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SEJ--Call for Papers for a Special Issue: "Catalyzing Change and Innovation in Women's Entrepreneurship"

  • 1.  SEJ--Call for Papers for a Special Issue: "Catalyzing Change and Innovation in Women's Entrepreneurship"

    Posted 09-13-2020 09:57
    Posted on behalf of Candy Brush:
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    Call for Papers for a Special Issue

    "Catalyzing Change and Innovation in Women's Entrepreneurship"

    Guest Editors:

    Candida Brush, Babson College

    Kimberly Eddleston, Northeastern University

    Linda Edelman, Bentley University

    Tatiana S. Manolova, Bentley University

    Maura McAdam, Dublin City University

    Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, SoM PoliMI

     

    Background and Special Issue Purpose:

    Innovation is regarded as the engine of economic development; despite this gender issues are seldom discussed in the innovation literature, largely because research tends to focus on where innovation takes place as opposed to who participates in it (Alsos, Hytti and Ljunggren, 2016).  Furthermore, innovation research is often predisposed toward particular industries, such as high-tech, which are populated primarily by men and dominated by a masculine perspective (Marlow and McAdam, 2013; McAdam, 2013; Foss and Henry, 2016). 

    At the same time, women entrepreneurs are increasingly contributing to economic growth, jobs, and innovations, but less than 10-15% of all entrepreneurship research focuses on how gender shapes entrepreneurship, innovation, and change (Jennings and Brush, 2013).  In particular, there is a paucity of research examining the types of organizations women entrepreneurs create and build, the extent to which their businesses are founded on innovative ideas, and how they spawn and scale innovations in the marketplace, environment or industry (Brush, Edelman, Manolova and Welter, 2019; Ladge, Eddleston & Sugiyama, 2019). Such an omission from the extant literature is surprising given an emerging stream of research that emphasizes the unique perspectives that women on R&D teams, top management teams, and boards of directors contribute to their firm's innovation performance (Diaz-Garcia, Gonzalez-Moreno and Saez-Martinez, 2013; Kim  and Starks, 2016; Ruiz-Jiménez, del Mar Fuentes-Fuentes and Ruiz-Arroyo, 2016; Torchia, Calabro and Huse, 2011). In addition, we still lack an understanding of the extent to which theories of innovation and organizational change, as well as practices and policies, fully apply to women's entrepreneurship. 

    Consequently, gender analyses of innovation explored through multiple theoretical lenses and using a variety of empirical methods are missing.  This gap is particularly evident if we examine the literature on women's entrepreneurship, which despite being well developed (Jennings and Brush, 2013), does not put innovation by women entrepreneurs at the core of its inquiry. This special issue will offer the opportunity to stimulate scholarly conversations on how female entrepreneurs enact innovation through new products, processes, business models, and organizational practices.  It is hoped that this special issue will accelerate understanding of the contributions of gender and women's entrepreneurship to theory and practice in entrepreneurial processes, innovation and organizational change, and in so doing capture the experiences, challenges and opportunities of women entrepreneurs.

    Potential research questions:

    • What is the role of gender in explaining theories of innovation in entrepreneurial contexts? To what extent do theories of innovation apply to ventures founded by women entrepreneurs? What new insights do women entrepreneurs offer to innovation theory?
    • How does gender influence the creation of innovative ventures and, more generally, how does gender shape the formation and management of innovative organizations? How do women entrepreneurs create and implement innovation in their ventures?
    • What gender differences exist in how male and female entrepreneurs approach innovation challenges? Are women more likely to use open innovation strategies than men? How do male vs. female entrepreneurs manage the needs for radical and incremental innovation in their businesses?
    • Which obstacles do women entrepreneurs face in attracting resources for innovation? Do they gain advantages in certain industries or markets? Have female-led venture capital and angel investors had a positive impact in levelling the playing field for women entrepreneurs?
    • How do female-specific needs in a marketplace push innovation by women entrepreneurs? How is it driven by grand societal challenges?

    Deadline, Submission and Review Process

    Submissions to this special issue should be prepared in accordance with SEJ's submission process described athttp://sej.strategicmanagement.net/

    Submissions can be made via the SEJ website between April 15, 2020 and November 15, 2020. Please indicate that your submission is for the special issue on Catalyzing Change and Innovation in Women's Entrepreneurship

    For questions regarding the content of the special issue, please contact the guest editors: 

    Candida Brush, cbrush@babson.edu

    Kimberly Eddleston, k.eddleston@northeastern.edu

    Linda Edelman, ledelman@bentley.edu

    Tatiana S. Manolova, tmanolova@bentley.edu

    Maura McAdam, maura.mcadam@dcu.ie

    Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, cristina1.rossi@polimi.it

    For questions about submitting to the special issue, please contact Liz Moran, SEJ Managing Editor, atSEJ@strategicmanagement.net

    References

    Alsos, G.A., Hytti, U. and Ljunggren, E., 2016. Gender and innovation–an introduction. In Research handbook on gender and innovation. Edward Elgar Publishing

    Brush, C., Edelman, L.F., Manolova, T., & Welter, F. 2019. A gendered look at entrepreneurship ecosystems. Small Business Economics. 53(2), pp. 393-408 

    Díaz-García, C., González-Moreno, A. and Jose Sáez-Martínez, F., 2013. Gender diversity within R&D teams: Its impact on radicalness of innovation. Innovation15(2), pp.149-160.

    Henry, C., Foss, L. and Ahl, H., 2016. Gender and entrepreneurship research: A review of methodological approaches. International Small Business Journal34(3), pp.217-241. 

    Jennings, J.E. and Brush, C.G., 2013. Research on women entrepreneurs: challenges to (and from) the broader entrepreneurship literature? The Academy of Management Annals7(1), pp.663-715.

    Kim, D. and Starks, L.T., 2016. Gender diversity on corporate boards: Do women contribute unique skills? American Economic Review106(5), pp.267-71.

    Ladge, J., Eddleston, K.A. & Sugiyama, K. 2019. Am I an entrepreneur? How imposter fears hinder women entrepreneurs' business growth. Business Horizons, 62(5), pp.615-624.

    Marlow, S. and McAdam, M., 2013. Gender and entrepreneurship: Advancing debate and challenging myths; exploring the mystery of the under-performing female entrepreneur. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research19(1), pp.114-124

    McAdam, M., 2013. Female entrepreneurship. Routledge.

    Ruiz-Jiménez, J.M., del Mar Fuentes-Fuentes, M. and Ruiz-Arroyo, M., 2016. Knowledge combination capability and innovation: The effects of gender diversity on top management teams in technology-based firms. Journal of Business Ethics135(3), pp.503-515

    Torchia, M., Calabrò, A. and Huse, M., 2011. Women directors on corporate boards: From tokenism to critical mass. Journal of business ethics102(2), pp.299-317

    Prof. Candida G. Brush

    Franklin W. Olin Distinguished Chair of Entrepreneurship

    Babson College- Entrepreneurship Division

    Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship

    246 Forest St.

    Wellesley, MA 02457

    Ph- 781-239-5014       Fax- 781-239-4178

    http://www.babson.edu/Academics/faculty/profiles/pages/brush-candida.aspx



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    Jeffrey Pollack
    Associate Professor
    North Carolina State University
    Raleigh NC
    (804) 397-0818
    jmpolla3@ncsu.edu
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