This deliverable is a “sampling" of steps 3-7 as described in the Guideline for REAs (see D2L). It is meant as a crosscheck that you can locate and understand relevant empirical research that is of acceptable quality, as well as to begin writing step 3-7 on a smaller set of articles. Chapter 5 of your textbook also discusses literature searches.Find three empirical articles published in quality business journals ("2, 3, 4, or 4*" journals; see a ABS journal list on D2L) that inform your research question. Use this search and the three resulting articles to write an initial draft of steps 3-7 (obviously you'll have many more articles for your final version of the paper). Note that you do not need to produce a summary table of the articles for step 6 (see page 16 in the Guideline for REAs).Instead of the step 6 summary table, read each article and prepare brief responses to the questions below. Insetr these responses into the REA step 6 section. Please make these responses a coherent piece of writing for each article (i.e., responses should not be a bulleted list of Q&As).
a. What was the purpose of the
study?
b. What was the
sample/design/methodology?
c. What were the primary
findings?
d. What is its
"methodological appropriateness"? (See page 17 of the Guideline for
REAs)question? Why is it important? Who are the stakeholders?
Step 2. Formulating the REA
question: What does the REA answer? What are the PICOC elements?
Step 3. Defining inclusion
criteria: Which studies will be included or excluded? How were these decisions
made?
Step 4. Search strategy: How
should the studies be sought? Where did you look and what time period? Did you
document the search?
Step 5. Study selection: How
did you select the studies? What process was followed?
Step 6. Data extraction: What
information should be extracted? Did you provide a descriptive summary table?
(target: 15-20 articles)
Step 7. Critical appraisal:
How should the quality of the studies be judged? Did you discuss methodological
appropriateness? Effect sizes?
Note: When familiarizing
yourself with the literature, you may discover that a review article is
available on your topic. What is a review article? A review article is a
summary of existing research on a particular topic. You will see these referred
to as literature reviews, systematic reviews, and/or meta-analyses. These can
be very useful in helping you identify relevant empirical references to include
in your REA, as well as other theory-based articles and "seminal"
articles (which can also be literature reviews or meta-analyses). We will
discuss these kinds of reviews during Session 2. To look for a review and/or
seminal article:
⚫ Include the keywords review, meta-analysis, or synthesis in your database search.Use the Web of Science database or Google Scholar to locate highly cited works.
Gender Differences in Entrepreneurship
The effects of gender
on business growth and entrepreneurial success have been a consistent topic of
focus for literature reviews and research studies. Men and women approach
various entrepreneurial aspects such as innovation, networking, motivation, and
management differently. More so, studies also show a gap between
entrepreneurial successes for both genders. Hence, men and women must learn the
influences enforced by their gender to their advantage and the growth of their
businesses. Therefore, it is critical to identify the existing literature
review on the effects of gender on business growth and success to better
understand the topic and make significant progress on it.
Various literature
shows businesses led by men are more likely to grow than those led by women.
For example, Zampetakis et al. (2016), through a cross-sectional study across
south Europe, investigated the differences between businesses led by women and
those led by men. The research uses online questionnaires sent to men and women
recorded to have businesses or lead businesses from administrative registrars.
The study had over 600 male and female respondents who lead firms and
businesses with an average of nine employees. Hence, the study's methodological
appropriateness ensured that the research was analytical and quantitative,
despite registering the entrepreneurs' comments. The data obtained were also
analyzed to identify the influence of self-identity on how each entrepreneur
led his or her business. From the study, Zampetakis et al. (2016) conclude that
gender identities influence business models and entrepreneur intentions for
business growth. More so, men are observed to have more likelihood to expand their
businesses. On the other hand, most women are observed to have different
business goals compared to men, such as finding a balance between work and
family. Another discrepancy between how men and women lead their firms includes
the likelihood of innovation. Most business innovations are influenced by male
values, which makes men more likely to suggest and direct innovation in a
company. Hence, men and women are influenced differently in how they lead their
firms and businesses, especially for business growth.
Secondly, more
literature also highlights the differences between entrepreneurial
characteristics between men and women. Ward et al. (2019) research and discuss
why the number of female entrepreneurs is significantly lower than that of male
entrepreneurs. Through a quantitative study interviewing 677 entrepreneurship
students, research is made to identify the motivations behind both genders. The
paper identifies the diversity of male motives and intentions, making the
gender more likely towards certain entrepreneurial attributes such as
risk-taking. Shmailan (2016) shows similar results in certain entrepreneurial
traits such as financing, management, and networking. In this case, most male
entrepreneurs have motivations such as profit, while most women have
motivations such as autonomy. However, women show more energy and an open mind
and are better at networking than most men. Also, most women show that they are
more conservative when deciding than men, who will have an easier time making
decisions. Therefore, men and women have multiple differences in their
entrepreneurial traits, which are advantageous and disadvantageous for both
genders.
Gender differences in entrepreneurship have been a key focus topic, identifying men's and women's different approaches to business. Most of this literature and research shows key differences in how both genders approach entrepreneurship and the different entrepreneurship skills attributed to them. Therefore, more literature review and research are necessary to identify sex or gender influences on entrepreneurs in different industries and traits
References
Shmailan,
A.B., 2016. Compare the characteristics of male and female entrepreneurs as an explorative
study. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Organization Management, 5(4), pp.1-7. DOI:
10.4172/2169-026X.1000203
Ward,
A., Hernández-Sánchez, B.R. and Sánchez-García, J.C., 2019. Entrepreneurial
potential and gender effects: the role of personality traits in university
students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, p.2700. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02700
Zampetakis, L.A., Bakatsaki, M., Kafetsios, K. and Moustakis, V.S., 2016. Sex differences in entrepreneurs’ business growth intentions: an identity approach. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 5(1), pp.1-20. DOI 10.1186/s13731-016-0057-5