1 Presenter Sidra Sheikh Department of Commerce, BZU MultanInnovative Behavior of Women Entrepreneurs of Pakistan: Impact of Personality Traits, Gender Stereotypes and Cultural Values Presenter Sidra Sheikh Department of Commerce, BZU Multan Co-Author Masood Ul Hassan MPhil Scholar Department of Commerce, BZU Multan
2 What makes this study integral?The world is slowly but surely recognizing that women entrepreneurs, when prosperous, act as an agent of change for their families and society as a whole, they tend to inspire others to become self-sufficient and motivate them to opt for entrepreneurship. Despite all these promising trends and shifts, the culture of Pakistan is strictly patriarchal and the women participation in the labor force and entrepreneurial ventures is meagre as compared to the men, since there is a long history of gender discrimination, negative stereotypes and an overall unfavorable attitude towards them. Pakistan’s gender-related development index is 93 percent as the percentage of Human Development Index, which enlightens us with the intense inequalities in achievements between men and women. These indicators bracket Pakistan with many less-developed countries which have unfortunate gender disparities/discrepancies. Thereby making it important to carry a thorough study on the factors that are linked with women entrepreneurs of this country.
3 A brief outline Research gap Objectives of the studyResearch Questions Theoretical Model & Hypotheses Design/Methodology/approach Analysis and Results Conclusion Implications of the Study Limitations & Future Directions
4 Research gap Most of the studies related to women entrepreneurs have been conducted in the developed Western Societies, however the Islamic societies that are frequently regarded as being collectivistic, high in power distance, and high on uncertainty avoidance, and are quite different from western culture have “not” been methodically taken into account. This research specifically aims to take into account the female entrepreneurs of Pakistan as the research on this topic is sparse in our journals. There is an instantaneous need to develop the understanding that the connection between the constructs of Theory of planned behavior and the innovative behavior of women entrepreneurs is not straightforward, there are a number of factors that act along to trigger it. Thereby, giving us a chance for the enrichment of the TPB. The factors like glass ceiling (Mattis, 2004; Moore, 1997), masculinity& Uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede and Bond, 1984), occupational stigma (pinel, 2002) and personality traits (cooper, 1998) play an important role in driving attitude, subjective norms, and the perceived behaviour control as well as the innovative behavior of women entrepreneurs which are rarely taken into account.
5 Objectives of the studyTo understand the link between personality traits and attitudes. To underscore how attitudes and subjective norms impact each other To elucidate how the subjective norms impact the innovative behavior of women entrepreneurs. To explore the effects of structural barriers such as glass ceiling on the attitude of women entrepreneurs. To clarify the influence of uncertainty avoidance upon the glass ceiling. To elucidate how masculinity and occupational stigma are linked. To develop the understanding of how occupational stigma impact the perceived behavior control of women entrepreneurs in the light of social structures in Pakistan. To understand fully the impact of Perceived behavior control upon innovative behavior of women entrepreneurs.
6 Research questions RQ1: Is there a significant and positive relationship between the personality traits and attitude of a female entrepreneur? RQ2: whether there is a significant and positive relationship between the attitude and subjective norms of a female entrepreneur? RQ3: Is there a significant and positive relationship between subjective norms and innovation behavior of a female entrepreneur? RQ4: Is there a significant and positive relationship between glass ceiling and attitude of a female entrepreneur? RQ5: Is there a significant and positive relationship between uncertainty avoidance and glass ceiling? RQ6: Is there a significant and positive relationship between masculinity and occupational stigma of the women entrepreneur? RQ7: Is there a significant and positive relationship between occupational stigma and Perceived Behavior Control? RQ8: Is there a significant and positive relationship between perceived behavior control and innovative behavior of the entrepreneurs?
7 Theoretical Model and Hypotheses
8 Research methodology & philosophyThis study is based on quantitative philosophical foundations as it aims to test the relationship between latent variables (Firestone, 1987; Sales et al., 2002; Saunders, 2011). Epistemologically, current study is an application of existing theories and includes the constructs which can be operationalized in different ways. Ontologically, hypothesized relationships among study variables are tested. So, based upon the particular nature, objectives and gaps of this research, a positive method has been utilized. This approach is used to address the research questions posed by the research.
9 Research methodology (Sample and data collection)Cross sectional survey from Female entrepreneurs of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the Women entrepreneurs’ exhibition ‘Blue Fair’ organized in Multan from March 3 to 5, 2016 jointly by the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry Multan and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. Five point Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neutral, 4=Agree & 5=Strongly Agree) was used to develop research questionnaire. The original dataset comprised of a survey from 274 respondents solely the Female entrepreneurs. This resulted in an encouraging participation rate of 62% while seventy three percent (73%) of the participants completed the survey in a face-to-face setting and that too in the presence of either the researcher or a trained data enumerator to make sure that the understanding of the questions is not flawed.
10 Scales Stigma-consciousness questionnaire (SCQ): This 6 items-scale was borrowed from Pinel (1999) who defined stigma consciousness as the extent to which people report attending to their stereo typed status. Extent to which employees are aware of the stigmatized nature of their job and believe that others treat them negatively because of it (Pinel, 1999; Pinel and Paulin, 2005). Glass Ceiling: This 10 items-scale was borrowed from U. S. Department of Labor (1992), the Glass Ceiling Commission which defined “Glass ceiling” as a phrase used to describe artificial barriers that prevent qualified individuals from advancing within their organization and reaching their full potential. Constructs of TPB: The study by Linan et al. (2009) develops and tests 15-items questionnaire to measure attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavior control aiming to measure entrepreneurial intention through the theory of planned behavior.
