Being taken seriously – shaping the pathways taken by Welsh female entrepreneurs

ABSTRACT

Despite rapid growth in female entrepreneurship globally, the gender gap in self-employment remains and women’s full contribution to the economy via self-employment continues to be unrealized. Female self-employment is an important agenda given current political interest and policy focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) revitalizing the Welsh economy. This paper explores pathways taken by women in Wales at start-up and whilst running their own businesses. Using a phenomenological approach employing narrative techniques and business life histories, a grounded account is provided of entrepreneurial practice from perceptions of female entrepreneurs. In their sense making, female entrepreneurs convey how lack of credibility (in terms of ‘not being taken seriously’) and consequently the pursuit of attaining a level of credibility (which is frequently elusive anyway), strongly shapes business decisions and entrepreneurial experiences. This consequence occurs regardless of levels of educational achievement, previous work experience or industry sector, thereby adding a subliminal layer of complexity to business decisions and strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• inequality
• wales
• entrepreneurial capital
• women
• credibility
• being taken seriously

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Christine Atkinson is the head of Women's Entrepreneurship Hub at the University of South Wales.

Celia Netana is a research assistant in the Faculty of Business and Society at the University of South Wales.

David Pickernell is professor of Small Business and Enterprise Development in Portsmouth Business School at the University of Portsmouth.

Zoe Dann is associate dean (Students) in Portsmouth Business School at the University of Portsmouth.

ORCID

David Pickernell http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0912-095X

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by European Social Fund (ESF) funding in conjunction with the Welsh Assembly under Project Identification number 2015-1-UK01-KA203-013847.