Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Women: Does Gender Moderate the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Entrepreneurial Intention

Abstract Despite the limited knowledge available on the effects of gender on entrepreneurial ecosystems, it is reasonable to expect that such systems often suffer from gender imbalance. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the perception of female and male Iranian students of agriculture regarding the availability of the entrepreneurial ecosystem components in Iran using the Isenberg's model. We also examined the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between perception of the entrepreneurial ecosystem components and start-up launching intention. Data collected from 416 Iranian students of agriculture were examined based on the partial least squares structural equation modeling. Our results revealed that female students believed the components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem to be in poor conditions. Also, the start-up launching intention was weaker among female students compared to males. Perception of the entrepreneurial ecosystem components (policy, culture, human capital, support, market, and financial capital) had a significant impact on start-up launching intention among students of agriculture. Perception of the financial and human capital had a greater impact on start-up launching intention among the students. In addition, gender exhibited a moderating role on the effect of perception of the financial and human capital components. The study offers recommendations for universities and higher education institutions of agriculture to further improve and develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem via entrepreneurial programs, workshops and events. We also recommend that the necessary measures be taken to increase students’ access to loans and financial resources in order to boost start-up launching intention