Breaking the Metal Ceiling : Female Entrepreneurs Who Succeed in Male-Dominated Sectors
A range of reasons is cited to explain gender differences in business performance in Africa. Within those, the sector of operations is consistently identified as a major issue. This paper uses a mixed methods approach to assess how women entreprene...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/12/25512942/breaking-metal-ceiling-female-entrepreneurs-succeed-male-dominated-sectors http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23469 |
| Summary: | A range of reasons is cited to explain
gender differences in business performance in Africa. Within
those, the sector of operations is consistently identified
as a major issue. This paper uses a mixed methods approach
to assess how women entrepreneurs in Uganda start (and
strive) operating firms in male-dominated sectors, and what
hinders other women from doing so. The study finds that
women who cross over into male-dominated sectors make as
much as men, and three times more than women who stay in
female-dominated sectors. The paper examines a set of
factors to explain the differences in sector choices, and
finds that there is a problem of information about
opportunities in male-dominated industries. The analysis
also concludes that psychosocial factors, particularly the
influence of male role models and exposure to the sector
from family and friends, are critical in helping women
circumvent or overcome the norms that undergird occupational segregation. |
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