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A Postcolonial Feminist Reading of Entrepreneurial Leadership

Author

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  • Caren Brenda Scheepers

Abstract

This paper applies the researcher's reflexivity and challenges researchers to acknowledge our positioning and to acknowledge that we perpetuate the gender order and Western knowledge in the ways we produce knowledge. The approach includes a literature review of postcolonial feminist epistemology, in particular, as well as citing examples of challenges and opportunities in fieldwork on women's entrepreneurial leadership in sub‐Saharan Africa. It demonstrates the need for postcolonial feminist epistemological approaches in studying women's entrepreneurial leadership in sub‐Saharan Africa. The findings highlight the lack of consideration of the intersection of gender with race, ethnicity, and class in Western entrepreneurial leadership studies and specifically advance postcolonial and decolonial feminist scholarship. This paper contributes to decolonizing knowledge on entrepreneurship, opening up postcolonial feminist discourse by contributing the Ubuntu‐centric entrepreneurial leadership approach and surfacing tensions and possibilities for the domain.

Suggested Citation

  • Caren Brenda Scheepers, 2026. "A Postcolonial Feminist Reading of Entrepreneurial Leadership," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 960-973, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:33:y:2026:i:3:p:960-973
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.70105
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Laura Galloway & Isla Kapasi & Katherine Sang, 2015. "Entrepreneurship, Leadership, and the Value of Feminist Approaches to Understanding Them," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(3), pages 683-692, July.
    2. Meg A. Warren & Michael T. Warren, 2023. "The EThIC Model of Virtue-Based Allyship Development: A New Approach to Equity and Inclusion in Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 783-803, January.
    3. Olivier Germain & Amélie Jacquemin, 2017. "Positioning entrepreneurship studies between critique and affirmation. Interview with Chris Steyaert," Revue de l'Entrepreneuriat, De Boeck Université, vol. 16(1), pages 55-64.
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    5. Piet Naude, 2019. "Decolonising Knowledge: Can Ubuntu Ethics Save Us from Coloniality?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 23-37, September.
    6. Shaker A. Zahra & Mike Wright, 2016. "Understanding the Social Role of Entrepreneurship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 610-629, June.
    7. Richard Harrison & Claire Leitch & Maura Mcadam, 2015. "Breaking Glass: Toward a Gendered Analysis of Entrepreneurial Leadership," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(3), pages 693-713, July.
    8. Gavin Jack & Robert Westwood, 2006. "Postcolonialism and the politics of qualitative research in international business," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 481-501, August.
    9. André Spicer & Mats Alvesson, 2025. "Critical Management Studies: A Critical Review," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 446-483, January.
    10. Minka Woermann & Schalk Engelbrecht, 2019. "The Ubuntu Challenge to Business: From Stakeholders to Relationholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 27-44, June.
    11. Colette Henry & Lene Foss & Alain Fayolle & Elizabeth Walker & Susan Duffy, 2015. "Entrepreneurial Leadership and Gender: Exploring Theory and Practice in Global Contexts," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(3), pages 581-586, July.
    12. Gupta, Vipin & MacMillan, Ian C. & Surie, Gita, 2004. "Entrepreneurial leadership: developing and measuring a cross-cultural construct," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 241-260, March.
    13. Colette Henry & Lene Foss & Alain Fayolle & Elizabeth Walker & Susan Duffy, 2015. "Entrepreneurial Leadership and Gender : Exploring Theory and Practice in Global Contexts," Post-Print hal-02313288, HAL.
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