Gender and Performance

Historically, new venture creation and management have been viewed with a masculine lens, emphasizing concepts such as profit maximization, efficiency, and linear development. Because women's participation [Page 213]in new venture creation has been disproportionally less than men's participation, the study of new venture performance has often been steered toward problems, approaches, and questions faced by men-owned ventures primarily. In 2010, women made up about 38 percent of business owners in the United States and 20 percent of business owners among countries associated with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), thus calling for more attention to the role that gender plays in the management of new ventures and their performance.

The importance of considering the role of gender in new venture performance does not solely ...