Women Entrepreneurs and the Myth of ‘Underperformance’ : A New Look at Women’s Entrepreneurship Research

International audienceTaking a fresh look at how performance is defined by examining the institutional power structures and policies, eminent scholars herein explore ways to overcome constrained performance and encourage women’s entrepreneurial activities through a variety of methodological approaches and geographical contexts. Significantly, this book adds a critical perspective to defining ‘success’ and ‘performance’, shattering misconceptions of underperformance in women-owned enterprises. The contributing authors raise questions on the limiting concept of the ‘entrepreneur’ and have valuable insights into policies to facilitate female entrepreneurs. Instead of taking a one-sided and narrow approach with regards to understanding the entrepreneurship performance phenomenon, this book argues that future researchers should take a fresh look at business performance, considering structural constraints, definitions of success and other socio-political factors. Scholars in the fields of entrepreneurship, gender studies, and institutional theory, as well as those who have a general interest in critical research, will benefit from this progressive step in entrepreneurship research.