An intuitive entrepreneurial gender ceiling and its impact on entrepreneurial success and access to finance

Project Information

ROLLER COASTER

Grant agreement ID: 882168

DOI

10.3030/882168

Project closed

EC signature date 15 April 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 260 840,64

EU contribution

€ 260 840,64

Coordinated by

EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ROLLER COASTER (An intuitive entrepreneurial gender ceiling and its impact on entrepreneurial success and access to finance)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Despite the growing number of female-led firms in Europe, such entrepreneurial ventures tend to be smaller in size, have more limited access to finance, and show slower growth and lower profits than male-owned businesses. Because of the
nature of entrepreneurship, it is postulated, in line with pattern recognition theory, that intuition affects decision-making. How intuition affects entrepreneurial women and men as well as access to finance, which are crucial for
survival, has not to date been objectively investigated. Thus, ROLLER-COASTER’s aim is to investigate entrepreneurial intuition with an interdisciplinary lens.

Three research objectives are targeted:
1) to create a solid interdisciplinary framework
2) to explore the ‘entrepreneurial gender ceiling’
3) to enhance related theories and concepts

Two study phases focus on achieving the objectives:

Study 1: Using intuition to boost women’s risk-taking performance and men’s risk-taking propensity
Using investment decisions as real world based examples and a new intuition measurement with hidden emotional images, this study illuminates how women’s skill at using intuition facilitates their performance to be as good as men when taking risks, while men’s skill at using intuition stimulates their risk taking propensity without affecting performance.

Study 2: Investor intuition promotes gender equality in access to finance
Although intuition is difficult to distinguish decisively from deliberation and thus poorly understood, it has been often used to explain away gender biases. By contrast, I argue that women’s success in access to finance in crowdfunding is rooted in the use of intuition. I measured investors’ use of intuition in two complementary ways: self-reports and behaviorally through fast investment decision making related to past real-world crowdfunding campaigns. Bayesian analysis, incorporating 2,911 subjects equally from Europe and the United States collected from July 2021 to August 2022 across three randomized controlled experiments, shows that regardless of whether investor intuition actually predicts willingness to invest, it does not significantly interact with presenter’s gender. Although gender preferences can be in play, intuition cannot be used as an explanation. This study points toward the importance of intuition for promoting gender equality and makes clear that the poor scientific reputation around using intuition requires serious rethinking.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

As described in the Description of Action (DoA), the project has three research objectives:
1) to create a solid interdisciplinary framework;
2) to explore the entrepreneurial gender ceiling; and
3) to enhance related theories and concepts.

All objectives are fully met. For Study 1, a novel tool to measure intuition has been developed (international patent application pending, PCT WO2022IB50886); data from 657 subjects were collected. For Study 2, videos and podcasts have been produced, and data from 2,911 subjects were collected. Both studies were implemented fully online (due to COVID). Six publications have been prepared and published in renowned journals, such as Nature Psychological Reviews, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Technovation, and Academy of Management Collections (for the Department of Accounting, I scheduled three). Overall, 12 publications, including two proposals and a book chapter, have been prepared within the project’s framework so far.

Overall, beyond the preparation of 12 scientific publications (including two paper proposals and a book chapter), I presented my results at 17 leading conferences across related fields (e.g. Academy of Management, AAAS Science, American Sociology Association, American Psychology Society, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, American Psychological Association) and through 19 presentations at a number of research seminars. In line with my training and career objectives, I have participated in 21 research workshops and 67 training courses. To reach my communication objectives, I have created three promotional project videos, three project pages, two press articles, and one blog article. With respect to my-long term career goal and as promised as a deliverable, I have submitted several grant applications (e.g. ERC and SNSF Consolidator Grants, FWF). To conclude, I exceeded all the key performance indicators proposed in my DoA. In line with the DoA, all promised milestones and deliverables for the period have been fully achieved.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

I have already had six articles accepted (e.g. Nature Psychological Reviews, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Technovation, and Academy of Management Collections). I developed a novel tool to measure intuition (international patent application pending, PCT WO2022IB50886). Overall, beyond the preparation of 12 scientific publications (including two paper proposals and a book chapter), I presented my interim results at 17 leading conferences across related fields (e.g. Academy of Management, AAAS Science, American Sociology Association, American Psychology Society, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, American Psychological Association) and through 19 presentations at a number of research seminars. Furthermore, the Academy of Management Review journal, the Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice journal and the Journal of Business Venturing have invited me to serve a as reviewer; beyond the honour, it is an invaluable learning experience to be part of theory development at a leading scholarly journal.

The more information and knowledge that technology provides, the more crucial are profoundly human skills like intuition, the skill of using nonconscious information for conscious decision making. Such information is not explicit in conscious experience. As our world becomes more complex, shaken by crises and characterized by uncertainty, time pressure, ambiguity and instability, intuition becomes more important because it can outperform our analytical mind particular in uncertain and risky environments. My research highlights how women’s skill at using intuition facilitates their performance to be as good as men when taking risks, and how investor intuition promotes gender equality in access to finance.

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