Entrepreneurship Development | Journals

The IUP Journal of Entrepreneurship Development

Women Technopreneurship: Perceived Barriers and Challenges

Article Details

Pub. Date	: December, 2021
Product Name	: The IUP Journal of Entrepreneurship Development
Product Type	: Article
Product Code	: IJED21221
Author Name	: Iqra Shafi* and Farzana Gulzar**
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Management Journals
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 14

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the motivations of ecological entrepreneurs, 'ecopreneurs', to engage in green innovation, i.e., ecopreneurial ventures for wider gain than solely financial, and to introduce the ecopreneur to mainstream entrepreneurial research and study. The study is an exploratory one utilizing organization-based research. It includes collection and analysis of qualitative data involving 16 semi-structured interviews with ecopreneurs from Germany and Scotland. Three new motivational dimensions are identified and presented: to inspire others, achievement, and economic success. Additional findings include the importance of green values and economic success can change over time, e.g., ecopreneurs start their businesses with high focus on green values, but later put higher focus on economic success. Others start with their primary focus on making profits, and as their companies prove to be successful, a switch to more green values is made. The study identifies six key drivers emerging from the investigation into the motivations of German and Scottish ecopreneurs. The extended model on ecopreneurial motivation adds to existing research and opens a path to more environmentally-conscious entrepreneurship education, the ecopreneurial paradigm. This may lead to an ecological startup environment, as the attention of potential ecopreneurs is drawn to the need for creating more businesses with green focus.

Introduction

The pace at which women have ventured into entrepreneurship and made economic contributions has accelerated radically throughout the years, inducing researchers to make an assiduous effort to capture the dynamics and make distinctive contributions to the field of entrepreneurship. This radical surge in the number of women entrepreneurs has however been witnessed in and confined to traditional industries and sectors like lifestyle, retail, hospitality, etc. (Neumeyer et al., 2019). Women are less likely to undertake an entrepreneurial initiative in the field of technology (SET, i.e., Science, Engineering and Technology sector). This is primarily because females are incessantly seen as "the other" in both entrepreneurship and technology preserves. Entrepreneurship as an act is coded and viewed as a male domain. This is not only evinced by the fact that more men are entrepreneurs as compared to women but is also affected by the various assumption and representations made about an entrepreneur.