Discussion: View Thread

CALL FOR CHAPTERS
Gendering Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Levelling the Field

Editors:
Gry Agnete Alsos², Dag Balkmar1, Marit Breivik-Meyer², Anne-Charlott Callerstig¹ and Marta Lindvert^2
1School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Örebro University, Sweden,
²Nord University Business School, Nord University, Norway.

To be published by Routledge.

Submission Deadlines:
Abstracts May 15, 2023
Full chapters August 31, 2023

BACKGROUND
When thinking of a typical entrepreneur, quite often it is white American men such as Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg that spring to mind. These men are often portrayed as the entrepreneurial superheroes of our time, embodied in heroic narratives such as those associated with masculine risk taking, large sums of money, grandiose tech projects – from the digitalization of social interaction to the colonisation of Mars. That they are all men is often taken for granted, with many successful female entrepreneurs seldom elevated in the same way. This mirrors how entrepreneurship is gendered and not so inclusive. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is not a level playing field.

Entrepreneurship ecosystems constitute the community and culture in which entrepreneurs interact within a given place (Cavallo et al., 2019), and involve several interconnected elements such as a conducive culture, the availability of financing, the acquisition and development of human capital, new markets for products and services, and a range of institutional and infrastructural support (Stam, 2015). These factors are mutually reinforcing and facilitate innovation and the growth of entrepreneurship. They determine the "who", "where" and "when" of entrepreneurship (Welter, 2011).

Entrepreneurial ecosystems are not neutral spaces (McAdam et al., 2019). While the success of the venture ideally should be based on the effort, energy, and creativity of the entrepreneur, elements such as race, gender or class also matter, recent research shows. Yet gender perspectives are at large absent from discussions of entrepreneurship ecosystems in both practice and theory. And importantly, the often implicit bias through omission may in fact be a key mechanism in upholding and generating gendered biases that increases inequalities (O'Dwyer 2022: 60).

By providing a gender lens on entrepreneurship ecosystems, we contribute to insights on how to remedy gendered challenges that may pose a problem not only for a person but for the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a whole. In so doing, we hope that this will inspire and create a better understanding of how and why entrepreneurial ecosystems can become more inclusive.

CALL FOR CHAPTERS
We are seeking contributions to the collected volume on Gendering Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Levelling the Field. Chapters authored by both senior and junior scholars are welcome. We plan to structure the book in five parts: Gendering, Founding, Incubating, Financing and Changing. A brief outline of the sections is presented below. We anticipate that authors build on work in progress and data that has already been collected. We invite scholars from institutions around the world to contribute with empirical or conceptual work. The maximum length of each chapter is about 15 pages/6,000 words. More detailed formatting guidelines will be provided for invited chapters.

We invite potential contributors to submit a tentative title, an abstract (max. 500 words) and keywords (max. 6) for their intended chapter. The abstract should include the objectives of the chapter, the methods used, and the potential findings and implications of your work for research and practice. Abstracts should be submitted by email with the heading 'Gendering Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Submission' to marit.b.meyer@nord.no no later than 15th of May 2023. Feedback will be given within 3 weeks and we plan the following timeline for invited chapters:

Submission of full chapters: 31st August 2023
1st review completed: 15th October 2023
2nd version due: 30th November 2023
2nd review completed: 15th January, 2024
Final version due: 28th February 2024

CONTENT
Chapters could include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

Part One: Introduction.

Levelling the field. Key challenges and prospects for gendering entrepreneurial ecosystems (Editors)

Part Two: Gendering
• A critical gender+ (intersectional) perspective of ecosystems
• Men and masculinities
• Women manoeuvring male-dominated sectors

Part Three: Founding
• Start-up motivations
• The start-up process
• Conceptualizations of success

Part Four: Incubating
• Critical perspectives of incubators and accelerators as neutral support provision
• Gendered experiences of incubation
• Acknowledgment of other forms of incubator mechanisms

Part Five: Financing
• Gender stereotypes and discrimination
• Approaching and negotiating funders, creative approaches

Part Six: Changing
• Specific approaches/actions for and promotion of change.
• Ecosystems as different types of actors: understanding the role in creating gender inclusiveness.
• Entrepreneurship Ecosystems as a space for activism and resistance.

Part Seven: Towards more inclusive ecosystems.

Conclusion and Provision of practical insights for inclusive entrepreneurship (Editors)

PUBLISHER
We have a contract with Routledge to publish the volume. The volume will be included in the book series "Routledge Studies in Entrepreneurship", and will be available in hardback and electronically as an e-book. A paperback would be released after 18 months after publication of the hardcover edition. Authors of accepted chapters will have the opportunity to enter an agreement with Routledge on open access for their chapter.

CONTACT
Abstract and full chapter should be sent to marit.b.meyer@nord.no. Please feel free to contact any of the editors below if you need any further information or want to discuss a potential contribution to this book:

Gry Agnete Alsos - gry.a.alsos@nord.no
Dag Balkmar - Dag.Balkmar@oru.se
Marit Breivik-Meyer - marit.b.meyer@nord.no
Anne-Charlott Callerstig - Anne-Charlott.Callerstig@oru.se
Marta Lindvert – marta.lindvert@nord.no

------------------------------
Gry Agnete Alsos
Professor
Nord U. Business School
Bodø
+4775517651
------------------------------