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Gender, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and Entrepreneurial Career Intentions: Implications for Entrepreneurship Education Christian Afful Moromoke Boboye Oxalis B. Garcia Eric Ostberg Angela Stevenson MGT600-0703A-01 Professor Donald L. Buresh Abstract Entrepreneurship is a source of innovation, job creation and vibrancy for local and regional {text:bookmark-start} Economies (McAlexander, Bates, & Nelson, 2009, p. 49) {text:bookmark-end} .
Men and women have different Interests and behavior due to a lot of factors, these factors undoubtedly contribute to the Disparity between men and women in Entrepreneurial career interest behaviors (Wilson,Kickul,Marlino & Deborah, 2007). A major Factor is the ability and self confidence of Individuals both male and female which determines the success of business creation (Wilson,Kickul,Marlino & Deborah,2007). Gender affects personality, tolerance and our reaction to various situations; both male and female could possesses good entrepreneurial career intention and ability to start a business.
When all the attributes are brought into play, the entrepreneurial education of men and women can be affected both positively and negatively. The group was able to access the works of some individuals on these very subject (ent {text:bookmark-start} repreneurship), {text:bookmark-end} who identified willingness and ability as one of the factors that make a successful entrepreneurship career. Introduction This assignment is based around all steps of the research process according to Sekaran (2003).
The article in question is titled “Gender, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and Entrepreneurial Career Intentions: Implications for Entrepreneurship Education. ” The authors are Fiona Wilson, Jill Kickul, and Deborah Marlino. The article is a research article that exemplifies the role women play among today’s entrepreneurs. There has always been a gap between men and woman as far as being an entrepreneur goes. The article takes an in-depth perspective about the psychological ature of most women in regards to entrepreneurship. The roles are broken down into many different demographics such as college educated women, location, and different types of women such as self-reliant women. The basis of the research is to determine exactly what the origin is of the level of difference is the entrepreneurial field. The fact is that this article is a research article; and the assessment from us determines if the authors adhered to the research process.
The whole process is constituted by the observation, preliminary data gathering, problem definition, theoretical framework, and the generation of a hypothesis, scientific research design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, and deduction (Sekaran, 2003). Observation The research conducted by Wilson, Kickul, and Marlino (2007) on gender, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial career intension was a basic research on the progress of women as entrepreneurs, a field formally dominated by men. This progressive change warranted further research into the factors influencing entrepreneurship.
Observation according to Sekaran (2003) is the initial step in the research process, and it is the identification of a problem or a phenomenon and the focus on this phenomenon to define the broad area of research. Wilson et als. (2007), identified that data available indicates immense progress and increase of the number of women who are entrepreneurs, however recent data indicates men are still dominant in that field. The focus on this phenomenon resulted in the definition of the broad area of research on gender, entrepreneurial efficacy, career intension and education (Wilson, Kickul, & Marlino, 2007).
According to Hague, Adams, and Brace (2006), observation can provide both quantitative and qualitative data. They further argued that observation analyses the true picture of a phenomenon and the motivation of individual’s action instead of just describing the action. Sekaran (2003), outlined observation as the first step in research process and the focus on the observed problem to define the broad research area. With Sekaran’s process in consideration, the research conducted by Wilson et als. 2007) on gender, entrepreneurial efficacy, career intension and implication on education adheres to the first step outlined by Sekaran (2003). The research also links to the second step outlined by Sekaran (2003), preliminary data collection. Wilson et als. (2007), gathered information about factors which influence entrepreneurship by reviewing other literatures on that subject. Description of Preliminary Data Gathering, Collection, and/or Resources According to Sekaran (2003), preliminary data gathering helps the researcher to accurately define the problem area that need to be researched.
