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Call for Chapter Proposals - Supporting Women Entrepreneurs in Times of Crises

  • 1.  Call for Chapter Proposals - Supporting Women Entrepreneurs in Times of Crises

    Posted 09-21-2022 12:32

    Supporting Women Entrepreneurs in Times of Crises

    Editors:
    Nada Basir and Bessma Momani - University of Waterloo

    Background and Objectives:

    Creating enabling environments that support women is critical for the economic growth and development of any country. With this in mind, a growing body of research explores how women entrepreneurs experience different opportunities and barriers to their men counterparts. While entrepreneurship can provide great emancipatory potential, research shows that entrepreneurship is embedded within prevailing institutional biases that create constraints on who self-identifies as an entrepreneur, can pursue entrepreneurial opportunity, access resources for entrepreneurial ideas, and claim legitimacy in establishing themselves as an entrepreneur (Ahl & Marlow, 2012; Jennings & Brush, 2013). Research also shows that during periods of crisis existing inequalities can be further exacerbated and entrenched. As the economic and health crisis arising from COVID-19 has demonstrated, women entrepreneurs were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. For example, recent GEM data indicates that women were 20% more likely than men to report a business closure owing to the pandemic (GEM, 2021).  

    While various policies and initiatives were introduced to address the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and small business owners, relief policies are often deeply gendered and risk creating, entrenching, or obscuring gender inequality (Gill & Roberts, 2011; Grown, Elson, & Catagay, 2000). As the world starts to recover from the pandemic, a better understanding of the impact of the pandemic, and relief policies on women entrepreneurs and their businesses is warranted. Without this understanding, recovery plans will not adopt a gender-focused lens that will surely undo and put in jeopardy decades-worth of progress towards gender equality globally.

    Information Request

     We invite chapter proposals for a peer-reviewed book chronicling and assessing the effectiveness of programs, policies, and initiatives created and implemented to support and sustain women entrepreneurs through times of crisis. This collection will feature evidence-based work on all aspects of women entrepreneurship and recovery. The aim of the book is to generate and disseminate a body of work that motivates actionable ideas for economic recovery. We welcome papers from multiple perspectives and international case studies with implications for theory, practice, and policy.

    Selected participants will be invited to a two-day workshop in Waterloo, Ontario to discuss their proposed chapters, receive discussant feedback, and to improve the edited book collection's overall cohesion. Travel and accommodation costs for in-person attendees to Waterloo will be covered.

    Topics may include, but are not limited to:

    • Exploring the global convergence of gender and economic growth and their importance in the formation and deployment of crisis protocols and processes as they relate to entrepreneurship.
    • Comparing pre-pandemic crisis readiness and post-pandemic positions of women-led entrepreneurial ventures and assessing their responses to pandemic-induced operational disruptions.
    • Consideration for the impact of the pandemic on women entrepreneurs within the entrepreneurial economy as it relates to the type of venture, age, size, geographic location, etc.
    • Expanded focus on the emerging inclusive economy and the role of entrepreneurial women in its establishment and advancement.
    • International and comparative lenses on programming and policies developed to support and safeguard women entrepreneurs amidst COVID-19 restrictions.
    • Intersectional lenses on the impact of the pandemic on women facing intersecting forms of discrimination, such as indigenous women, racialized women, newcomers, women with disabilities, and single parents. 

     

    In addition to university-affiliated researchers, we also welcome PhD students, early career scholars, policy makers, and representatives from various business support organizations to submit abstracts of 500-1000 words to Kersty Kearney (kkearney@uwaterloo.ca) with subject 'Supporting Women Entrepreneurs CFP Submission'.

    Important Dates:

    November 15, 2022

    Deadline for submitting abstracts (500-1000 words).

    December 15, 2022

    Communication to contributors on acceptance to workshop.

    March 31, 2023

    Deadline for draft chapter submissions to workshop organizers.

    End of April 2023

    Two-day workshop to discuss proposed chapters and receive feedback.

    April – July 2023

    Revisions

    August 31, 2023

    Revised Chapter submitted to Editors for submission to University Press.

    Project Information

    This project is organized by the University of Waterloo and includes the Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) and the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business. The Balsillie School of International Affairs is a hub for research and teaching on international governance and public policy i. The Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business is a leader in entrepreneurship education and research at the University of Waterloo.

    This research is funded and supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and the Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA)

     References
    Ahl, H., & Marlow, S. (2012). Exploring the dynamics of gender, feminism and entrepreneurship: advancing debate to escape a dead end? Organization19(5), 543-562.

    GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor). (2021). Women's Entrepreneurship 2020/21: Thriving Through Crisis. London: GEM.

    Gill, S. &Roberts, A. (2011) 'Macroeconomic Governance, Gendered Inequality, and Global Crises'. In Young, B., Bakker, I. and Elson, D. (eds) Questioning Financial Governance from a Feminist Perspective (Abingdon Oxon: Routledge), pp. 155–173.

    Grown, K., Elson, D. & Catagay, N. (2000) 'Introduction Special Issue'. World Development,
    28(7), 1145–1156.

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

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    Nada Basir
    Assistant Professor
    University of Waterloo
    Waterloo ON
    (519) 888-4567
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