IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/jumsac/313861.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Looking behind the fading feminist façade of #Girlboss

Author

Listed:
  • Kees, Cornelia

Abstract

This study investigates the media representation of female entrepreneurs in newspaper and magazine articles from 2014 to 2022. By employing a quantitative content analysis of 192 articles, the study examines dominant narratives, entrepreneurial identities, ethical behaviors, challenges depicted, and tone used across various mediums and countries, thereby addressing a gap in literature focused on single media or country contexts. Results indicate a predominantly positive portrayal of female entrepreneurship, often framed within a heroic narrative. Representations of entrepreneurial femininities are conspicuously underrepresented in the analyzed articles, with relational entrepreneurial femininity prevailing as the principal depiction. However, while ethical behaviors are more frequently highlighted than non-ethical ones, attributes of female entrepreneurs as innovative or genius are notably absent. The most commonly cited challenge is resource constraints. These insights suggest that while entrepreneurship remains a male-dominated concept in media, positive depictions of female entrepreneurs and their relevant skills are emerging, potentially inspiring and supporting future female entrepreneurs.

Suggested Citation

  • Kees, Cornelia, 2025. "Looking behind the fading feminist façade of #Girlboss," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 10(1), pages 70-94.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:jumsac:313861
    DOI: 10.5282/jums/v10i1pp70-94
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/313861/1/1920183485.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5282/jums/v10i1pp70-94?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robinson, Peter B. & Sexton, Edwin A., 1994. "The effect of education and experience on self-employment success," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 141-156, March.
    2. Selin Dilli & Sarah G. Carmichael & Auke Rijpma, 2019. "Introducing the Historical Gender Equality Index," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 31-57, January.
    3. Morazzoni, Marta & Sy, Andrea, 2022. "Female entrepreneurship, financial frictions and capital misallocation in the US," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 93-118.
    4. Susan Hanson & Megan Blake, 2009. "Gender and Entrepreneurial Networks," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 135-149.
    5. Sean Valentine & Terri Rittenburg, 2007. "The Ethical Decision Making of Men and Women Executives in International Business Situations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 71(2), pages 125-134, March.
    6. Xuemei Xie & Jiuchang Lv, 2018. "Female technology entrepreneurs: resource shortages and reputation challenges – a view of institutional support," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 379-403, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Isabel Grilo & Roy Thurik, 2008. "Determinants of entrepreneurial engagement levels in Europe and the US," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 17(6), pages 1113-1145, December.
    2. Leif Brändle & Helen Signer & Andreas Kuckertz, 2023. "Socioeconomic status and entrepreneurial networking responses to the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 111-147, January.
    3. Hsu, David H., 2007. "Experienced entrepreneurial founders, organizational capital, and venture capital funding," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 722-741, June.
    4. Elke Claessens & Dimitri Mortelmans, 2025. "Joint Physical Custody in Europe: A Comparative Exploration," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 41(1), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Zou, Lili Wenli & Chan, Ricky Y.K., 2019. "Why and when do consumers perform green behaviors? An examination of regulatory focus and ethical ideology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 113-127.
    6. Rubio-Andrés, Mercedes & Ramos-González, Mª del Mar & Sastre-Castillo, Miguel Ángel & Gutiérrez-Broncano, Santiago, 2023. "Stakeholder pressure and innovation capacity of SMEs in the COVID-19 pandemic: Mediating and multigroup analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    7. Huggins Robert & Thompson Piers, 2012. "Entrepreneurship and Community Culture: A Place-Based Study of Their Interdependency," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-36, January.
    8. Kirsten Burkhardt & Pascal Nguyen & Evelyne Poincelot, 2020. "Agents of change: Women in top management and corporate environmental performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1591-1604, July.
    9. Bernard Kwamena Cobbina Essel & Faizal Adams & Kwadwo Amankwah, 2019. "Effect of entrepreneur, firm, and institutional characteristics on small-scale firm performance in Ghana," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 9(1), pages 1-20, December.
    10. Backman, Mikaela & Karlsson, Charlie, 2013. "Who says life is over after 55? Entrepreneurship and an aging population," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 325, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    11. Khan, Haider, 2024. "Women’s Socially Embedded Capabilities and Development: A Theory-based Empirical Investigation," MPRA Paper 119908, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Kunwon Ahn & John V. Winters, 2023. "Does education enhance entrepreneurship?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 717-743, August.
    13. Thomas Leoni & Martin Falk, 2010. "Gender and field of study as determinants of self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 167-185, February.
    14. Jintong Tang, 2010. "How entrepreneurs discover opportunities in China: An institutional view," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 461-479, September.
    15. Dilmaghani, Maryam, 2021. "The gender gap in competitive chess across countries: Commanding queens in command economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 425-441.
    16. Charitomeni Tsordia & Dimitra Papadimitriou, 2015. "The Role of Theory of Planned Behavior on Entrepreneurial Intention of Greek Business Students," International Journal of Synergy and Research, ToKnowPress, vol. 4(1), pages 23-37.
    17. Thilde Langevang & Katherine V. Gough & Paul W. K. Yankson & George Owusu & Robert Osei, 2015. "Bounded Entrepreneurial Vitality: The Mixed Embeddedness of Female Entrepreneurship," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 91(4), pages 449-473, October.
    18. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Hayward, Mathew & Smyth, Russell & Trinh, Trong-Anh, 2023. "Crime, community social capital and entrepreneurship: Evidence from Australian communities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2).
    19. Lorraine Uhlaner & Roy Thurik, 2010. "Postmaterialism Influencing Total Entrepreneurial Activity Across Nations," Springer Books, in: Andreas Freytag & Roy Thurik (ed.), Entrepreneurship and Culture, chapter 0, pages 301-328, Springer.
    20. Aidis, Ruta & Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2008. "Institutions and entrepreneurship development in Russia: A comparative perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 656-672, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:jumsac:313861. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://jums.academy/en/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.