Never Too Late to Learn: How Education Helps Female Entrepreneurs at Overcoming Barriers in the Digital Economy

Manuel M. Molina-López, Manuel R. Tejeiro Koller, Mercedes Rubio-Andrés and Susana González-Pérez
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Manuel M. Molina-López: Business Economics Department, Business School, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, 28003 Madrid, Spain
Manuel R. Tejeiro Koller: Business Department, Hult International Business School, London WC1N 2AT, UK
Mercedes Rubio-Andrés: Business Economics Department, Business School, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, 28003 Madrid, Spain
Susana González-Pérez: Business Economics Department, Business School, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, 28003 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: The study of Entrepreneurship Framework Conditions (EFC) has found that training and education have, among other things, a positive effect on overcoming barriers when starting your own firm. Our research can be placed in this line, but with an added specificity, since it is focused firstly on women and secondly on the digital economy. Thus, we have studied the situation of women entrepreneurs in the digital economy in Spain, asking them about their personal traits, the characteristics of their ventures and the barriers they encountered. We have studied the effect of EFCs on overcoming barriers to entrepreneurship, with a special focus on training and entrepreneurship education. In addition, the effect of self-efficacy perception (the conviction of having the necessary skills to start a business) on overcoming barriers to entrepreneurship has been factored in. After the implementation of a Structural Equation Model (SEM), we show that training helps female entrepreneurs in the digital economy to overcome barriers to entrepreneurship, especially after the mediation of their self-efficacy perception, which is increased by specific entrepreneurial training. We can conclude that policy recommendations to counteract the gender gap in entrepreneurship with specific training should be promoted, specifically in such a strategic sector as the digital economy.

Keywords: female entrepreneurship; digital entrepreneurship; education; training; overcoming barriers; Structural Equation Model (SEM) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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