Study: Gender Stereotypes Persist

Researchers find women may still be discouraged from becoming entrepreneurs.

By Ana Patricia Ferrey | 
 

Long-held gender stereotypes may still be discouraging more women from becoming entrepreneurs, new research shows.

In recent joint study by the University of Missouri, Binghamton University and the University of Minnesota, male business students rated their desire to pursue entrepreneurial goals higher than female students after reading articles that subtletly linked entrepreneurship with men.

As the connotations became more overt, the female students tended to rate higher than the males, the study found. The ratings were roughly the same when entrepreneurship was presented as gender neutral.

“One sex is not inherently more qualified than the other,” Daniel Turban, chair of the management department at the Robert J. Trulaske Sr. College of Business, said in statement. “Unfortunately, the underlying societal stereotypes associating entrepreneurship with masculine characteristics may influence people's intentions to pursue entrepreneurial careers”

The study is expected to be published in the Journal of Applied Psychology later this year.

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