Social entrepreneurship (SE), which aims to solve social problems of deprived groups, has become a popular area of research and practice. The recent investigation on SE has been characterized by a greater focus on gender differences, emphasizing that the role and characteristics of females are more suitable for social entrepreneurial initiatives. This chapter investigates the predominant themes on females in SE and identifies further research opportunities. On the one hand, the main macro (e.g., sociocultural values) and micro (e.g., personality traits) levels determinants are examined. On the other hand, the macro (e.g., social change) and micro (e.g., women economic empowerment) levels outcomes of females in SE are analyzed. Furthermore, directions for future research are suggested which will enable future authors to focus their studies more effectively.
TopIntroduction
Over the last years, social entrepreneurship (SE) has attracted increased interest from researchers of different scientific areas (e.g., entrepreneurship, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and politics Dacin et al., 2011; Hidalgo et al., 2021; Hota et al., 2020), public entities, and media. This is evidenced by a huge increase in the number of publications on SE in a multiplicity of journals (Hota et al., 2020).
In general, SE relates to the identification, assessment, exploitation, and exploration of opportunities that aim to solve social problems and, therefore, generate social value and societal change (Certo & Miller, 2008; Ibáñez, 2022; Waqar et al., 2020). The most relevant social problems include, but are not limited, to persistent poverty, social exclusions, imbalanced status of women, inadequate education opportunities, and climate changes (Latif & Ali, 2021; Tan et al., 2020; Waqar et al., 2020). In this way, the mission of the social entrepreneur is to create and maintain social value by providing innovative solutions to social problems and to generate a social transformation (Bernardino et al., 2018; Dacin et al., 2011; Hidalgo et al., 2021). For social entrepreneurs wealth is only a means to a particular end (Hidalgo et al., 2021). On the contrary, for commercial entrepreneurs wealth creation is a way of measuring value generation (Hidalgo et al., 2021).
SE is embedded in a complex and multidimensional setting that comprises gender, which, in turn, influences values, beliefs, and actions “indirectly by shaping actors’ perceptions of their interests and directly by constraining choice” (Risman, 2004, p. 432). Therefore, research on SE has attempted to understand gender differences, stressing that the role and features of females are more suitable for social entrepreneurial activity (e.g., Dixit et al., 2022; Gupta et al., 2019; Hechavarría & Brieger, 2022; Nicolás & Rubio, 2016; Tripathy et al., 2022) due to their innate characteristics as empathy, compassion, and care (Dickel & Eckardt, 2021; Rosca et al., 2020). In fact, social companies seem to be a place more adjusted to the women´s roles and personal traits than commercial companies (e.g., Nicolás & Rubio, 2016), since commercial entrepreneurship (CE) is usually related to masculine characteristics, such as aggressiveness, competitiveness, and independence (Gupta et al., 2019).
SE is widely recognized for its capability to promote, among others, social inclusion and women empowerment (e.g., Datta & Gailey, 2012; Dixit et al., 2022; Gramm et al., 2020).
Although existing literature has been investigating the female’s role in SE, to the best of the authors´ knowledge, there is no literature review that specifically focuses on this topic. The main purpose of this chapter is to analyze the state of the art and future developments of females in social entrepreneurship. In other words, this chapter aims to examine and synthesize the predominant themes and identify further research opportunities on this topic. To achieve these goals the well-established literature review approach will be used (e.g., Grant & Booth, 2009).