The impact of Gender on Entrepreneurial Aspiration: A Study in Africa

This paper aims to identify the impacts of Gender on Entrepreneurial Aspiration (growth expectation, innovation, internationalization and industry preference) in Africa. We use data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor survey (GEM) which cover at least 2,000 individuals per year which comprises about 55 countries. After eliminating observations that are inconsistent or have critical missing values, we use a sample of 769 individuals. Generalized structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The finding of this study indicates that gender has a negative impact on entrepreneurial aspiration. Accordingly, women are less likely than men to have growth expectation for their firms. Similarly, women are less fortunate enough than men to internationalize their product or service. With regard to entrepreneur’s innovativeness it is measured in three different ways. As a result, the variance in measurement necessitated to have different results. Consequently, from competitors’ as well as technological perspectives women are less likely than men to have Innovation for their firm. While from potential customer’s consideration regarding their products’ or services’ newness or unfamiliar, the finding shows the opposite result. On the other hand, in terms of entrepreneurial industry preference, the study founds the opposite result that indicates entrepreneur’s industry preference will not differ by gender. Future studies should focuses on comparative analysis to compare with other emerging countries to examine the impact of gender on entrepreneurial aspiration and how they overcome the challenges that might faces. The finding of this study has implications for researcher and policymakers. This research will be contributed to the entrepreneurship literature by incorporating the impact of gender on entrepreneurial aspiration in Africa