TheImpactofFamily
SupportonYoung
FemaleEntrepreneurs’
StartupActivities
LindaF.Edelman–BentleyUniversity;St.PetersburgUniversity
Ta<anaS.Manolova–BentleyUniversity;St.PetersburgUniversity
GalinaShirokova–St.PetersburgUniversity
TatyanaTsukanova–St.PetersburgUniversity
Researchhasbeenconductedwithfinancial
supportfromRussianScienceFounda8on
grant(projectNo.14‑18‑01093)
1
Globally,
Thereisacrisisinyouthunemployment
•  In2012,justfewerthan300million15–24yearoldswere
neitherworkingnorstudying(Economist,2013)
•  Toputthatinperspec<ve,it’saliRlemorethanthecombinedpopula<ons
ofFrance,Italy,GermanyandtheUnitedKingdom
•  Joblessnesscanleadtoalife<meoflowerearnings,waves
ofemigra<on,socialaliena<on,andinextremecases,
socialunrest
Forwomen:
•  IncountriessuchasGreeceandSpainunemploymentfor
women15-24isabove50%(Guardian,2015)
•  Globally,ratesofwomen’sentrepreneurshiparelower
thanthoseofmen(GEM,2013)
2
RQ:Whatistheeffectoffamilysupport
onyoungwomen’sstart-upactivities?
•  Start-upAc4vi4es
•  Longlineageofresearchonstart-upac<vi<esmostlyusingdatafrom
thePanelStudyofEntrepreneurialDynamics(PSED)
•  Findingssuggest
•  entrepreneurswhoareac4velyengagedinmanystart-upac<vi<esare
morelikelytoendupwithaviablenewventure(Lichtensteinetal,2007)
•  humancapitalwasimportantinini<a<ngentrepreneurialstart-up
ac<vi<es,howeversocialcapitalremainedimportantthroughoutthe
wholestart-upprocess(DavidissonandHonig,2003)
•  4mingma=ers;firmsthatorganizedmoreslowlyweremorelikelyto
con<nueorganizing(Brush,ManolovaandEdelman,2008).
3
Weadopta
FamilyEmbeddednessperspective
•  Familysupportiscri<calforyoungentrepreneurs
wholackthefinancialmeansortheright
connec<ons(Lévesque&Minni<,2011)
•  Familyembeddednesssuggeststhatentrepreneurs’
businessesandfamiliesarenotseparateen<<es,
butinsteadareimpossibletodisentangle(Jenningsand
McDougall,2007)
•  Characteris<csoftheentrepreneurs’familysystem,
suchasfamilyresources,normsandvalueseffect
entrepreneurialfirmoutcomesandfirmoutcomes
effectthefamily(AldrichandCliff,2003)
4
Familyandwomen’sentrepreneurship
areconnected
•  Womenaremo<vatedtostartanewventureinthehopesof
aRainingbeRerwork-lifebalance(Brush,1990)
•  Whenlookingatbusinessexpansion:
•  Forwomen,personalconsidera<onsaremoreimportant
thaneconomicconsidera<ons(Cliff,1998)
•  Womenweightedtheopinionsoftheirspousesmore
heavilythandidmen(OrserandHogarth-ScoR,2005)
•  Forwomen,financialsuccessifjustoneofmanyreasonsto
achievegrowth,yetformenitistheprimaryreason
(Manolova,Brush,EdelmanandShaver,2012)
5
Familyisespeciallyimportantfor
youngwomenentrepreneurs
Youngentrepreneurs
haveliRleifany
businessknowledge,
limitedfinancial
means,fewsocial
rela<ons,andliRle
experienceinhowto
makesenseofthe
entrepreneurial
process(NielsonandLassen,
2012)
Thereforewepropose:
•  Thegreaterthefamily
support,intheformof
financialcapital(H1)or
socialcapital(H2),the
greaterthescopeof
start-upac<vi<es
undertakenbyyoung
femalenascent
entrepreneurs
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Method
SampleandDescrip4ve
Sta4s4cs
Sta4s4calProcedure
•  Datafrom2011Global
UniversityEntrepreneurial
SpiritStudents’Survey
(GUESSS),abiannual
onlinesurveyofstudents
from26countries
•  N=14,084women
•  Womenwere,onaverage,
23.68yearsoldand½
reportedthattheir
parentswereorhadbeen
entrepreneurs.
