Series 2, Episode 27: Why don’t people work as hard for female entrepreneurs? With Professor Olenka Kacperczyk, London Business School

While accurate data is hard to come by, some sources claim that up 90% of starts up fail.  There can be many reasons for this including but not limited to the product or service not meeting market needs, the business model being flawed, or early-stage funding not materialising.  One potential issue not often discussed is the impact of employee commitment and the extent to which those working for startups are prepared to put in the discretionary effort sometimes needed to get the startup over those critical early-stage challenges, something which is apparently experienced to a much greater extent by female founders when compared to their male peers. 

To discuss this I am delighted to be joined on the Brain for Business podcast by Professor Olenka Kacperczyk of London Business School.

Amongst other things Olenka argues that: 

• Women face well-documented obstacles when looking to found startups 
• Research has consistently revealed patterns of inequity in the sharing of venture capital, but reasons for the performance gap between male and female-led startups are unclear 
• A key factor may be that people generally are significantly less motivated to work for women than they are for men 
• To address this, it is vital that educators and others intensify efforts to promote awareness of often-unconscious discriminatory behaviours to address bias against female bosses 

About Olenka 

Olenka Kacperczyk is a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. She received her PhD from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and prior to joining London Business School, Olenka held a faculty position at the Sloan School of Management at MIT. 

Olenka’s research focuses on entrepreneurship and examines (a) why individuals sometimes give up their jobs and become entrepreneurs and (b) how people’s movements into entrepreneurship affect social inequality, workplace segregation, and income distribution.  

Olenka currently serves as an Associate Editor at Administrative Science Quarterly. She has previously served as an Associate Editor at Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Management Science. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Kauffman Junior Faculty Scholarship for Entrepreneurship Research and the William F. Glueck Award at the Academy of Management. Olenka teaches topics related to entrepreneurial strategy and strategic management in established firms. 

The paper discussed - Do Employees Work Less for Female Leaders? A Multi-Method Study of Entrepreneurial Firms - is available online https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2022.1611  

You can find out more about Olenka’s research here: https://www.olenkak.com/ 

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