Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Aim: Female entrepreneurship is a still-untapped economic potential. To trigger it, it is necessary to better recognize barriers to its development. Thus, the aim of the research was to identify the motives that make women start their own businesses, the reasons why they postpone or decline such decisions, the barriers that they encounter when running a business, and their priorities concerning professional careers and family. Methods: Applied methods include an e-mail survey and direct interviews, both using a questionnaire. The gathered data was processed using standard qualitative data analysis tools and descriptive analysis. Results: Women decide on their own business mainly because of negative experiences of being an employee and, to a lesser degree, because of a lack of satisfactory job offers or a lack of job offers at all. However, they often postpone starting their own business because of subjective reasons: the feeling that they lack experience, the lack of self-confidence, the fear of failure, and objective ones: lack of capital. The identified barriers in women running businesses are mainly universal, not gender-related, i.e., high taxes, problems with finding
employees, and frequent changes in legal and administrative regulations. Limited time devoted to family is the only gender-related barrier. However, a considerable share of respondents claims that there are no bottle-necks to female entrepreneurship in Poland. Conclusions: To trigger the potential of female entrepreneurship, we recommend two types of actions: training, mentoring and promoting success stories aimed at decreasing the subjective barriers to women starting businesses and actions aimed at diminishing the universal, not gender-related obstacles in running businesses in Poland.
Article Details
Aidis, R., Welter, F., Smallbone, D., Isakova, N. (2007). Fe¬male entrepreneurship in transition economies: the case of Lithuania and Ukraine. Feminist Economics, 13(2), 157–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545700601184831 (Crossref)
Alsos, G.A., Ljunggren, E., Carter, S. and Jørstad, M.O. (2016). Women, family and entrepreneurship: strategies for managing work-life balance challenges. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 1. https:// doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2016.16079 (Crossref)
Bastida, M. (2021). Women’s entrepreneurship and self-em¬ployment, including aspects of gendered Corporate Social Responsibility. European Union. Retrieved from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ STUD/2021/694301/IPOL_STU(2021)694301_EN.pdf [accessed: 15.01.2013].
Borowska, A. (2013). Determinanty i bariery przedsiębi¬orczości kobiet w Polsce [Determinants and barriers to female entrepreneurship in Poland]. Ekonomia i Zarza¬dzanie, 5(3), 154.
Bowen, D., Hisrich, R. (1986). The female entrepreneur: a career development perspective. Academy of Manage¬ment Review, 11(2), 393–407. (Crossref)
Brush, C.G., Cooper, S.Y. (2012) Female entrepreneurship and economic development: An international perspec¬tive. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 24(1– 2), 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2012.637340 (Crossref)
Cutillo, A., Centra, M. (2017), Gender-based occupational choices and family responsibilities: the gender wage gap in Italy. Feminist Economics, 23(4), 1–31, https://doi.or g/10.1080/13545701.2017.1285041 (Crossref)
Estrin, S., Mickiewicz, T. (2011). Institutions and female en¬trepreneurship. Small Business Economics, 37, 397–415. (Crossref)
European Commission (2018). 2017 SBA Fact Sheet Po¬land. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/ documents/29489/attachments/20/translations/en/rendi¬tions/pdf [accessed: 28.02.2023].
European Commission (2019). 2018 SBA Fact Sheet Po¬land. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/ documents/32581/attachments/22/translations/en/rendi¬tions/native [accessed: 28.02.2023].
European Commission (2020). 2019 SBA Fact Sheet Po¬land. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/ documents/38662/attachments/22/translations/en/rendi¬tions/native [accessed: 28.02.2023].
European Commission (2020) Entrepreneurship 2020 Ac¬tion Plan. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/growth/ smes/supporting-entrepreneurship/women-entrepre¬neurs_en [accessed: 28.02.2023].
European Commission, OECD (2017). Policy Brief on Women’s Entrepreneurship. Publications Office of the European Union. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/ cfe/smes/Policy-Brief-on-Women-s-Entrepreneurship. pdf [accessed: 15.12.2021].