11 Scales Personality Traits: 15-items scale on personality traits was adapted from Steers and Braunstein (1976). Masculinity and Uncertainty Avoidance Scale: This 9 items scale measuring the two cultural values was adapted from Yoo, Donthu & Lenartowicz (2001). Innovative, Proactive and visionary behavior of Entrepreneur: This 14-items scale was adapted from El-Annan (2013).
12 Data analysis PLS-SEM is most Popular TechniquePartial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) Outer Model (Measurement Model) Inner Model (Structure Model) PLS-SEM is most Popular Technique Management Sciences (Hair et al., ) Strategic Management (Hair et al., 2012) Accounting (Lee et al., 2011) Family business (Hair et al., ) Operations Management (Peng & Lai, 2012) Organizational Sciences (Sosik, Kahai, & Piovoso, 2009).
13 Data analysis Composite ReliabilityOuter Model (Measurement Model) Outer Model (Structural Model) Composite Reliability Chronbach’s Alpha (Internal Consistency) Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) Factor Loading Cross Loading Fornell Larcker Criterion Beta Coefficient Coefficient of Determination (R2) Coefficient of Correlation
14 Study results
15 Composite ReliabilityTable 4: Reliability and Validity Results Structural model AVE Composite Reliability Square Multiple Correlations R2 Cronbach’s Alpha α Attitude 0.71 0.92 0.654 0.896 Glass Celling 0.96 0.296 0.956 Innovative Behaviour 0.79 0.98 0.607 0.978 Masculinity 0.94 0.913 Occ. Stigma 0.72 0.84 0.446 0.921 Perc. Behaviour 0.75 0.95 0.521 0.934 Personality Traits 0.97 0.970 Uncertainty Avoidance 0.953 Subjective Norms 0.88 0.498
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17 Structural model
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19 Conclusion The results of PLS-SEM (3.0) revealed that there is a moderately significant and a positive relationship between the personality traits and the entrepreneurial attitude of the female respondents. This research deduced that the subjective norms mediated very powerfully between the attitudes & the ultimate innovative, visionary and proactive behavior of the women entrepreneurs. The significant others, especially the family members played an integral role in motivating the women entrepreneurs and without their support, they deemed it impossible to run a stable as well as accomplished business set up. The results of PLS-SEM (3.0) clearly verified a relationship between the uncertainty avoidance i.e. the tendency to avoid risk in entrepreneurial ventures and the attitude of female entrepreneurs.
20 Conclusion The result of PLS-SEM clearly showed a distinct relationship between the females who have a risk bearing attitude but they live in a stark opposite culture where the uncertainty avoidance index is quite high, when these females are triggered by factors like glass ceiling they usually end up giving up their jobs and commence an independent business journey. We discovered a solid theoretical link between the tolerance of uncertainty in a culture and risk taking of entrepreneurs. The results of PLS-SEM validated a significant relationship between masculinity and Perceived behaviour control. By a “masculine” society we had a target to check whether people in your society believe that it is more important for men to have a professional career than it is for women.
21 Conclusion we got to conclude that according to the culture of Pakistan, It is believed that there are certain jobs that men can always do better than women and they are more apt for men. Though the women entrepreneurs didn’t believe it to be true but they totally agreed that our culture has all the male-dominant tendencies.
22 Implication of the studyThis unique study is not merely going to add to the existing literature but it aims to act as a ground-breaking research agenda that can provide immense clarity to the policy makers of the country. As it is fundamentally held that the financial constraints are the only dilemma of the women entrepreneurs of Pakistan that impedes their growth and success, this study broadens the scope of the triggering factors that play a vital role in instigating women to start off entrepreneurship. The findings of this study bring into limelight the factors like Glass ceiling, Occupational stigma, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance that play a very crucial part in sculpting the innovative, proactive and visionary behaviour of any entrepreneur. The policy architects of the country shall take into account all this factors along with the other constraints to draft a comprehensive as well as more effective policy for the thriving entrepreneurs of this country so they may play to their strengths and support in bringing the economy of the country out of the distress.
23 Limitations and future research directionsThis research attempted to study the less researched areas related to women entrepreneurship in Pakistan. Despite a meticulous effort, the results of the study are not sufficient be applied to a group of greater population since merely a few women were taken as respondents, who are mostly the situated in the developed cities. A quantitative methodology was employed. While conducting this research, it was evident that many other methodologies such as narrative and life history research cab also be employed to dig deep into this matter. Since there were time span limitations and the restraints on the funds as well as resources such a research was not feasible. Also, a lot of work of the NGO’s, global benefactors and many native females funding organizations that inspire, enable and deliver training as well as explanations to authorize women was not testified.
24 Limitations and future research directionsAdditionally, there is a room to cover the endeavours of several added features of funding, training and advertising is essential to acquire a complete picture of the procedure of women’s entrepreneurship in this area. Furthermore, more investigation is necessary to inspect macro aspects such as governmental procedures, management policies and official backing that impact the overall impression of women’s entrepreneurship in Pakistan.