Incorporating feminist theories into sociological theories of entrepreneurship

Abstract

Feminist critiques can provide new insights into organizational theories by examining the historical context in which these theories emerged, the research methods in which the theories are grounded, and the assumptions underlying the theories themselves. This paper applies a feminist critique to sociological theories of entrepreneurship. First, the sociological theories are described, focusing on the effects of political factors, state policies, culture, spatial location, and professionalization on entrepreneurship. This is followed by an analysis of these sociological theories investigating the values embedded in these theories and demonstrating how they can take gender relations into consideration. Finally, several directions for future research are discussed along with the potential feminist theories which have to produce change at the societal level.