Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and critically analyse the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial motivations theories in an Irish context. The paper examines potential differences in motivational factors for entering entrepreneurship between men and women, with a particular emphasis on the distinction between push and pull factors, but also with respect to other social factors such as being a parent, marital status or age.Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws upon data obtained from a national survey of 832 entrepreneurs undertaken in Ireland in 2003/2004. This survey is based on a sample of 3,498 Irish entrepreneurs, which was predominantly constructed using theKompass Directory2001and the majority of the city and county enterprise boards throughout Ireland. The analysis relies on ordinal logistic modelling to examine the impact of gender and other social factors on entrepreneurial motivations.Findings: The paper shows that there is a strong gender effect on some motivational factors, but that gender itself needs to be examined along with other social factors in order to understand differences in motivations. In particular, marital status, being a parent and/or age, as well as their interaction with gender, are useful in explaining differences in pathways into entrepreneurship for men and women.Originality/value: Motivations and gender have been widely debated in the international literature on entrepreneurship, but relatively little is known about gender and entrepreneurship in an Irish context. This paper seeks to address this gap. The results will be useful to other researchers in the field of gender and entrepreneurship, as well as practitioners and business support agencies.

What happens when we focus primarily on violence as a central question—either within the gender regime approach or by making violence regime an approach in itself? The article first interrogates gender regimes theoretically and empirically through a focus on violence, and then develops violence regimes as a fruitful approach, conceptualizing violence as inequality in its own right, and a means to deepen the analysis of gender relations, gender domination, and policy. The article is a contribution to ongoing debate, which specifically and critically engages with the gender regime framework.

Purpose: – This paper aims to challenge the myth of risk-averseness among women entrepreneurs and analyses risk in the context of gender. It explores risk perceptions and examines the relationship between the concept of risk and women’s socially attributed roles.Design/methodology/approach: – This paper adopts a qualitative approach, where ten Irish women business owners were interviewed, that encouraged them to talk about their entrepreneurial experiences. The research design aimed to elicit data concerning how gender and the socio-economic context influenced risk.Findings: – Risk is shown as a gendered concept which needs to be widened to suit the experiences of women entrepreneurs and the influences of the gendered expectations of care dictated by the socio-economic environment.Practical implications: – Risk as a concept needs to be expanded to go beyond financial risk. The different types of risk encountered by women should be addressed by policy to promote a further growth of women-led enterprises and support those considering self-employment.Originality/value: – The paper develops an understanding of risk among women entrepreneurs in their socio-economic context. It challenges the viewpoint of seeing women entrepreneurs as risk-averse and thus leading to low-growth prospects for their business ventures.

Measuring violence against women raises methodological questions, as well as the wider question of how to understand violence and locate it in relation to a societal context. This is all the more relevant given that measurement of violence against women in the EU has made an interesting phenomenon apparent, the so-called ‘Nordic Paradox’, whereby prevalence is higher in more gender equal countries. This article examines this phenomenon by exploring a range of factors—methodological, demographic and societal—to contextualise disclosed levels of violence. The analysis makes use of a multilevel analytic approach to take into account how macro and micro levels contribute to the prevalence of violence. The intercepts are then used to illustrate how taking these into account might provide an alternative ranking of levels of violence against women in EU countries. The results show that the ‘Nordic Paradox’ disappears—and can be undone—when factors at individual and country levels are considered. We conclude that the ‘Nordic Paradox’ cannot be understood independently from a wider pattern of violence in society, and should be seen as connected and co-constituted in specific formations, domains or regimes of violence. Our results show that the use of multi-level models can provide new insights into the factors that may be related to disclosed prevalence of violence against women. This can generate a better understanding of how violence against women functions as a system, and in turn inform better policy responses.

This paper examines how entrepreneurial parents in Ireland negotiate their work and family roles, drawing upon a national survey of women and men entrepreneurs, to ascertain the degree to which entrepreneurship facilitates a more equitable sharing of domestic and caring tasks. Relatively few studies have examined familial and domestic task allocation in the context of entrepreneurship, as opposed to employment. The results suggest that mothers (and not fathers) adopted flexible working strategies; took on a disproportionate responsibility for caring and domestic labour; and experienced greater role conflict. Far from contradicting the prevailing findings of gender and employment issues, the study validates the gendered patterns of divergence between men and women and illustrates how they extend into entrepreneurship. Fathers worked significantly longer hours; their career trajectories were typically continuous, in full-time work, while mothers had more fragmented working patterns, reflecting absences for caring and adjustments such as part-time or working from home. It is still mothers, rather than fathers, who feel responsible for childcare arrangements and this imposes time constraints on their pursuit of entrepreneurship. The study points to the need for policy interventions to encourage entrepreneurship alongside co-parenting through childcare provision/subsidies and equal treatment in access to family-related leave.