Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WOentrecompMEN (A comparative Study of Italy-USA on male and female entrepreneurship through the EntreComp Framework)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-09-01 do 2023-08-31
Women entrepreneurship is considered an under-exploited source of economic growth in Europe, with only 30% of businesses owned by women despite comprising 52% of the European population (WeGate Summit, 2021).
Prioritizing gender equality and supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are central to the European Commission's political agenda, as they strive to create an economy that benefits all.
Boosting the participation of female entrepreneurs can significantly improve Europe's economic prospects and overall social well-being. The question arises: How can we empower women to unleash their entrepreneurial potential, achieve their aspirations, and fully harness their talent and diversity? This question is at the heart of the Gender Equality Strategy (2020-25).
The WOentrecompMEN project aims to empower women entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs by nurturing the key competencies needed to overcome entrepreneurship barriers. Drawing on experiences of successful entrepreneurs the EntreComp Framework, the project focuses on cultivating these critical competencies for entrepreneurial success.
This project stands out within the landscape of European Commission initiatives aimed at promoting women's entrepreneurship. Its distinctiveness lies in its rigorous scientific approach to studying competencies and its unwavering commitment to empowering women, adopting an intersectional approach. By placing a sharp focus on competencies, the project aspires to craft entrepreneurship programs, public policies, and coaching initiatives that can benefit women, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Educators and policymakers alike have a role to play in fostering these competencies through targeted strategies and policies, with entrepreneurship serving as a catalyst for social inclusion.
Based on the ongoing research this project recommends the following initiatives:
1. Competency assessment tools to evaluate key competencies.
2. Competency-based entrepreneurship programs designed to empower women with hands-on experience.
3. Inspiring podcasts featuring successful women entrepreneurs as role models.
4. Executive coaching services tailored to the unique needs of female entrepreneurs.
5. The creation of networking opportunities that facilitate connections with advisors, coaches, and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.
The ER suggests offering these resources online for free, creating an interactive suite to empower European women in starting their entrepreneurial ventures.
Prioritizing gender equality and supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are central to the European Commission's political agenda, as they strive to create an economy that benefits all.
Boosting the participation of female entrepreneurs can significantly improve Europe's economic prospects and overall social well-being. The question arises: How can we empower women to unleash their entrepreneurial potential, achieve their aspirations, and fully harness their talent and diversity? This question is at the heart of the Gender Equality Strategy (2020-25).
The WOentrecompMEN project aims to empower women entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs by nurturing the key competencies needed to overcome entrepreneurship barriers. Drawing on experiences of successful entrepreneurs the EntreComp Framework, the project focuses on cultivating these critical competencies for entrepreneurial success.
This project stands out within the landscape of European Commission initiatives aimed at promoting women's entrepreneurship. Its distinctiveness lies in its rigorous scientific approach to studying competencies and its unwavering commitment to empowering women, adopting an intersectional approach. By placing a sharp focus on competencies, the project aspires to craft entrepreneurship programs, public policies, and coaching initiatives that can benefit women, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Educators and policymakers alike have a role to play in fostering these competencies through targeted strategies and policies, with entrepreneurship serving as a catalyst for social inclusion.
Based on the ongoing research this project recommends the following initiatives:
1. Competency assessment tools to evaluate key competencies.
2. Competency-based entrepreneurship programs designed to empower women with hands-on experience.
3. Inspiring podcasts featuring successful women entrepreneurs as role models.
4. Executive coaching services tailored to the unique needs of female entrepreneurs.
5. The creation of networking opportunities that facilitate connections with advisors, coaches, and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.
The ER suggests offering these resources online for free, creating an interactive suite to empower European women in starting their entrepreneurial ventures.
The primary aim of the project WOentrecompMEN was to enhance, amend, and refine the EntreComp Framework to create a validated tool for the design of formal education and training and the assessment and development of entrepreneurial competencies. This overarching objective has been achieved by applying the EntreComp Framework to assess the competencies of American male and female entrepreneurs, as well as students in entrepreneurship. Additionally, the project explored the emerging concept of coachability, identifying the associated competencies.
WOentrecompMEN has enabled the ER to make significant contributions to the field of entrepreneurial competencies by integrating American Frameworks and implementing innovative methodologies and tools to foster a more comprehensive approach to entrepreneurial competency development. Moreover, the project incorporated best training practices in entrepreneurship from a country revered as a global benchmark in this field.
Thanks to the ER's active involvement in numerous conferences, participation in training programs for entrepreneurship educators, and impactful study visits, the project's reach and influence have grown significantly. Collaboration with esteemed entrepreneurship scholars has not only amplified the project's influence but has also fostered the exchange of knowledge and the cross-fertilization of ideas on a global stage. These collaborative efforts have yielded significant outcomes, including the recent acceptance of a publication in a respected peer-reviewed journal.
The comparison of competencies between female and male entrepreneurs yielded a theoretical paper and a conference paper, emphasizing the significance of such competencies to overcome barriers to entrepreneurship. The exploration of coachability as a construct has led to the creation of a book chapter and a peer-reviewed paper (under revision). The comparative study of Italian and American entrepreneurs is slated for the third year of the project. This objective will be achieved by collecting data on Italian entrepreneurs and comparing it with data gathered from their American counterparts.
