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From Science to Business Preparing Female Scientists and Engineers for Successful Transitions into Entrepreneurship: Summary of a Workshop (2012) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:

5 Studies on Entrepreneurship
Pages 23-28

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From page 23...
... Population samples of 800 male and female employees at seven Silicon Valley companies from all technical levels were surveyed to understand the advancement of women from the entry level to senior leadership roles. Survey results indicated that across all levels, women constituted 20 percent of the technical employees, mostly software and hardware engineers, and were not equally represented at all technical levels.
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From page 24...
... She stated that more women than men believed this attribute to be necessary for individual success, but fewer women perceived themselves to be working the many hours they determined necessary in order to be successful, while more men believed that they work as many hours as required for success.3 2 According to a 2010 report by the Anita Borg Institute, Senior Technical Women: A Profile of Success, only 29.6 percent entry/mid-level women describe themselves as an "innovator," versus 38.1 percent of senior women and 60.2 percent of senior men. In addition, less than half of high-level technical employees in large companies perceive themselves as entrepreneurial (31.7 percent of women versus 40.5 percent of men)
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From page 25...
... Simard stated that these results suggest that the primary household responsibilities tend to fall predominately to women in technical sector families leading to an unequal distribution of family responsibilities. She noted that this gender difference in family configuration may explain why women frequently do not seek upward mobility.
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From page 26...
... Ku discussed the findings of her research focused on entrepreneurship and gender gaps in the high-tech industry.4 Ku tracked venture-backed technology companies in 4 More recent research by Ku is available in Justine Tinkler, Manwai C Ku, Kjersten Bunker Whittington, and Andrea Davies.
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From page 27...
... Ku suggested that both human capital and social capital barriers contributed to these gender differences in securing the venture capital that leads to increased entrepreneurship. Specifically, fewer women enter the technology sector and they participate in smaller venture capital networks.
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From page 28...
... She suggested that such gender discrepancies may be overcome by focusing on both supply-side and demand-side factors. Ku suggested that increasing the representation of women in technical fields and promoting networking opportunities for women may help supply-side factors.
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Key Terms

  • technical background
  • anita borg
  • borg institute
  • technical skills
  • technical backgrounds

  • gender differences
  • social capital
  • venture capitalists
  • simard discussed
  • silicon valley

  • technical women
  • senior technical
  • technical levels
  • women perceived
  • fewer women

  • women overall
  • perceived themselves
  • female employees
  • survey results
  • capital firms

  • human capital
  • female managers
  • female partners
  • household responsibilities
  • classic human

  • leadership roles
  • double standard
  • products proposed
  • entry level
  • technical employees


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