Frontiers: Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Empowering Female Entrepreneurs Through Female Mentors

Frank Germann (), Stephen J. Anderson (), Pradeep Chintagunta and Naufel Vilcassim ()
Additional contact information
Frank Germann: Mendoza College of Business, Marketing, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
Stephen J. Anderson: Mays Business School, Marketing, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
Naufel Vilcassim: Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom

Marketing Science, 2024, vol. 43, issue 2, 244-253

Abstract: Among the millions of entrepreneurs in developing economies, few are able to earn a decent livelihood. To help these entrepreneurs succeed, governmental and nongovernmental organizations invest billions of dollars every year in providing training programs. Many of these programs involve providing entrepreneurs with mentors. Unfortunately, the effects of these programs are often muted, or even null, for woman-owned firms. Against this backdrop, we tested whether gender matching, where female entrepreneurs are randomly paired with a female mentor, could help address the gender gap. Findings from a randomized controlled field experiment with 930 Ugandan entrepreneurs show that mentor gender has a powerful impact on female entrepreneurs. Firm sales and profits of female entrepreneurs guided by a female mentor increased by, on average, 32% and 31% compared with the control group, and these estimates are even larger for female entrepreneurs with high aspirations. In contrast, female entrepreneurs guided by a male mentor did not significantly improve performance compared with the control group. We provide suggestive mechanism evidence that female mentor-mentee arrangements were characterized by more positive engagements. Conflict of Interest Statement: All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or nonfinancial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Keywords: female entrepreneurs; gender gap; glass ceiling; mentorship gender-matching; randomized controlled field experiment; small firm growth; developing economies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: Frontiers: breaking the glass ceiling: empowering female entrepreneurs through female mentors (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:43:y:2024:i:2:p:244-253

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