Women´s entrepreneurship in transition economies such as the Czech Republic

The main aim of this study is to provide an overview of the approaches, forces and attitudes toward women´s entrepreneurship in transition economies, in particular in the Czech Republic, using comparative analysis and descriptive statistics. Entrepreneurial activity is believed to be a fundamental force in the transformation of societies and economies of former communist countries towards free markets and democracy. The democratization of Central and Eastern Europe brought with it a new economic force, the female entrepreneur, which has seen more and more women starting, owning, and managing significant numbers of small businesses. However, little attention is actually paid to gender differences between entrepreneurs. Moreover, the social context inherited from the former socialist period appears to affect both the attitudes and behaviour of entrepreneurs, of men and women alike, and the attitudes of society at large towards entrepreneurship. This paper summarizes the scientific approaches to research in the field of women´s entrepreneurship in transition economies and represents the initial phase of a project aimed at developing successful businesswomen in the Czech Republic.