Sekaran further suggested that both unstructured and structure interview and review of literature on the subject will help focus the subject matter. The research conducted by Wilson, Kickul, and Marlino (2007), on gender, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial career intension was a basic research on the progress of women as entrepreneurs, and variables influencing entrepreneurship. The purpose of the research was to add to scholarly knowledge (Wilson, Kickul, & Marlino, 2007). Wilson et als. 2007)reviewed other researches conducted by Minnitti, Arenius, and Langowitz (2005) on the demographic effects on entrepreneurship, dominance of adult men as entrepreneurs (Reynolds, Carter, Gartner, Greene, & Cox, 2002), and further review of the research conducted by Kourilsky, and Walstad (1998), Marlino, and Wilson (2003), on the interest of girls and boys as entrepreneurs. They reviewed the research conducted by Bandura (1992), and Chen, Greene, and Crick (1998) on the likelihood of women to choose entrepreneurship as a career. Wilson et als. 2007), explored a literature by Low, Yoon, Roberts, and Rounds (2005) on entrepreneurial intensions and career aspirations of teens, women, men and students of master of business administration degrees. The research conducted by Wilson et als. (2007), conforms to the research process outlined by Sekaran (2003). They perfomered a literature review on the subject to collect preliminary data and to define the board problem area. Problem Definition After the literature Review, the authors are now in a position to narrow down the problem and define the issues of concern.
According to Sekaran (2003) it is critical that the focus of the research be unambiguously identified and defined. A problem does not necessarily mean that something is seriously wrong, it could simply indicate an interest in an issue where finding the right answers might help to improve an existing situation (Sekaran, 2003). According to the authors (Wilson, Kickul, and Marlino, 2007), the key problem is there are many woman out there that start their own business and turn out to be great entrepreneurs. However, there are more men entrepreneurs than woman. The fundamental question is “why? The authors state that the studies out there demonstrate women show less interest in starting their own businesses than men; and that the more education a woman has, the less likely she is to become an entrepreneur. The popular consensus seems to be revolving around the breaking age old traditions when it comes to women in the workforce. The problem at hand is: Even though a woman is more than capable of starting a business, why does it seem they are less motivated to do so? Wilson, et als. (2007) have identified and defined a problem where the findings will help to improve an existing situation.
We can clearly see that they have followed Sekaran’s research design when defining a problem. Theoretical Framework A theoretical framework is a conceptual model of how one theorizes or makes logical sense of the relationships among the several factors that have been identified as important to the problem (Sekaran, 2003). In this article there are two groups that will be studied; adolescents (teens in middle and in high school) that are potentially interested in entrepreneurship; and adults between the ages 25 and 34.
This last group has already selected a career in management and is actively pursing their MBA; both groups consist of men and women. The question being asked, within these two groups is, do levels of entrepreneurial self-efficacy vary by gender and is entrepreneurial self-efficacy related to entrepreneurial intention (Wilson, Marlino, Kickul 2004)? Let’s look at the different characteristics: SELF-EFFICACY: When is comes to self-efficacy, or self confidence, this is based off of how one feels about the skills and abilities that they posses.
This concept reflects an individual’s innermost thoughts on whether they have the abilities perceived as important to task performance, as well as the belief that they will be able to effectively convert those skills into a chosen outcome (Bandura 1989). Research in this specific area continue to say how important self-efficacy is because it is shown that individuals with high self-efficacy for a certain task are more likely to pursue and then persist in that task (Bandura, 1997).
When speaking of self-efficacy as an antecedent to career choice, self-efficacy reliably predicts scope of career options considered, occupational interest, perseverance in difficult fields, and personal effectiveness. Self-efficacy is included as one of a variety of socio-cognitive influences on the career aspirations of children, and found that academic self-efficacy had the strongest effect (Markham 2002).
GENDER AND CAREER SELF-EFFICACY: Noted by Eccles (1994), empirical evidence suggests that women are likely to have lower expectations than men for success in a wide range of occupations. The women that have lower levels of self-efficacy have leaned more towards careers that are historically perceived as “nontraditional”(Betz & Hackett, 1981). In a recent study, girls have reported lower confidence levels than boys in areas related to math, finance, decision making, and problem solving (Marlino & Wilson 2003).
As with the adult female and males, these gender differences are primarily observed in domains that are stereotypical “male” skills, including business/entrepreneurial careers. Additional findings from Bandura suggest that women are more likely then men to limit their career aspirations an interest because they believe that they lack the necessary capabilities. The research of self-efficacy, career intentions, and gender has led to four hypotheses, which are discussed further along in this paper.
THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN ENHANCING SELF-EFFICACY: Bandura (1992) suggests that self-confidence in our abilities to successfully perform specific tasks comes from four key sources: mastery experiences, modeling, social persuasion, and judgments of our own physiological states. This is what is also called “learning by doing. ” When provided an opportunity to conduct feasibility studies, develop business plans, and participate in running simulated or real business though entrepreneurship education can therefore potentially play an important role in developing self-efficacy in individuals.
Self-efficacy can also be enhanced through social persuasion, or from the positive encouragement and feedback that individuals are given by professors and instructors in entrepreneurship education programs. Along with earlier research, it consistently states that entrepreneurship education at precollege levels may be particularly effective in increasing interest in entrepreneurial careers.
Entrepreneurship education is also important because those who have reported it to be a positive experience showed higher scores of perceived feasibility than those who thought their educational experience was negative. This type of education was more significant for females then for males (Chowdhury & Endres, 2005). With all the gender difference in self-efficacy in general and entrepreneurial self-efficacy suggested in this article, another hypothesis surged and needed to be addressed.
Although the article does not mention it literary, the authors have identified three (3) variables for their research: Self-Efficacy: dependant variable, the primary area of interest Gender: independent variable, the one that influences either positive or negatively the dependant variable Education: moderating variable, the one that has a strong contingent effect on the dependant-independent variable relationship As we can see from the problem definition, the authors main interest is to determine why are women less motivated to become entrepreneurs even though they are capable of doing so.
For this reason, self-efficay is the dependant variable and since gender influences it, it becomes the independent variable. During the literature survey, Wilson, et als. (2007) also found that the more education a woman has, the less likely she is to become and entrepreneur; making education the moderating variable. Since all the variables have been clearly defines and identified, plus the relationship among them has been established, we must agree that Sekaran’s research design process has been followed by the researchers. Generation of Hypothesis
The authors in this article created a total of five (5) hypotheses. The first four (4) were developed after their research on self-efficacy, career intentions and gender. The fifth and last hypothesis was developed by the authors after analyzing the literature and noticed the important differences in gender self-efficacy and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The five hypotheses being investigated in this article are: H1: There will be a significant gender differences on entrepreneurial self-efficacy such that teen girls will have lower self-efficacy than teen boys.
H2: There will be a significant gender differences on entrepreneurial intentions such that teen girls will have lower intentions than teen boys. H3: The relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intentions will be moderated by gender such that this relationship will be stronger for girls than for teen boys. H4: There will be a significant gender differences on entrepreneurial self-efficacy such that MBA women will have lower self-efficacy than MBA men. H5: The relationship between entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial self-efficacy will be moderate by gender.
That is, there will be a greater increase in entrepreneurial self-efficacy for MBA women than for MBA men when they have entrepreneurial training and education. According to Sekaran (2003), hypothesis development can only happen once the variables in a situation have been identified and there has been established a relationship among them through logical reasoning in the theoretical framework. In the article analyzed the authors indeed proceeded to make a theoretical framework which lead initially to four (4) of their five (5) hypothesis.
Afterwards their research continued which lead to an additional and final hypothesis. So we must agree that with the first four (4) Sekaran model was followed, but the fifth and last hypothesis was created in an unorthodox way, but still relevant to the investigation of the issue on hand. Scientific Research Design The next step, after the variables have been identified and the theoretical framework has been developed is to design the scientific research (Sekaran, 2003).
Which according to Sekaran, should include issues: such as the purpose of the study, its location (setting), the type of investigation, the extent to which it is manipulated and/or controlled by the researcher, its temporal aspects, and the level at which the data will be analyzed. The hypotheses were tested in separate studies conducted between 2002 and 2004, in a hypothesis testing study; where the authors explained the nature of the relationships between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and gender.
Even though one would think that the units of analysis of the authors would be individuals, their unit of analysis was in fact schools, making the unit of analysis a group one. This type of study was a casual one, where the researchers delineated the cause of the problems. As researchers, they had minimal interference, since they limited themselves to provide to the schools the survey, collect and analyze the data. Since their survey (data gathering tool) was administered at the school where the subjects of the study attended, there study setting was a noncontrived one.
