WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: ENTERING THE ECONOMIC MAINSTREAM.

摘要

The goals of this research were to: (1) identify the process by which women initiate business ventures; (2) discover the major problems that cause major stumbling blocks to women's entry into entrepreneurship; and (3) project the special educational needs at the secondary level for potential women entrepreneurs.;The naturalistic inquiry process provided a systematic approach to studying women entrepreneurs and allowed for theory development that was inductively conceived or "grounded" in data. Data gathering techniques included 17 unstructured, in-depth interviews; an integration of the literature; and participant observation.;A substantive theory evolved from the process of theoretical sampling and constant comparative analysis of the data. After a thorough examination of the process of women's entry into entrepreneurship, the following substantive theory emerged which met the criteria of fit, work, relevance, and modificability: Women's entry into entrepreneurship is a process which is influenced by the external enviroment, the woman's life experiences and individual needs, and catapulting transitional events.;Four factors were identified which contributed to a process of women's entry into entrepreneurship. These four categories and their properties were: CLIMATE including the properties of economic, political, and social; EXPERIENCE including the properties of socialization, education, and work; INDIVIDUAL NEEDS including the properties of financial and self-fulfillment, and TRANSITIONAL EVENTS including the properties of pushes and pulls. Twenty propositions or working hypotheses were also developed during the inductive theory-building process.;The results of the study did not imply that entrepreneurship should be taught as a discrete unit in the high school curriculum. There was no evidence to support that entrepreneurial education at the secondary level would enhance women's business ventures. Recommendations for alternative means of introducing entrepreneurship to women at the secondary level are offered as well as suggestions for further research.