European Commission (2022). Annual Report on European SMEs 2021/22 SMEs and environmental sustainability. Retrieved from https://single-market-economy.ec.eu¬ropa.eu/document/download/9e7fd906-c5b0-46c5- 9b9e-4b62f6bce98f_en [accessed: 28.02.2023].
European Institute for Gender Equality (2022). Gender Equali¬ty Index 2022The COVID-19 pandemic and care. Publica¬tions Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
European Investment Bank, (2022). Support for female en¬trepreneurs: Survey evidence for why it makes sense. Retrieved from https://www.eib.org/attachments/lucalli/ support_for_female_entrepreneurs_en.pdf [accessed: 03.01.2023].
Gaweł, A. (2013). Female entrepreneurship in Poland. Eco¬nomics and Business Review, 13(1), 115–130. Retrieved from https://journals.ue.poznan.pl/ebr/article/view/662 [accessed: 28.02.2023]. (Crossref)
Gawel, A., Głodowska, A. (2021). On the Relationship be¬tween Economic Dynamics and Female Entrepreneur¬ship: Reflections for the Visegrad Countries. Journal of Social and Administrative Sciences, 11, 88. https://doi. org/10.3390/admsci11030088 (Crossref)
Gaweł, A., Mroczek-Dąbrowska, K. (2022). Gender pay gap in explaining female entrepreneurship – industry perspective of selected European countries. Interna¬tional Journal of Manpower, 43, 9, 42–59, https://doi. org/10.1108/IJM-12-2020-0554 (Crossref)
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2022). Global Entrepre¬neurship Monitor 2021/22 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report: From Crisis to Opportunity. GEM, London.
Henry, C., Foss, L., Ahl, H. (2016). Gender and entrepreneur¬ship research: A review of methodological approaches. International Small Business Journal, 34, 217–241. (Crossref)
Jacob, T., Thomas, V.R., George, G. (2023). Female Entre¬preneurship: Challenges Faced in a Global Perspective. [In:] A. Daniel, C. Fernandes (Eds), Female Entrepre¬neurship as a Driving Force of Economic Growth and Social Change (pp. 90–110). IGI Global. https://doi. org/10.4018/978-1-6684-7669-7.ch006 (Crossref)
Jancewicz, A., (2014). Exchange of good practices on gen¬der equality. Encouraging female entrepreneurship. Comments Paper – Poland. European Commission. Retrieved from https://commission.europa.eu/system/ files/2020-08/pl_comments_paper_uk2014_en.pdf [ac¬cessed: 30.08.2023].
Jennings, J.E., Brush, C.G. (2013). Research on Women Entre¬preneurs: Challenges to (and from) the Broader Entrepre¬neurship Literature? Academy of Management Annals, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2013.782190 (Crossref)
Leszczyński, D. (2016). Exploration of key success factors that influence business performance: The experiences of women micro-entrepreneurs from Mazovia Voivodeship of Poland. International Journal of Management and Economics, 51, 1, 63–89. (Crossref)
Lituchy, T.R., Reavley, M.A. (2004). Women entrepreneurs: A comparison of international small business owners in Poland and the Czech Republic. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 2, 1, 61–87. (Crossref)
Loza, E. (2011). Female entrepreneurship theory: A multi¬disciplinary review of resources. Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education, 1, 26–46.
Martínez-Rodríguez, I., Quintana-Rojo, C., Gento, P., Calle¬jas-Albiñana, F.E. (2022). Public policy recommendations for promoting female entrepreneurship in Europe. Inter¬national Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 18, 1235–1262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-021-00751-9 (Crossref)
Minniti, M., Naudé, W. 2010. What Do We Know About the Patterns and Determinants of Female Entrepreneur¬ship Across Countries? The European Journal of Devel¬opment Research 22, 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1057/ ejdr.2010.17. (Crossref)
OECD, European Commission, (2021). The Missing Entre¬preneurs 2021: Policies for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment. OECD Publishing, Paris, https:// doi.org/10.1787/71b7a9bb-en. (Crossref)
Piątek, W. (2018). Przedsiębiorczość kobiet w Polsce – stan obecny i perspektywy rozwoju (Women’s entrepreneur¬ship in Poland – available status and development pros¬pects). Akademia Zarządzania 2(3), 41–53.
