Performance Dynamics of Male and Female Entrepreneurs in Pakistan: A Qualitative Comparison

Abstract

In recent years, focus on women entrepreneurship has increased and women are encouraged to perform an active economic role in the modern societies. However, it has been argued that women owned and operated entrepreneurial ventures exhibit poor performance, raising questions on the entrepreneurial potential of the women. Another line of argument highlight that women are different than men, leading them to have different entrepreneurial aspirations. Considering this theoretical premise, this study adopts a social role perspective to explain differences of entrepreneurial performance of women entrepreneurs in Pakistan. By employing a qualitative research design and collecting data from 19 male and female entrepreneurs in Pakistan, this study finds indications that social roles influence the performance orientation of male and female entrepreneurs. It was also found that male entrepreneurs have a more material and financial approach to relate to their entrepreneurial performance as they stressed more on profitability, cash flows, and material growth. On the other hand, female entrepreneurs exhibit a more peoples-oriented approach. They seemed to focus more on their stakeholders like customers, family, employees, and society at large. The study concludes that both male and female entrepreneurs have different performance orientations, and a unidimensional performance comparison of entrepreneurial performance of male and female is futile. Therefore, future practice and research on women entrepreneurship should consider a feminist perspective of entrepreneurial performance, where women entrepreneurs might be interested in self-fulfillment and empowerment and not in material growth or financial outcomes. The scope of this study is delimited to educated women entrepreneurs, living in metropolitan areas of Pakistan.