Why does she start up? The role of personal values in women's entrepreneurial intentions

Abstract

This paper aims at shedding light on the role of personal values in the formation of women's entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). This should help explain whether (and why) women interpret the (entrepreneurial) reality around them differently from the way men do. To do so, this paper follows the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), combined with Schwartz's values theory. The model is then tested on a sample of 2923 highly-educated individuals from Spain. The results confirm the importance of value priorities in determining the EI, even after controlling for their motivational antecedents (as the TPB states). They also show that average value priorities are different both between women and men and between high- and low-intention women. The results are compatible with a post-structural feminist perspective. Therefore, the convenience of promoting a more gender-neutral entrepreneurship stereotype is highlighted.