Women's War on Women

[acesfull86]

Via Financial Times

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/79a98b4...#axzz3J3WDDBaT


The new research, by academics at London Business School, Aston University and the University of Antwerp, mirrors previous findings on the salaries earned by male and female founders of for-profit companies. A report on Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses programme, noted that female participants, on average, paid themselves 80 per cent of the salary of male participants.

Saul Estrin, visiting professor of strategy and entrepreneurship, London Business School, and co-author of the latest report, points out that the differences cannot be explained by discrimination since these chief executives set their own pay.

He looked at the entrepreneurs’ job satisfaction and found female social entrepreneurs to be more satisfied with their role than their male counterparts.

This provides the first evidence for a “contented female social entrepreneur” paradox, say the report’s authors. In other words, Prof Estrin says: “Women were happier being social entrepreneurs than men, despite paying themselves a lower salary.”

One big difference was that female-led social enterprises were generating less revenue than their male peers.

But is it not possible that women have internalised gender discrimination?

“My feeling is it’s pegged to performance,” he says. “Women are putting more emphasis on the social than commercial success and they are getting more out of the organisation than men.”

Ute Stephan, professor of entrepreneurship at Aston University, and co-author of the report, was surprised by the findings. She suggests that female social entrepreneurs may also opt to reinvest in the company than reward themselves. There is also the possibility that men are more likely to be the main breadwinner.

Nonetheless, Prof Stephan thinks that women entrepreneurs often prioritise autonomy over earnings.

[50PoundHead]

Via Financial Times

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/79a98b4...#axzz3J3WDDBaT


The new research, by academics at London Business School, Aston University and the University of Antwerp, mirrors previous findings on the salaries earned by male and female founders of for-profit companies. A report on Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses programme, noted that female participants, on average, paid themselves 80 per cent of the salary of male participants.

Saul Estrin, visiting professor of strategy and entrepreneurship, London Business School, and co-author of the latest report, points out that the differences cannot be explained by discrimination since these chief executives set their own pay.

He looked at the entrepreneurs’ job satisfaction and found female social entrepreneurs to be more satisfied with their role than their male counterparts.

This provides the first evidence for a “contented female social entrepreneur” paradox, say the report’s authors. In other words, Prof Estrin says: “Women were happier being social entrepreneurs than men, despite paying themselves a lower salary.”

One big difference was that female-led social enterprises were generating less revenue than their male peers.

But is it not possible that women have internalised gender discrimination?

“My feeling is it’s pegged to performance,” he says. “Women are putting more emphasis on the social than commercial success and they are getting more out of the organisation than men.”

Ute Stephan, professor of entrepreneurship at Aston University, and co-author of the report, was surprised by the findings. She suggests that female social entrepreneurs may also opt to reinvest in the company than reward themselves. There is also the possibility that men are more likely to be the main breadwinner.

Nonetheless, Prof Stephan thinks that women entrepreneurs often prioritise autonomy over earnings.

I have some experience with this. The first Mrs. 50# started her own business (which turned out to be very successful) and during her MBA program, her male profs preached to her not to undervalue herself as CEO or the product she provided. I'm not going to go into a whole nature v. post-modern gender constructs, but studies she showed back in the 1980s about women-owned businesses held that a large number of those businesses were established for sustainability alone and not to expand beyond that. I don't know if that is still the case or not, but this would seem to indicate that women still undervalue their businesses and their contributions to them for whatever reason.

[acesfull86]

I have some experience with this. The first Mrs. 50# started her own business (which turned out to be very successful) and during her MBA program, her male profs preached to her not to undervalue herself as CEO or the product she provided. I'm not going to go into a whole nature v. post-modern gender constructs, but studies she showed back in the 1980s about women-owned businesses held that a large number of those businesses were established for sustainability alone and not to expand beyond that. I don't know if that is still the case or not, but this would seem to indicate that women still undervalue their businesses and their contributions to them for whatever reason.

Very possible. I think one takeaway from the report is maybe we shouldn't just yell "discrimination!" when economic outcomes appear unequal.