Gender and Ownership in UK Small Firms

Abstract

The emphasis on the individual “female entrepreneur” in much of the small business literature in the last decade disguises the fact that many women in business ownership are in partnership with others, usually with men. How “gender” impinges on the process of small business ownership has been little studied. The paper examines gender and ownership using evidence from a three-year study on the impact of gender on small business management, involving interviews with 602 male and female UK business owners, drawn from three industrial sectors. Difficulties were encountered in interpreting sex differences as “gender” trends, owing to significant sectoral variation. Nevertheless, some marked gender differences were identified. These referred to differential patterns of kinship with the respondent; the allocation and perception of specialist roles within the business; and the fact that female owners are less likely to be associated with more than two businesses. Overall sole traders were in the minority in both sexes, implying that most owners shared responsibility and management in some way with other owners. The paper concludes with methodological implications of co-ownership for the sampling and analysis of small business owner/managers from a gender perspective.

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