Entrepreneurship: not an easy path to top management for women

Abstract

Despite the increased gender parity in the workforce today, few women attain top management positions in America's largest corporations. Instead, an increasing number of women are achieving CEO status as entrepreneurs. In‐depth interviews with women who have lived in both worlds – that of the stable company and one launched and run on their own – give some insight as to the nature of the problems and perceptions faced by women as managers and entrepreneurs. Issues such as gender‐role bias and work/life balance are concerns for women with and without children. Gathering information from women who decided to form their own organizations after they had worked in a large organization, this paper examines some of the decision‐making factors and socio‐personal constraints that affect such entrepreneurship.