Initial situation/problem
Women have always been underrepresented among the self-employed. Although their share has risen steadily in parallel with their increasing participation in the labour market, it has remained static at one-third for some time. The self-employment rate, which indicates the propensity of the labour force to be self-employed, fluctuates over time. However, the gap between the self-employment rate of women and men has hardly narrowed. This is true not only for Germany, but also for other EU countries. Despite all the cultural, economic and institutional differences between these countries, there seem to be common factors that lead to the observed differences between the sexes. One should think primarily of informal (normative) institutions such as ascribed gender roles and the associated ideas about gender-appropriate behaviour, which continue to influence the employment decisions of women and men, and also the behaviour of other actors involved in the start-up process. Despite the now-extensive research, the factors behind the persistent under-representation of women, especially in their interactions and historical conditionality, are not yet fully understood.
Research Goals/Approach
The aim of this project is to gain a better understanding of the causes of the gender gap in entrepreneurship, to put previous political interventions to the test and, if necessary, to identify points of reference for strengthening women's entrepreneurship. Due to the complexity of the task, the project is designed to run for several years. In the first phase of the project (2023), the aim is to systematically review the current state of research, derive hypotheses and develop a concept for empirically testing these hypotheses. To validate these research steps, a discussion within the international Round Table Mittelstand is planned. This work will form the basis for empirical studies in the next phase of the project.
