Vol. 11 No. 2 (2023): Business & Management Studies: An International Journal
Articles

The role of gender in social construction of entrepreneurial identity: 100 examples of start-ups from Turkey

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  • Emine Çetinel,
  • Sevdiye Ersoy Yılmaz
Emine Çetinel
Dr. Öğr. Üyesi, Çankırı Karatekin Üniversitesi, İİBF Uluslararası Ticaret ve Finansman Bölümü, Çankırı, Türkiye
Sevdiye Ersoy Yılmaz
Dr. Öğr. Üyesi, Çankırı Karatekin Üniversitesi, İİBF Uluslararası Ticaret ve Finansman Bölümü, Çankırı, Türkiye
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v11i2.2220

Published 2023-06-26

Keywords

  • Girişimcilik, Toplumsal Cinsiyet
  • Entrepreneurship, Gender

How to Cite

Çetinel, E., & Ersoy Yılmaz, S. (2023). The role of gender in social construction of entrepreneurial identity: 100 examples of start-ups from Turkey. Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 11(2), 626–639. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v11i2.2220

Copyright (c) 2023 Emine Çetinel- Sevdiye Ersoy Yılmaz

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is an activity that plays a key role in the development of country economies. However, research within the literature generally shows that individuals' entrepreneurial potentials are not fully evaluated and that gender emerges as an important factor in this context. Researchers investigating the reasons for this situation focus on the thesis that many gender-related inequalities arise in entrepreneurial activities due to the social construction processes of gender and entrepreneurial identities. In light of all this information, this study explores whether gender stereotypes influence the construction of entrepreneurial identity in Turkey. In this context, the interviews of the top 10 entrepreneurs in the 2022 Start-up 100 list prepared by Fast Company Turkey and published in various media outlets were analyzed using the Nvivo 11 qualitative data analysis program. The analyses revealed that although at least one woman had been among the co-founders in 5 of the top 10 companies on the Turkey Start-up 100 list, only three women held top executive positions. The analyses also revealed that male and female entrepreneurs used predominantly masculine language patterns in their interviews. Therefore, it can be said that the analyses support the thesis that the entrepreneurial identity is constructed as a masculine discourse within the framework of gender stereotypes.

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