08832323.2011.591846
Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
A Place of Her Own: The Case for University-Based
Centers for Women Entrepreneurs
Mary Riebe
To cite this article: Mary Riebe (2012) A Place of Her Own: The Case for University-Based
Centers for Women Entrepreneurs, Journal of Education for Business, 87:4, 241-246, DOI:
10.1080/08832323.2011.591846
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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 87: 241–246, 2012
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ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online
DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.591846
A Place of Her Own: The Case for University-Based
Centers for Women Entrepreneurs
Mary Riebe
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Minnesota State University, Mankato, Mankato, Minnesota, USA
The author describes the benefits of university-based women entrepreneur centers as an educational and outreach strategy and argues for their establishment and support by universities
interested in educating women entrepreneurs and advancing women-owned businesses. Based
on extensive research on women business owners and firsthand experience with two such
U.S. university-based centers, the author describes their several advantages in meeting the
distinctive needs of women as entrepreneurs and learners. Providing examples of and rationales for the effectiveness of these programs, the author also makes a case for their potential
economic development benefits for the larger economy and community and contributions to
their sponsoring universities.
Keywords: education, entrepreneurs, university, women
In her famous essay A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf
(1929) argued that for their creativity to fully flourish, women
need an independent income and a room of their own. Over
the past 30 years, an impressive infrastructure of genderspecific public and private organizations has been developed
to provide women entrepreneurs with the information, support, and access to financial resources they have needed to
create what is now the fastest growing segment of the economy. It is estimated that there are somewhere between 9 and
10 million women-owned businesses in the country, making
up approximately 40–50% of all U.S. businesses and employing more than 27 million people, or more than all the
Fortune 500 companies combined. Between 1997 and 2011,
when the number of U.S. businesses grew by 34%, the number of women-owned businesses grew by more than 50%;
in 2005 alone, the number of new women-owned businesses
was outpacing the number of new men-owned businesses by 2
to 1 (American Express, 2011; Center for Women’s Business
Research, 2005b; Glaser, 2006; National Women’s Business
Council, 2004). Thus, a case for educational opportunities
designed to encourage and advance women’s entrepreneurship can be made on economic grounds alone.
But to build on this momentum this article argues that
women entrepreneurs also need a place of their own within
the nation’s universities. University-based programs and cen-
ters for women entrepreneurs are a relatively new but important addition to the educational support infrastructure for
women business owners. Although their number are few and
their focus and format vary, such programs undertake a range
of educational, networking, and research activities aimed at
undergraduate and graduate students and women learners
and practitioners from the larger community. Despite the remarkable success of government-sponsored women’s business centers and allied membership organizations in opening opportunities for women, ample research indicates that
female entrepreneurs still face prejudices and barriers specific to their gender (American Express, 2011; Center for
Women’s Business Research, 2001, 2005a, 2005b; Diana
Project, 2004; Greene et al., 2003; Kepler & Shane, 2007).
By offering a range of educational offerings that go beyond
the conventional business curriculum and format to directly
address the distinctive needs and barriers faced by women
entrepreneurs, centers such as the two examples described
below offer business educators and their institutions an additional and innovative way to advance their educational and
outreach missions and contribute to the economic development and vitality of their regions.
Correspondence should be addressed to Mary Riebe, 12686 Eagle Trail,
Deerwood, MN 56444, USA. E-mail: casla78@aol.com
The case made here for university-sponsored centers for
women entrepreneurs is based on a broad body of research on
TWO UNIVERSITY-BASED CENTERS FOR
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
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M. RIEBE
women entrepreneurs and learners, as discussed below, and
on the experience of two such centers founded in partnership
with community organizations and corporations also interested in encouraging the development and growth of womenowned businesses. The first of these, the Center for Women’s
Entrepreneurship (CWE) at Chatham University, was established with seed funding from the Lois Tack Thompson Fund
of the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Claude Worthington
Benedum Foundation. With a target market of startup and
existing women-owned businesses in the Pittsburgh area, the
center’s mission is to support and develop economic empowerment for women who own or wish to start a business, offering programs directed toward women-owned businesses
at all stages of the business cycle. In the first three years
of its operation, more than 300 women enrolled in CWE’s
four major programs, and more than 16,000 women attended
speaking engagements, sponsored events, and community
activities sponsored by the center.
