How policy positions women entrepreneurs: A comparative analysis of state discourse in Sweden and the United States

Helene Ahl and Teresa Nelson

Journal of Business Venturing, 2015, vol. 30, issue 2, 273-291

Abstract: This research compares the positioning of women entrepreneurs through entrepreneurship policy over two decades (1989–2012) in Sweden and the United States. Given Sweden's uniquely family-friendly welfare state, we could expect different results, yet in both countries we find a legacy of discourse subordinating women's entrepreneurship to other goals (i.e., economic growth) and a positioning of women as ‘other’, reinforcing a dialogue of women's inadequacy or extraordinariness without taking full account of the conditions shaping women's work experience. From this analysis we derive a conceptual schematic of assumptions presented through the discourse, aligning and distinguishing the U.S. and Swedish approaches.

Keywords: Women (female) entrepreneurs; Gender; Entrepreneurship policy; Sweden/United States; Discourse analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (42)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:30:y:2015:i:2:p:273-291

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2014.08.002

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