Julija Mazuole

Vilnius University, Lithuania

Title: THE TYPOLOGY OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS: TRENDS AND DIRECTIONS

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Biography

Julija Mažuole is a PhD student of Sociology in Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences. She is also an activist and leader of women economic empowerment initiatives. Her areas of interest are women entrepreneurship, women’s rights, gender equality, social entrepreneurship, gender economy.

Aurelija Novelskait?, is associate professor at the Vilnius university (Lithuania) and senior researcher at the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences. Since acquiring PhD in sociology, she proceeds exploring gender issues in science taking part in many projects such as “Baltic states network: Women in science and high technology”, “Young women’s empowerment for professional career during university studies in physical and technological sciences in Lithuania“and other.

Abstract

The purpose of the poster is to present the results of a study that describes how women get involved in entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurs as a research subject are perceived as women innovators, creating successful businesses, leading innovative commercial projects, addressing economic and social solutions of major importance to the society. The types of female entrepreneurs were determined as a result of a qualitative study in 2023 (30 semi-structured interviews with female entrepreneurs were conducted in Lithuania). The structure of the interviews was based on the Life Course Perspective methodological background in order to consider the subjective meanings of experience and associate past events with entrepreneurial career decisions. Female entrepreneurs were divided into types according to the following criteria: life stage when starting a business, age of a woman, motivation for creating a business, type of enterprise, social, cultural and economic capital that women possess and the role of the family in the initial stage of enterprise. The poster visually explains how different types of women get involved and operate in the field of entrepreneurship. The paper complements management and economics studies in the field of women's entrepreneurship with missing elements of social field and with a purpose to identify the connection between the individual experiences of female entrepreneurs, social environment and the family with women's professional choices and decisions that determine women's participation in the field of entrepreneurship.