Women’s representation in business case studies – a framework of postmodernism to uncover hidden assumptions

Abstract

A review of entrepreneurship literature indicates a gap in women representation in business pedagogy. Studies emphasise the importance of business schools and effective curriculum in influencing potential entrepreneurs in venture creation. To identify the gap of women representation and to evaluate the effectiveness of curriculum materials, the paper examines the role of pedagogical materials used in entrepreneurship programmes to develop more women entrepreneurs. The lack of an integrative framework for understanding the nature and implications of women representation related to issues of power and dominance, ‘white male privileges’ in decision-making, and representation of marginalised groups are hardly studied. The study used a framework of postmodernism to help inform and interpret past research and frame the research problem and discussion. The paper compared and critically examined the assumptions made in case studies of a widely used entrepreneurship textbook and used deconstruction to understand women's representation and portrayal in case studies.

Keywords:

• Women entrepreneurs
• pedagogical materials
• postmodernism
• deconstruction method
• case studies
• entrepreneurship programmes
• organisational studies

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tasnuva Chaudhury

Tasnuva Chaudhury is a PhD candidate in management at the Sprott School of Business, Carleton University. She completed her MBA in Management from Texas Tech University and her bachelor’s degree from North South University. Her research interests include gender and immigration, employee well-being, career resilience, workplace diversity, women entrepreneurship, and organisational studies. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, hiking, and photography.