The major educational programs offered by the center
included FastTrac programs, which train prospective and beginning women entrepreneurs to develop, evaluate, launch,
and grow their businesses, and an annual “Think Big” forum, which offers women business owners an opportunity
to network, discuss growth strategies, learn from successful
keynote speakers and panelists, and be inspired to expand
their personal and professional goals. CWE offerings also
included two mentoring programs: Peer-to-Peer Learning
Roundtables, which provide participants an opportunity to
learn successful business practices from their peers in facilitated monthly meetings, and Mentoring for Women Business
Owners, a program that matches women business owners
with seasoned, successful entrepreneur mentors in the region. By offering educational programs not generally available within university settings, the center was able to attract
nontraditional and lifelong adult learners beyond those interested in conventional university-level business education
programs.
Beyond these educational offerings, CWE’s outreach and
engagement with the community included collaborations
with other organizations also committed to expanding opportunities for women, thereby also increasing the university’s
institutional visibility and its access to new populations of potential learners. During its first three years, those partnerships
included alliances with the National Association of Women
Business Owners (NAWBO), the Women Business Network,
the African American Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Women Business Centers, the National Foundation
for Teaching Entrepreneurship, the Service Corps of Retired
Executives, the Women’s Economic Development Outreach
Tour, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Business Plan Alliance. More than a dozen local businesses also cosponsored
or participated in center activities, including UPS, 84 Lumber, First Commonwealth, and PPG. CWE participated in the
Coleman Foundation and the Hughes Charitable Foundation
elevator grant session at the 2007 U.S. Association for Small
Business and Entrepreneurship conference and was awarded
a grant to establish a campus-wide Entrepreneurship Club for
undergraduate and graduate students at Chatham. The center also engaged in outreach activities for girls, including its
support for the Girl Scouts Badges to Business program that
introduces girls to the world of business and, in conjunction
with Hurley Associates, Guardian Life Insurance Company,
and NAWBO, its hosting an annual Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Conference to encourage middle school and
high school girls to consider becoming business owners.
In addition to providing programs and building community partnerships similar to those at CWE, Metropolitan State
University’s Center for Women Entrepreneurs, founded with
seed money from Wells Fargo, also had the exclusive rights
in Minnesota to provide Women’s Business Enterprise National Conference (WBENC) Certification, the only nationally recognized educational program for training and certifying women-owned businesses as government suppliers. It
also launched the Minnesota chapter of the Women President’s Organization (WPO), a membership support organization of women presidents who have guided their businesses
to at least $2 million in gross annual sales or $1 million in
services. In conjunction with the University of Minnesota’s
School of Veterinary Medicine, the center also offered a
Smart Growth program for women interested in operating
their own veterinary clinics. In its first three years, the center
served more than 250 women in its educational and mentoring programs and more than 9,000 women through its
seminars and affiliated activities.
Feedback on these activities and programs at both universities was overwhelmingly positive, with 80–85% of respondents regularly reporting that offerings had not only met
but exceeded their expectations. Other measures of success
included yearly growth in the number of collaborating organizations and participants, a noteworthy percentage of returning participants, frequent referrals to friends and colleagues,
and ample anecdotal reports that the knowledge and support
gained from center programs had directly contributed to the
growth and success of participants’ businesses. Furthermore,
these programs also provided educational opportunities and
support to many women entrepreneurs who were contributing to the economic development of their communities but
were not interested in earning a university or business degree
or were operating at a scale or in industries typically not
addressed by university programs.
RATIONALE FOR WOMEN-CENTERED
ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
The rationale for creating entrepreneurship centers designed
specifically for women is based not only on economic and
institutional grounds, as significant as those are, but on considerable research showing that women entrepreneurs have
distinctive educational needs that presently can best be met in
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UNIVERSITY CENTERS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
a women-centered environment. Although a sizable body of
research over the past 30 years has found that men and women
business owners are more similar to each other in personality
traits than they are to the rest of working population, it has
also shown that women business owners tend to think and talk
about their businesses, view their leadership roles, and operate their businesses in ways markedly different than those
of their male counterparts (Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt,
2001; Greene et al., 2003; Weeks, 1994). In NAWBO’s
words, “Women think differently, manage differently, and
define success differently” (Center for Women’s Business
Research, 1994, p. 1). These differences argue strongly for
providing women with gender-specific educational opportunities and support services that fit their particular needs as
entrepreneurs and learners.
Ample research, for example, shows that women entrepreneurs, in comparison with their male counterparts, take
a more varied path to business ownership; are less likely to
have received conventional training in business skills; come
to entrepreneurship at an older age; have different business
goals, including being motivated more by personal than financial rewards; express greater concern for meeting their
combined responsibilities at work and home; are more likely
to seek outside advice; and have a stronger belief in the
value of business education (Center for Women’s Business
Research, 1994, 2001, 2005a, 2005b; Greene et al., 2003; Kepler & Shane, 2007; Merrill-Sands, Kickul, & Ingols, 2005;
Scherer, Brodzinski, & Wiebe, 1990). As demonstrated by
the enthusiastic response to the women-centered programs
offered by membership organizations and the centers discussed above, these characteristics of women entrepreneurs
make them not only appropriate but particularly eager candidates for nontraditional educational programs addressed
specifically to their business approaches and needs.
