Womenpreneurs: The shift from Corporate Management to Entrepreneurship: The Gender Pay Gap, Glass Ceiling Effect and Entrepreneurial Choice

The number of women, of working age in the United Kingdom (UK), that are actively choosing entrepreneurship over corporate management has increased. Understanding the entrepreneurial motivations behind this trend is important for academia, policy-makers and female entrepreneurs worldwide. The main assumption is that women are ‘pushed’ or forced into entrepreneurship by factors such as the gender pay gap and glass ceiling effect. However, findings from a comparative study between British and French entrepreneurs show that this assumption is more of a myth that needs to be laid to rest and that women today possess a strong entrepreneurial drive fuelled by their need for achievement, need to empower others as well as other motivators not previously associated with female entrepreneurs. Two new categorizations pertinent to female entrepreneurship (i.e. career change and identity change) were also unearthed