•  DV=countofnumberof
start-upac<vi<es
•  HierarchicalPoisson
regression(STATA)
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Ourresultsaremixed
•  FinancialCapitalwassignificant,butnega<velyrelatedto
start-upac<vi<es(H1–rejected)
•  Thehigherthefamilysupportintheformoffinancialcapital,the
lowerthescopeofstart-upac<vi<es
•  SocialCapitalwassignificantandposi<velyrelatedtostart-up
ac<vi<es(H2–supported)
•  Thehigherthefamilysupportintheformofsocialcapital,the
higherthescopeofstart-upac<vi<es
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DirecteffectsoffamilyKinancialand
socialcapital
Nega4veimpactoffamily
financialcapital
Posi4veimpactoffamilysocial
capital
•  Possiblethattoomuch
•  Familysocialcapital,inthe
financialsupportmayhave
formofsocialcontactsand
anadverseeffectonthe
introduc<onintosocial
scopeofentrepreneurial
networkshasaconsistent
ac<vi<es
posi<veeffectonthescope
•  Dataar<fact–ourDVisa
ofstart-upac<vi<es
countofstart-upac<vi<es
•  Strongfamily<esarebotha
andoneofthoseac<vi<esis
sourceofinternalor
lookingforfinancing.Ifthe
“bonding”socialcapitalanda
familyprovidestoomuch
sourcesofexternalor
financing,thenthe
“bridging”socialcapital
entrepreneurislesslikelyto
lookformoremoney
9
Overall,familysupportislower
thanweexpected
•  Previousworkwithwomenentrepreneursledusto
believethatfamilysupportwouldbehigher(Edelman,
Manolova,Brush,2014)
•  Familieslivinginculturesthatplacehighvalueonthe
stabilityandpres<geassociatedwithworkingforahighstatusemployer/governmentmaydiscouragetheir
daughtersfromstar<ngtheirownbusiness.
•  Socialfeministtheorylogicsuggeststhatwomenchooseto
startdifferenttypesofbusinessesthanmen(i.e.,educa<on
services,dancestudios,gio-giving,restaurants),andfamilies
mayrecognizethatthesebusinessesarelikelytohavelower
growthrates.
10
Wewerepuzzledbythelowlevelof
support,andsoexploredtheissue
further
•  Addi<onaltestsrevealedthatfamilieswerebothparents
wereorhadbeenmajoritybusinessownersofferedhigh
levelsofbothfinancialandsocialcapital.
•  Ifbothparentswereentrepreneursthelevelsoffinancialand
socialcapitalwereevenhigher.
•  Thesefindingssuggestathereisasubtlebutdis<nct
combinedeffectofdirectfamilysupportandrolemodels
–whichfurtherresearchcoulddisentangle
11
Earlier,wepresentedthealarmingrates
ofyouthunemploymentglobally
•  Ourstudysuggeststhatnotonlydoesentrepreneurshiphold
thepromiseofhelpingwiththeunemploymentcrisis,butthat
familyplaysanimportantrole.
•  Forpublicpolicymakers–findingwaystosupportthefamily
maydirectlyandindirectlys<mulateyoungwomen’s
entrepreneurship
•  Foryoungwomenentrepreneurs–makethemostofyour
family-specificsocialconnec<ons
•  Forfamilies–provideyourdaughter’saccesstoyoursocial
andfinancialcapital,butbecarefulwiththeamountof
financialcapital,toomuchmaystuntthenumberofstart-up
ac<vi<esinwhichsheengages
12
Inconclusion
Theeffectsoffamilyembeddednessonyoung
women'sentrepreneurshiparecomplex
Wehopeotherswilljoinustoenrichthisconversa<on
ThankyouforyouraRen<on
Ques<ons?
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