Furthermore, women entrepreneurs have been shown to
think, manage, and talk about their businesses in ways that are
rarely addressed or accommodated in traditional (and traditionally male) business education and forums. Research has
shown that women are more likely to view their work in terms
of values, beliefs, interpersonal connections, spirituality, and
family than their male colleagues. One study of business
owners’ motivations and management styles found that more
than half of the women interviewed emphasized intuitive, creative, right-brain thinking, whereas three-fourths of the men
emphasized logical, left-brain thinking, and that women’s
decision-making style was more whole-brained than men’s
(Center for Women’s Business Research, 1994). Researchers
have observed that women entrepreneurs’ management style
also demonstrates the centrality of relational connections in
women’s lives, and several have reported that many women
business leaders are motivated by a strong desire to empower others and serve the greater good of their communities (Fels, 2004; Hewlett & Buck, 2005; Millam, 2005;
Riebe, 2001). Multiple studies have found that the leadership style of women business owners tends to be more par-
243
ticipative or democratic and less autocratic or directive than
that of their male counterparts (De Bruin, Brush, & Welter,
2007; Greene et al., 2003; Hewlett & Buck, 2005; Robinson
& Lipman-Blumen, 2003). Research has revealed that such
women employ many of the elements of what some have
called postheroic leadership, which is less autonomous and
focused on individual achievement, utilizes a collaborative
process, and demonstrates emotional relational intelligence
(Fletcher, 2002). Indeed, feedback from participants in the
women-centered programs offered by the centers discussed
above often alluded to the relief they felt and the confidence they gained by hearing fellow women entrepreneurs
talk openly about their own work in such terms.
Research on adult women learners has identified gendered differences in learning styles that also support the
establishment of women’s entrepreneurship centers (Code,
1991; Hayes & Flannery, 2000; Pearson, 1992). Although
women have more than proven themselves as capable learners within traditional learning situations, ample evidence also
suggests that women’s preferred learning style or way of
knowing is more intuitive, subjective, and collaborative (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986; Flannery, 2002;
Hayes, 2001). This research shows that men and women
characteristically employ different ways of knowing and that
many women learn most powerfully from what Belenky et al.
have termed connected learning, which, in contrast to more
individualistic and adversarial forms of learning, is based
on an openness to new ideas and points of view. Although
much of the learning taking place within center programs,
as within traditional business education, is content-based, it
is also consciously geared toward the personal development
of learners and the promotion of social change, which in the
case of women, learning researchers point out, may call for
learning activities that help identify and challenge personal
and gender belief systems (Hayes, 2001; Hugo, 2000). The
positive responses of center participants directly affirm the
power and practical effectiveness of such connected learning,
in which knowledge is generated from and connected to their
lives and reality as women and entrepreneurs.
Also relevant to providing effective learning opportunities for women is the work of scholars in a number of
fields substantiating the power of storytelling in generating
and disseminating knowledge (e.g., Brooks, 2000; Brooks &
Edwards, 1997; Hayes & Flannery, 2000; Passerini, 1989;
Vaillant, 2002), which manifests itself in women’s oft-cited
eagerness to hear and share one another’s individual stories. Thus the presentations at conferences and gatherings
for women entrepreneurs and the mode of mentoring encouraged in women-centered programs most often take the
form not of abstract, didactic lessons, but of women’s own
stories—a format that is overtly discouraged in most maledominated educational and professional settings. The success
of women’s business centers and membership organizations
and the enthusiastic response to programs at the women entrepreneur centers described above demonstrate the efficacy
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M. RIEBE
of providing settings where women can talk about their own
businesses and management principles in their own terms,
of having a place of their own where they can discuss business issues in their own voice without apology or translation,
where they can talk about the challenges they share as women
without worrying whether their discourse conforms to masculine norms of leadership or professionalism.
