An insight into potential male and female entrepreneurs in
Greece
Katerina Sarri, Stavroula Laspita
Ongoing financial crisis
In Greece
financial aspect
social aspect
psychological
aspect
1
Entrepreneurship
structural
change
competition
innovation
job creation
2
creation of a new business
Entrepreneurial culture
entrepreneurial values
3
Literature Review
Entrepreneurship education in universities

Many universities offer a number of entrepreneurship courses and
programs, support endowed chairs of entrepreneurship (Katz, 2003;
Kuratko, 2005)

Research provides a somewhat inconclusive picture (Kolvereid and Moen,
1997; Oosterbeek et al., 2010; Weber et al., 2009) whether entrepreneurship
education at the university level:
 triggers the entrepreneurial intention of students
 triggers motives towards entrepreneurship
 affects students’ business goals
 affects male and female students differently towards entrepreneurship
4
Introduction

Entrepreneurial intention

Motives

Business goals
5
Introduction
Female Entrepreneurship

There is a gender gap in the entrepreneurial activity (Kelly et al., 2010)

Female entrepreneurship is considered to be an important source
of growth, employment, and innovation (Birley, 1989, Mueller, 2004, Verheul and
Thurik, 2001)
6
Problem definition
In Greece there are very few studies that examine:

The entrepreneurial potential of Greek students (intention, activity,
motives, business goals)

The entrepreneurial spirit in Greek universities (e.g. offers in
entrepreneurship)

Gender similarities or differences among potential young
entrepreneurs
7
Our study

focuses on the population of potential entrepreneurs (students)