In summary, the project has successfully achieved its objectives for the first period, resulting in valuable research contributions and enhancing the ER's competencies and expertise in entrepreneurship and gender-related topics. These achievements can be leveraged for further research, educational programs, and policy development in the field of entrepreneurship and gender equality.
WOentrecompMEN has enabled the ER to make significant contributions to the field of entrepreneurial competencies by integrating American Frameworks and implementing innovative methodologies and tools to foster a more comprehensive approach to entrepreneurial competency development. Moreover, the project incorporated best training practices in entrepreneurship from a country revered as a global benchmark in this field.
Thanks to the ER's active involvement in numerous conferences, participation in training programs for entrepreneurship educators, and impactful study visits, the project's reach and influence have grown significantly. Collaboration with esteemed entrepreneurship scholars has not only amplified the project's influence but has also fostered the exchange of knowledge and the cross-fertilization of ideas on a global stage. These collaborative efforts have yielded significant outcomes, including the recent acceptance of a publication in a respected peer-reviewed journal.
The comparison of competencies between female and male entrepreneurs yielded a theoretical paper and a conference paper, emphasizing the significance of such competencies to overcome barriers to entrepreneurship. The exploration of coachability as a construct has led to the creation of a book chapter and a peer-reviewed paper (under revision). The comparative study of Italian and American entrepreneurs is slated for the third year of the project. This objective will be achieved by collecting data on Italian entrepreneurs and comparing it with data gathered from their American counterparts.
In summary, the project has successfully achieved its objectives for the first period, resulting in valuable research contributions and enhancing the ER's competencies and expertise in entrepreneurship and gender-related topics. These achievements can be leveraged for further research, educational programs, and policy development in the field of entrepreneurship and gender equality.
The ER has achieved significant progress beyond the state of the art, resulting in tangible outcomes and potential impacts:
Outcomes:
1. Innovative Use of Behavioral Event Interview (BEI): This research introduced novel use of the BEI technique with American entrepreneurs, enabling the analysis of their post-event reflection processes, with plans to apply it to Italian entrepreneurs in the third year.
2. Tailored Entrepreneurial Education: The research results can inform tailored entrepreneurship programs to address specific competency gaps, offering a more efficient approach for developing entrepreneurial competencies.
3. Gender-Inclusive Entrepreneurship Research: The research has successfully incorporated the gender dimension into entrepreneurship studies. This inclusive approach has enriched the scientific quality of the results and their societal relevance, aligning with the recommendations of eminent scholars like Candida Brush and Donald Kuratko.
Impacts:
1. Enhanced Entrepreneurship Education: The improved understanding of entrepreneurial competency development can contribute to shape more effective and targeted entrepreneurship education programs.
2. Inclusive Entrepreneurship: Gender-inclusive research has already begun to shape more equitable entrepreneurship practices and policies, promoting greater inclusivity in the field.
3. Theoretical Advancements: The research has advanced theories and frameworks in entrepreneurship by incorporating interdisciplinary perspectives and gender dimensions.
Expected results:
The ER plans to continue publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals focused on the research streams being developed. Specifically, the ER will produce publications based on the comparison of research conducted in the USA with the research conducted on Italian entrepreneurs.
In the coming year, the ER plans to attend additional entrepreneurship conferences and present conference papers on the ongoing research.
In summary, this project is leading to significant achievements and tangible impacts in the realm of entrepreneurship. The innovative approach to research, enriched frameworks, and inclusive methodologies have already begun to shape the landscape of entrepreneurship education, while also promoting gender inclusivity and advancing theoretical understanding in the field.
Outcomes:
1. Innovative Use of Behavioral Event Interview (BEI): This research introduced novel use of the BEI technique with American entrepreneurs, enabling the analysis of their post-event reflection processes, with plans to apply it to Italian entrepreneurs in the third year.
2. Tailored Entrepreneurial Education: The research results can inform tailored entrepreneurship programs to address specific competency gaps, offering a more efficient approach for developing entrepreneurial competencies.
3. Gender-Inclusive Entrepreneurship Research: The research has successfully incorporated the gender dimension into entrepreneurship studies. This inclusive approach has enriched the scientific quality of the results and their societal relevance, aligning with the recommendations of eminent scholars like Candida Brush and Donald Kuratko.
Impacts:
1. Enhanced Entrepreneurship Education: The improved understanding of entrepreneurial competency development can contribute to shape more effective and targeted entrepreneurship education programs.
2. Inclusive Entrepreneurship: Gender-inclusive research has already begun to shape more equitable entrepreneurship practices and policies, promoting greater inclusivity in the field.
3. Theoretical Advancements: The research has advanced theories and frameworks in entrepreneurship by incorporating interdisciplinary perspectives and gender dimensions.
Expected results:
The ER plans to continue publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals focused on the research streams being developed. Specifically, the ER will produce publications based on the comparison of research conducted in the USA with the research conducted on Italian entrepreneurs.
In the coming year, the ER plans to attend additional entrepreneurship conferences and present conference papers on the ongoing research.
In summary, this project is leading to significant achievements and tangible impacts in the realm of entrepreneurship. The innovative approach to research, enriched frameworks, and inclusive methodologies have already begun to shape the landscape of entrepreneurship education, while also promoting gender inclusivity and advancing theoretical understanding in the field.