Finally this study was a longitudinal one, where the researchers studied people in schools at two (2) different points in time, the first in 2002 and the second in 2004. We would have to say that this was a very well designed research design, since it has included all the elements and issues that Sekaran indicates a well research design should include. Data Collection Analysis & Interpretation Data analysis is working out the meaning of data collected, and data interpretation is the identification of factors and their relationships with research objectives (Hague, Adams, & Brace, 2006).
According to Sekaran (2003), data analysis consists of examination the feel of the data, the goodness of the data and testing of hypothesis. The data collected by Wilson et als. (2007) for the research on gender, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial career intension was collected for a previous research. Wilson et als. (2007) acquired the feel of the data gathered by using means, standard deviation and zero-order correlation to determine the dispersion and central tendency of the data. Acquiring the feel of the data helps identify biases and the reactions of respondents on the questionnaire (Sekaran, 2003).
According to Sekaran (2003), the use of standard deviation, mean and ranges will help researchers ascertain the feel of the data. To test the goodness of the data gathered, Wilson et als. (2007), employed quota sampling to prove the statistical validity, and the measure of internal reliability which resulted . 79 for data collected from middle and high school and . 82 for MBA students (Wilson, Kickul, & Marlino, 2007). Sekaran (2003) indicated that the closer the coefficient is to 1, the higher the internal reliability.
The sampling error was 95% confidence and a Linker scale was used to measure the variables (Wilson, Kickul, & Marlino, 2007). A coding system was also identified for easy analysis (Wilson, Kickul, & Marlino, 2007). However, the sampling was not a complete representation of the United States population; it was skewed to the white population and the populace with high socioeconomic status. Wilson et als. (2007), used t-test, univariate analysis of variance and graphical presentation to analyze and interpret the relationship and effects of variables in the hypothesis generated.
From the above review of the research conducted by Wilson et als. (2007), the data analysis and interpretation adhere to the process outlined by Sekaran. Deduction After analyzing this article and determining if the authors followed the research design that Sekaran (2003) recommends, the most important points to note would be: There has always been a gap between men and woman as far as being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship Education only makes a difference in men and women based on their ability and willingness. Entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial self efficacy are both affected by gender.
Hypothesis for this topic were generated by the authors after determining the variables through a literature survey and how they all relate to each other. Conclusion Gender, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intentions were studied in this article. The groups that were examined were adolescents and adults who were currently trying to obtain their MBA. The same effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy were displayed in both the groups that were studied but the effects of entrepreneurial education weighed heavier on female MBA students.
In this article we demonstrated what needs should be met for different genders in those two different sample groups. As hypothesized, females showed significantly lower entrepreneurial self-efficacy than males in study groups, adolescents and MBA program students. In fact females in the MBA program purposely selected a career path historically dominated by men, their lower entrepreneurial self-efficacy is particularly noteworthy (Wilson, Marlino, Kickul 2004). Additionally, the research implies that self-efficacy may play an important role in shaping and/or limiting perceived career options as early as the middle and high school years.
Providing this type of training at this age can potentially prove important in order to prevent the entrepreneurial career option from being discounted by girl early in life (Kourilsky and Walstad, 1998). Schere (1990) suggests that women need the confidence and expectation of success in order to fully participate in venture creation. Kourilsky and Walstad (1998) also concluded that education initiatives pertaining to both entrepreneurial knowledge and self-efficacy are critical and especially important for females.
Providing access to entrepreneurship education is especially important in fueling the pipeline of aspiring women entrepreneurs, because of the strong role education plays in raising their levels of self-efficacy, and ultimately their interest in starting their own venture. Explicitly incorporating entrepreneurial self-efficacy into the pre and post measurement of entrepreneurship training programs and courses appear to be important, and will serve to provide educators with better information about continuous improvement and effectiveness (Wilson, Marlino, Kickul; 2004). Reference List Bandura, A (1989).
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Developing an Entrepreneurial Education in a Residential College: An Exploratory Case Study. New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, 12(2), 49-62. Retrieved Dec. 12 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1868567221) Sekaran, U. (2003) Research methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach, 4th edition. Wilson, F. , Kickul, J. , Marlino, & Deborah. (2007, May1). Gender, Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy, and Entrepreneurial Career Intentions: Implications For Entrepreneurship Education. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practices. Retrieved from http://www. allbusiness. com/business-planning-structures/starting-a-business/4497292-1. html