sheds a light on students’ founding intention and activity

examines students’ entrepreneurial motives and business goals


the entrepreneurial spirit in universities
examines the above mentioned aspects through the gender lens
8
Sample characteristics
284 participants
Age (mean)
23,2
Undergraduate, BA-level (%)
61,6
Graduate, MA-level (%)
21,5
PhD-level (%)
16,9
Male (%)
37,0
Female (%)
63,0
Business-related sciences (%)
43,0
Natural sciences (%)
3,2
Social sciences (%)
43,7
Other fields of study (%)
10,2
9
Results
Figure 1: Aggregated career aspirations directly after graduation
Female INT
75,9
Male INT
76,4
Female GRE
75,1
Male GRE
15,1
16,9
11,9
69,9
0%
10%
20%
Dependent occupation
30%
18,4
40%
1,2 7,8
50%
Independent occupation
60%
70%
No employment
0,6 6,1
1,1
11,9
2,9
80%
8,7
90%
100%
Do not know
10
Results
Figure 2: Aggregated career aspirations five years after graduation
Female INT
47,2
Male INT
40,6
47,0
Female GRE
10%
20%
Dependent occupation
0,73,4
35,4
45,6
0%
8,8
45,4
56,2
Male GRE
6,9
1,7 6,7
48,5
30%
40%
50%
Independent occupation
60%
70%
No employment
1,04,9
80%
90%
100%
Do not know
11
Results
Entrepreneurial intentions and activity (%)
Male
Female
No, never
21.0
38.5
Yes, briefly
24.8
20.1
Yes, quite specifically
16.2
17.3
Yes, but I dropped the idea
10.5
11.2
23.8
11.7
Yes, I am just starting to do so
1.9
1.1
Yes, I am already self-employed
1.0
0.0
Yes, I was self-employed, but no longer am
1.0
0.0
Yes, I am determined to become self-employed
in the future
12
Results
Entrepreneurial motives (AM)
Male
Female
3.81
3.69
3.57*
3.87*
3.49
3.69
3.04
3.08
3.12
2.83
Earn a larger personal income
3.98
3.88
Financial security
4.16
4.11
Build great wealth, high income
3.92
3.76
Build a business my children can inherit
To continue a family tradition
Follow example of a person I admire
To be respected by my friends
3.03*
2.42*
2.20*
1.74*
2.32
2.11
2.19
2.01
Innovative, be at the forefront of technology
2.75*
2.31*
To develop an idea for a product
2.93*
2.45*
Achieve something, gain recognition
3.34
3.16
Gain a higher position for myself
3.36
3.30
Get greater flexibility for personal life
3.52
3.61
Free to adapt my approach to work
3.86
3.81
To challenge myself
To fulfil a personal vision
Grow and learn as a person
To lead and motivate others
Power to influence an organization
Notes: male sample n=103, female sample n=179, scale used: from 1= to no extent to 5= to a very great extent, * significance (2-tailed) at13
0.05 level
Results
Business goals (AM)
Male
Female
Net Profit over 5 years
4.16
4.05
Rate of growth
4.22
4.16
Market share
3.88
3.77
Employee rewards and benefits
3.06*
3.45*
Net profit over the coming year
3.82
3.85
Company prestige
4.36
4.47
Innovation
3.95
4.14
Assets and reserves
3.63
3.72
Dividend pay out
3.25*
3.53*
Price leadership
3.42
3.58
Services to community
3.37*
3.66*
Notes: male sample n=83, female sample n=110, scale used: from 1= not at all important to 5= extremely important, * significance (2-tailed)
at 0.05 level ** significance (2-tailed) at 0.01 level
14
Results
Importance of university offers (AM)
Male
Female
Business plan project seminars
4.28
4.45
Start-up coaching
4.54
4.80
Entrepreneurship seminars and lectures
4.15
4.28
Start-up business games / start-up simulations
4.09
4.26
Regular round tables for founders (e.g. exchange of
4.20
4.20
Contacts for general questions
4.13
4.17
Start-up financing through the university
4.76
4.76
Incubators (service centre for early stage start-ups)
4.34*
4.67*
experiences)
Notes: male sample n=105, female sample n=179, scale used: from 1= very unimportant to 6= very important, * significance (2-tailed) at
0.05 level ** significance (2-tailed) at 0.01 level
15
Results
Existence of university offers (%)
Male
Yes
No
Female
Don’t
Yes
No
know
Don’t
know
Business plan project seminars
23.8
24.8
51.4
33.5
25.7
40.8
Start-up coaching
14.3
36.2
49.5
16.2
34.6
49.2
Entrepreneurship seminars and lectures
54.3
17.1
28.6
59.8
15.6
24.6
18.1
33.3
48.6
11.2
41.3
47.5
17.1
40.0
42.9
10.6
38.0
51.4
Contacts for general questions
41.9
20.0
38.1
39.1
22.3
38.5
Start-up financing through the university
7.6
28.6
63.8
3.9
31.8
64.2
7.6
23.8
68.6
2.8
31.3
65.9
Start-up business games / start-up
simulations
Regular round tables for founders (e.g.
exchange of experiences)
Incubators (service centre for early stage
start-ups)
16
Summary - Discussion
Entrepreneurial intention
Do male and female students differ in their founding intention
in Greece?
• Men seem to have a higher interest in becoming self-employed.
• Gender gap not only in entrepreneurial activity but also in
entrepreneurial intentions.
• Measures need to be taken to raise female’s interest in
entrepreneurship.
17
Summary - Discussion
Entrepreneurial intention
Do male and female students differ in their founding intention
in Greece?
• Entrepreneurial intentions increase for both male and female
students five years after graduation.
Possible explanations:
o Working experience could provide students with a more
realistic picture of what it means to be an entrepreneur.
o Students would like to first gain experience working as
employees that will enhance their knowledge of how to run a
business.
o Entering the workforce may provide security and comfort that
delay exercising an interest in entrepreneurship.
18
Research Questions
Entrepreneurial motives
Do male and female students differ in their motivation
towards entrepreneurship in Greece?
• Only small significant differences could be between the two gender
in motives for becoming self-employed.
• Small differences are also found between the two gender in the
literature of existing entrepreneurs (Brush, 1992; Birley, 1989)
• If both potential and existing male and female entrepreneurs do not
mainly differ in their motivation to become self-employed, the
question of the gender gap in the entrepreneurial activity still
remains open and is subject to future research
19
Research Questions
Business goals
Do male and female students differ in their business goals in
Greece?
• Small significant differences were found in the business goals.
• Women would like to pursue social goals like services to the
community but also financial goals like the pay out of dividends.
20
Research Questions
Entrepreneurship education
Does entrepreneurship education affect male and female
students differently?
• Female students value almost all university offers more than their
male counterparts.
• Significant differences were found only for incubators.
• A large number of students (males and females) do not know
whether the examined services exist in their universities. Why???
o Students of all disciplines
o Universities do not publicize at a great extent their offers
in entrepreneurship
o students’ founding intention is not yet strong enough to
mobilize them to acquire information
21
Future research
research on entrepreneurship education should be extended in
primary and secondary schools

the factors that lead to the gender gap in entrepreneurship still
remain open


longitudinal studies are needed to examine:
owhether students’ intention to become self-employed has been realized or not
othe temporal stability of entrepreneurial intentions and factors that affect it
ohow entrepreneurship education indirectly influences entrepreneurial intention
22
Thank you very much
for your attention
Questions-Comments
23