On the path to ecological entrepreneurial masculinities: a study of deeply engaged entrepreneurs for socio-ecological transition

Vers une masculinité entrepreneuriale écologique: étude sur des entrepreneurs profondément engagés dans la transition socio-écologique

Céline del Bucchia (), Arnaud Stimec (), Anastasia Dereppe () and Benoit Marienval ()
Additional contact information
Céline del Bucchia: Audencia Business School
Arnaud Stimec: LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Nantes Univ - IAE Nantes - Nantes Université - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Nantes - Nantes Université - pôle Sociétés - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université
Anastasia Dereppe: LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Nantes Univ - IAE Nantes - Nantes Université - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Nantes - Nantes Université - pôle Sociétés - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université
Benoit Marienval: LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Nantes Univ - IAE Nantes - Nantes Université - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Nantes - Nantes Université - pôle Sociétés - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Purpose Recent voices have called for the need to reconsider the myth of male power based on a one-dimensional view of a dominant patriarchy in entrepreneurship. In a search for alternatives to hegemonic masculinities, this paper explores a specific context - that of radical ecological and social transition - to identify how entrepreneuring in this specific social environment questions and shapes entrepreneurial masculinities. Design/methodology/approach We engage with constructivist grounded theory to analyse 17 life story interviews of French entrepreneurs, complemented by 6 focused follow-up interviews and 2 focus groups of women to give a broader and cultural understanding of entrepreneurial masculinities. Findings The paper makes four important contributions to the literature on gender and entrepreneurship. First, it enriches the spectrum of entrepreneurial masculinities with a non-hegemonic type of masculinity, namely, caring Entrepreneurial masculinity (EM). Second, it proposes an alternative model of hybrid hegemonic masculinity by showing that the "hero" posture in entrepreneurship is not necessarily that of a winner but can also serve a mission for the common good. Third, it introduces the concept of ecological EM by bridging two distinct areas of the literature related to our data. Finally, it underscores the strong influence of women in entrepreneurs' social environment by their role in engaging change in entrepreneurial masculinities. We show how a specific social environment can partially challenge hegemonic entrepreneurial masculinities. The paper introduces ecological masculinities as an alternative framework.

Keywords: Sustainable entrepreneurship; Socio-ecological transition; Entrepreneurial masculinities; Cultural change and leadership; Hegemonic masculinities; Constructivist grounded theory; Caring masculinities; Ecological masculinities; Masculinités hégémoniques; Entrepreneuriat durable; Transition socio-écologique; Masculinités entrepreneuriales; Changement culturel et leadership; Théorie ancrée constructiviste; Masculinités du care; Masculinités écologiques (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-08-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-hme, nep-mac and nep-sbm
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05336916v1
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published in International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 2025, pp.1-20. ⟨10.1108/IJGE-04-2024-0146⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-05336916v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05336916

DOI: 10.1108/IJGE-04-2024-0146

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().