A Preliminary Investigation of Female Entrepreneurs in Florida

A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS IN FLORIDA* During the past decade, there has been an increased interest in female entrepreneurs. Part of this interest is due to the tremendous growth in small business start-ups by females. Women currently own 26 percent of all U.S. non-farm sole proprietorships.1 According to a 1984 report by the Small Business Administration, females are starting small businesses at a rate five times greater than that of males in the United States. Between 1980 and 1982 alone, the number of self-employed females increased by 10 percent, compared to only a 1 percent rise for males.2 In fact, it is estimated that over one-third of the new companies in the United States were founded by women.3 * The author wishes to express her gratitude for the helpful suggestions made by two anonymous reviewers. This research was sponsored jointly by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute and the Corporate Affiliate Program of the School of Business Administration, University of Miami. 1 G. Dessler, "Importance of Women in the Market,' The Miami Herald (January 14, 1985), p. 43. 2 R. M. Gaedeke and D. H. Tootelian, Small Business Management, 2nd ed. (Glenwood, Illinois: Scott, Foresman & Co., 1985), pp. 15-19. Dr. Neider is chairperson of the Department of General Resources, Management, and Organization at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. 3 G. Gregg, "Women Entrepreneurs: The Second Generation,' Across the Board (January 1985), pp. 11-18. A second major reason for the interest in female entrepreneurship arises from the assumption that women encounter difficulties in starting and operating businesses which are different from those faced by men. Thus, researchers, practitioners, and a few theorists have attempted to identify such barriers and/or differences. Basically, the research published to date falls into three categories: studies dealing with the personal characteristics of women entrepreneurs; reports which attempt to pinpoint specific issues/barriers which confront them; and studies which explore organizational characteristics associated with their business ventures. PREVIOUS RESEARCH Personal Attributes Studies investigating the female entrepreneur have concentrated primarily on identifying the unique demographic or personality attributes associated with them. Demographically, first-borns are predominant.4 Many female entrepreneurs had an entrepreneurial parent,5 and most start businesses in the service sector.6 Findings with respect to educational background, number of siblings, parental socioeconomic status, and/or marriage history are inconsistent.7 4 Ibid., pp. 11-18. 5 R. D. Hisrich and C. G. Brush, "The Woman Entrepreneur: Management Skills and Business Problems,' Journal of Small Business Management (January 1984), pp. 30-37. 6. Gregg, "Women Entrepreneurs,' p. 13. 7. D. D. Bowen and R. D. Hisrich, "The Female Entrepreneur: A Career Development Perspective,' Academy of Management Review, vol. 11, no. 2 (1986), pp. 393-407. Research in the field of personality attributes is disappointing at best.8 With few exceptions, most of the work in this area has been anecdotal or based on self-report assessments. Cooke and Wideman contend, for example, that female entrepreneurs are motivated (in order of importance) by the search for job satisfaction, need for achievement, challenge, and independence.9 However, such needs have been assessed simply by asking participants what motivates them, and are thus subject to respondent bias. Other researchers report that women entrepreneurs display high independence and Machiavellianism.10 Again, however, appropriate assessments were not used to substantiate the findings. 8 J. A. Hornaday, "Research About Living Entrepreneurs,' in Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship, ed. …