Poggesi, S., Mari, M., De Vita, L. (2016). What’s new in fe¬male entrepreneurship research? Answers from the liter¬ature. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal volume, 12, 735–764. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s11365-015-0364-5 (Crossref)
Ramadani, V., Rexhepi, G., Abazi-Alili, H., Beqiri, B., Thaçi, A. (2015). A look at female entrepreneurship in Kosovo: an exploratory study. Journal of Enterprising Commu¬nities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 9, 3, 277–294. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-04-2015-0027 (Crossref)
Rugina, S. (2018). Female entrepreneurship in the Baltics: formal and informal context. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 11, 1, 58–74. https://doi. org/10.1108/IJGE-05-2018-0055 (Crossref)
Santos, G., Marques, C. S., Ferreira, J. J. (2018). A look back over the past 40 years of female entrepreneurship: Mapping knowledge networks. Scientometrics, 115(2), 953–987. (Crossref)
Sarri, K., Trihopoulou, A. (2005). Female entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics and motivation: a review of the Greek situation. Women in Management Review, 20, 1, 24-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/09649420510579559 (Crossref)
Saumik, P., Vengadeshvaran, S. (2013). Economic crisis and female entrepreneurship: Evidence from countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, CREDIT Research Paper, No. 13/08, The University of Nottingham, Centre for Research in Economic Development and Interna¬tional Trade (CREDIT), Nottingham
Schwartz, E. B. (1976). Entrepreneurship – New female frontier. Journal of Contemporary business, 5(1), 47–76.
Serafimova, M., Petrevska, B. (2018) Female entrepreneur¬ship in tourism: a strategic management perspective in Macedonia. Journal of Applied Economics and Busi¬ness, 6 (1), 21–32.
SME Performance Review 2022/2023 – indicators, retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/54956 [accessed: 02.01.2023].
Wasilczuk, J., Zieba, K. (2008). Female Entrepreneurship in Transitional Economies: The Case of Poland. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 21, 2, 153–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/08276331.2008.10593419 (Crossref)
Downloads
- Iwona M. Batyk, Joanna Rakowska, CONSUMER BEHAVIOR OF INHABITANTS OF KALININGRAD DISTRICT IN THE POLISH-RUSSIAN LOCAL BORDER TRAFFIC ZONE , Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia: Vol. 20 No. 4 (2021)
- Joanna Rakowska, European Union Funding for Preservation of Religious Cultural Heritage in Poland , Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia: Vol. 19 No. 4 (2020)
- Marta Barna, Taras Vasyltsiv, Joanna Rakowska, CONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL HOUSING IN UKRAINE , Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia: Vol. 21 No. 1 (2022)
- Silvia Andik, Joanna Rakowska, THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON PURCHASING CHICKEN MEAT ONLINE (A CASE STUDY OF INDONESIAN CONSUMERS) , Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia: Vol. 21 No. 3 (2022)
- Joanna Rakowska, SME’S PARTICIPATION IN REALISATION OF PROJECTS UNDER SELECTED ACTIONS OF SECTORAL OPERATIONAL PROGRAM ‘INCREASE OF ENTERPRISES’ COMPETITIVENESS’, IN RURAL AREAS OF NTS 2, 2004–2006 , Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia: Vol. 9 No. 2 (2010)
- Joanna Rakowska, CHANGES IN AGEING OF COMMUNES (LAU2S) IN POLAND BETWEEN 1995 AND 2014 , Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia: Vol. 15 No. 2 (2016)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.