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Women's Entrepreneurship in Europe: Multidimensional Research and Case Study Insights

Edited by Stephanie Birkner, Kerstin Ettl, Ilona Ebbers, Friederike Welter 

Proposal Submission Deadline: 01.05.2017  

The aim of the FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship is to showcase exceptional scholarly work in small business and entrepreneurship research. The book series has an interdisciplinary focus and includes works on management, finance, innovation, marketing, economics, sociology, psychology and related areas, reflecting a range of different approaches to small business and entrepreneurship research. It serves as a vehicle to help academics, professionals, researchers and policy makers working in the fields of small business and entrepreneurship, to disseminate and obtain high quality knowledge. For additional information regarding the publisher and the book series, please visit http://www.springer.com/series/13382.

Call for Chapters for the Edited Volume

Women's Entrepreneurship in Europe: Multidimensional Research and Case Study Insights

Edited by Stephanie Birkner, Kerstin Ettl, Ilona Ebbers, Friederike Welter 

Proposal Submission Deadline: 01.05.2017 

Introduction

In recent years, a growing critical voice has emerged in the field of entrepreneurship research, asking for new directions. Calás et al. (2009) have used feminist theoretical perspectives to call for a broader focus on entrepreneurship (i.e. Critical Entrepreneurship Studies CES).

For a long time, concepts in entrepreneurship theory and practice have been either dominated by a gender-neutral perspective (Marlow et al., 2009) or mainly eulogized in dominant male discourse lacking the complexity of theories on gender aspects (Lansky, 2000) . To overcome the subordination of female founders and funders, an understanding of the 'genderedness' of entrepreneurship research and practice is needed (de Bruin et al., 2006, 2007). Above that, educators need to be assisted in their reflection on whether entrepreneurial spirit/intention and the development of start-up skills need to be addressed in a gender-sensitive manner or not. Consequently, ten years ago Ahl (2006) emphasized the need for capturing a richer perspective on women entrepreneurship research. In the last decade, research had started to discuss gender in terms of "biological differences", but it is now attempting "to pursue a more nuanced socio-political understanding of how gender difference is constructed" (Tedmanson et al., 2012: 534) and to understand gender identities and practices (Diaz/Welter, 2013). On top of that, efforts are being made to gain more insight into the contextual embeddedness of women entrepreneurship (e.g. Brush et al., 2009). Gender aspects of entrepreneurial learning are also being considered further (e.g. Ettl/Welter, 2010a, 2010b). However, most of the attempts and approaches to gain deeper insights into the intricacy of how to foster women entrepreneurship are either neglected in mainstream entrepreneurship research, or are at best emerging and have gained popularity only recently (Jennings/Brush 2013).

Objective of the Volume

The FGF working group 'Women Entrepreneurship' acknowledges that gendered entrepreneurship phenomena occur at various levels of analysis. Hence, this series volume aims to bring together a plethora of different insights, with implications for research, education and practice. The call is therefore open to theoretical as well as empirical research papers, as well as case study submissions. Theoretical research papers can for instance be literature reviews or papers critically discussing the conceptual foundation of women entrepreneurship research. Empirical research papers can build on either qualitative, quantitative or mixed-method research designs. Beyond that, we also encourage the submission of theoretically grounded case studies on female founders and funders, which can be used to deepen the understanding of a gender perspective in entrepreneurship education. Through this, the volume serves as a vehicle to help researchers, educators and professionals aiming to foster women entrepreneurship to obtain rich, multi-faced, and high quality knowledge.

Target Audience

This FGF Springer Volume aims to provide academia with a portfolio of research approaches addressing the current challenges and future perspectives of women entrepreneurship research. Furthermore, it will be a contemporary reference for entrepreneurship educators and essential reading material for students interested in questions addressing aspects of challenges and future academic and practical perspectives of women entrepreneurship.

Submission Guidelines

The submission phase is two-stepped. First, authors are asked to hand in a two-page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of the proposed work by May 1, 2017. Proposals of unpublished research papers as well as unpublished case studies are welcome. For manuscript guidelines please visit: http://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/book-authors-editors/book-manuscriptguidelines. The editorial team will review all abstracts and decide about acceptance by June 15, 2017. If accepted, full chapters must be submitted afterwards by September 15, 2017. They will undergo a peer-review on a double-blind basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project. The volume is intended to be published mid of 2018. More details of the submission timeline will be forwarded to authors after acceptance. 

Proposals of research papers have to include the following sections:

(1) Objectives and research questions, (2) Current state of research, (3) Theoretical and methodological approach/ method/ data collection, (4) Results/finding, (5) Value and implications

Proposals of case studies have to include the following sections:

(1) Explanation on source, background, and content of the case, (2) Short overview of the case, (3) Main topics the case addresses and topic-related findings/results (4) Learning reflection questions 

Your inquiries and proposal submissions are heartily welcomed and shall be forwarded electronically (.doc/.docx) by mail to:

Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
c/o FGF Arbeitskreis „Women Entrepreneurship"
Prof. Dr. Stephanie Birkner
E-mail: women.entrepreneurship@uol.de

References:

Ahl, H. (2006), Why Research on Women Entrepreneurs Needs New Directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30(5): 595-621. Doi:10.1111/j.1540-6520.2006.00138.x

Calás, M. B., Smircich, L. & Bourne, K. A. (2009), Extending the Boundaries: Reframing "Entrepreneurship as Social Change" Through Feminist Perspectives. Academy of Management Review, 34(3): 552-569. Doi:10.5465/amr.2009.40633597

Diaz, C. & Welter, F. (2011), Gender identities and practices: interpreting women entrepreneurs' narratives. International Small Business Journal, 31(4): 384-404. Doi: 10.1177/0266242611422829

Brush, C., A. De Bruin & Welter, F. (2009), A Gender-Aware Framework for Women's Entrepreneurship. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 1(1): 8-24.

De Bruin, A., Brush, C. & Welter, F. (2006), Towards building cumulative knowledge on women's entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 30(5): 585-593.

De Bruin, A., Brush, C. & Welter, F. (2007), Advancing a Framework for Coherent Research on Women's Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 31(3), 323-339.

Ettl, K. & Welter, F. (2010a), How female entrepreneurs learn and acquire (business relevant) knowledge. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 10(2): 65-82.

Ettl, K. & Welter, F. (2010b), Gender, Context and Entrepreneurial Learning. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 2(2): 108-129.

Jennings, J.E. & Brush, C.G. (2013), Research on Women Entrepreneurs: Challenges to (and from) the Broader Entrepreneurship Literature? Academy of Management Annals, 7(1): 663-715.

Lansky, M. (2000), Gender, women and all the rest (Part I)*. International Labour Review, 139(4): 481-504. Doi:10.1111/j.1564-913X.2000.tb00529.x

Marlow, S., Henry, C. & Carter, S. (2009), Exploring the Impact of Gender upon Women's Business Ownership: Introduction. International Small Business Journal, 27(2): 139-148. Doi:10.1177/0266242608100487

Tedmanson, D., Verduyn, K., Essers, C. & Gartner, W. B. (2012), Critical perspectives in entrepreneurship research. Organization, 19(5), 531-541. Doi:10.1177/1350508412458495