical foundation of entrepreneurial feminism.
• Understand your own views about feminism and entrepreneurship.

Intention, Success, and Identity — Chapter 2

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Understand the structure of entrepreneurial identity and success, and how each can impact entrepreneurial decision-making.
• Recognize the transformational nature of business ownership.
• Describe the entrepreneurial identity gap
• Identify the entrepreneurial leadership styles of self-described feminist entrepreneurs.
• Articulate your own entrepreneurial identity
• Identify your own perceptions of entrepreneurial success
• Challenge the relevance of psychometrics used to determine entrepreneurial propensity and acumen.
• Describe your own views on enterprise growth (intention).

Getting to Go — Chapter 3

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Recognize how business owners are leveraging feminine capital through opportunity identification, start-up and enterprise growth.
• Identify activities and challenges that confront nascent and early stage entrepreneurs.
• Identify your own preferences in navigating the path to venture creation.
• Describe four theories that help to explain the evolution of an enterprise.
• Recognize gender influences in sector choice.
• Articulate your own perspective about how gender is enacted through business start-up.
• Apply lessons learned to evaluate the impact of gender in business owner actions and interactions, enterprise structures and entrepreneurial processes.

Enterprise Growth — Chapter 4

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Explain why some firms grow and others do not.
• Describe four alternative views on enterprise growth.
• Identify which explanation of enterprise growth best explains your own business.
• Identify the risks associated with managing a lifestyle or stagnant versus growing enterprise.
• Understand the importance of the business model and ownership structure in enterprise performance.
• Design a business model that meets your values and expectations.
• Identify your own entrepreneurial strengths.
• Identify challenges associated with exporting.

Social Capital — Chapter 5

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Describe the concept of social capital and its importance.
• Explain the framework, elements and spheres of social capital. Understand the role of trust in accruing and managing social capital.
• Identify strategies for building trust in relationships.
• Describe the prime sources and configuration of your own social capital.
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of family and friends, informal networks, mentors, advisors and associations as sources of social capital.
• Recognize potential gender influences in the way in which you approach and manage professional relationships.
• Develop strategies to build and manage social capital.

Money Matters — Chapter 6

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Understand the impact of financial literacy in entrepreneurial decisions.
• Recognize sources of capital available to aspiring entrepreneurs.
• Challenge myths about gender and entrepreneurial finance.
• Discuss gender influences in enterprise financing.
• Understand how type of financing impacts the ability of the business owner to attract investors.
• Assess your own entrepreneurial financial literacy.
• Apply the lessons learned to develop strategies to access capital.

Power in Policy — Chapter 7

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Understand the link between public policy, enterprise performance, and economic opportunities for women.
• Recognize global indices that monitor women’s economic, legal and social progress.
• Understand the rationale, strengths and weaknesses of mainstream and female-focused entrepreneurship/small business training programs.
• Recognize gender biases in entrepreneurship policy and programming.
• Identify common tactics to stifle advocacy and policy reform.
• Identify strategies to make policy change happen.

Never Underestimate the Underestimated Woman — Chapter 8

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Recognize schisms between theory and practice.
• Apply the lessons learned to develop strategies to support female entrepreneurs.