Innovative Women Entrepreneurs in Italy: Experiences and Implications

Abstract

Over the years, at the international level, the social construction assumption according to which women would be less innovative than men and, consequently, also less prone to be involved in innovative fields, since their educational path decisions to career path decisions, has long prevailed. This has resulted in a widespread lack of representation of women in more innovative sectors, in comparison to their male counterparts. In recent years then, if the pandemic has had an impact, at least for some specific socio-economic contexts, especially on those that can be typically considered as ‘necessity entrepreneurs’, it has to be said that it has been able also to generate some virtuous dynamics crosswise related to innovative issues. In particular, this chapter aims to go in depth into these issues from the perspective of innovative women entrepreneurs in the attempt to answer to the following questions: how does the socio-economic environment affect innovative women entrepreneurs? And, what are the unique experiences, achievements and contributions of innovative women entrepreneurs in Italy? In order to answer to these specific research questions, an analysis based on direct interviews with a sample of Italian innovative women entrepreneurs has been conducted.

Citation

Mari, M. (2024), "Innovative Women Entrepreneurs in Italy: Experiences and Implications", Current Trends in Female Entrepreneurship: Innovation and Immigration (Entrepreneurial Behaviour Series), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 41-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83549-101-020241008