Gender Diversity and Entrepreneurship Development: The Nigeria Perspective

Abstract

This work explored gender differences attributed to the motivators a group of entrepreneurs in a Nigerian city have in opting to run their own business. It uses the existing theoretical framework of push and pulls factors to determine the motivation for male and female entrepreneurs to be in business and explore the potential gender differences that may exist within the entrepreneurial motivations. The study used a mixed research approach by bringing in qualitative and inductive reasoning. The study found that males were significantly different from females in their reasons for starting a business; as one example, more female entrepreneurs expected to enjoy their jobs compared with the men even though many of them expressed that they do not have other satisfying jobs. The results of this research work identified some differences which are peculiar to only Nigerian entrepreneurs; they should not be used to infer equivalent gender differences in other countries except where these studies are replicated.