Another way in which women-centered organizations are
ideally suited to support the success of women entrepreneurs
is by providing ample access to women role models, mentors,
and networks. Because women as a group are relatively new
to entrepreneurship, they have far fewer same-sex role models than do their male counterparts, and the few successful
businesswomen who do appear in the popular media are more
likely to be CEOs or other highly placed women in corporations than entrepreneurs. Yet, as Blake-Beard (2003) points
out, it is essential to women’s career development to see examples of how other women have effectively navigated their
careers and to hear stories of how other women are succeeding without sacrificing everything else in their lives. A survey
conducted by the National Foundation of Women Business
Owners found that although women are less likely than their
male counterparts to have had a mentor before opening their
business, they are more likely to consult outside sources regarding business management and growth and to seek help
from interpersonal networks, including nonexpert or informal mentors such as family members and other business
owners (Center for Women’s Business Research, 2001). Research has also shown that membership in an association or
network of other businesswomen has a highly significant effect on the profitability of women-owned businesses (Greene
et al., 2003). By publicizing and honoring the progress and
success of women business owners, such organizations also
provide women with the recognition that they need to succeed but, which, research tells us, they are less likely to
receive than men (Fels, 2004). Thus, women’s centers and
organizations can play an important role in the success of
women-owned businesses and their local economies by providing a place for successful women to develop networks and
share their expertise with other women.
RATIONALE FOR UNIVERSITY-BASED
CENTERS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
As noted previously, the effectiveness of and ongoing need
for women-centered entrepreneurship centers have already
been amply evidenced by the remarkable success of the current network of government-sponsored Women’s Business
Centers and membership organizations such as NAWBO and
the WPO. Yet, this article argues, university-based centers
for women entrepreneurs offer their own distinctive and considerable advantages and benefits for women learners, sponsoring universities, and local communities.
First, by virtue of their access to women during their
academic training as undergraduates and graduate students,
university-based centers can reach more women earlier in
their career paths than has been the case with other women’s
business centers. Research shows that a greater number of
younger than older women express interest in starting their
own businesses, but that older women are more likely than
younger women to actually do so (Neese, 2004). Providing
young women with encouragement, training opportunities,
and role models during their degree-seeking education can
help more younger women gain the confidence they need
and shorten the learning curve necessary to launch their own
businesses. And as noted previously, by not being limited
to a traditional business curriculum and format, centers can
also engage in outreach activities to girls and even younger
women, at the same time contributing to their university’s
recruitment efforts and visibility in the community.
Because university-sponsored centers for women entrepreneurs are affiliated with their business schools but not
directly tied to a single degree program, they can also attract students, alumni, and community members from a wide
range of fields and majors. This is particularly significant in
the case of women entrepreneurs, as women business owners have traditionally come from more varied backgrounds
than their male counterparts and are more likely to have a
liberal arts than a business or technical degree. Such a center’s university setting and interdisciplinary format allow it
to provide entrepreneurial learning opportunities for students
in other degree programs and professional schools who may
not be candidates for a traditional business education, such as
the veterinarians served by Metro State or women in art and
design who are interested in opening their own galleries or
studios. Even within most undergraduate business programs,
women students typically make up half of the students but
only a third of those majoring in entrepreneurship. The presence of a women’s center on campus offers entrepreneurship
educators an opportunity to attract greater numbers of current women students to the field and to aid their institution’s
recruitment of women students and of faculty interested in
entrepreneurship.
The visibility of a women’s center is also likely to inspire
more female business students majoring in fields such as
management or finance to consider starting their own businesses later in their careers, a growing phenomenon that has
received considerable notice in recent years (Hewlett & Buck,
2005; Merrill-Sands et al., 2005). A compelling argument
can also be made that entrepreneurship offers women several
advantages over management positions and may be a more
amenable career direction for many (Fels, 2004; Fletcher,
2005; Greene et al., 2003; Mattis, 2004; Scott, 1986; Still &
Timms, 2000). Women’s centers are uniquely positioned to
make that case and prepare women for it.
A women’s center also provides alumna and other women
business owners in the community with a place to find professional development opportunities and to volunteer their
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UNIVERSITY CENTERS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
services as role models and mentors to the next generation of women entrepreneurs. Anecdotal evidence from several universities has shown that university-affiliated women’s
mentoring programs and centers are particularly effective at
attracting successful women as mentors and participants because such programs appeal to those women’s own sense of
mission and of themselves as pioneers wanting to make the
path easier for those following them. This desire to give back
to their communities has been found to be a major motivator
of women in management and of women business owners
alike (Hewlett & Buck, 2005; Riebe, 2001).
Last, the academic affiliation of university-based women’s
business centers also gives them considerable credibility
among women seeking professional development options.
The programmatic offerings of these centers are firmly
grounded not only in present best practices but in the growing body of research on women’s development within a wide
range of academic fields. Such centers are ideally placed to
effectively integrate research, learning, and practice, to stimulate the aspirations of women, and to broaden the perspectives of their male colleagues. Unlike academic departments,
as Larson and Barnes-Moorhead (2004) point out, centers
“are flexible organizations that can [rapidly] change staffing
and programs in response to societal demands for new knowledge” (p. 4) so as to benefit their students, institutions, and
communities. University-based entrepreneurial centers offer sponsoring universities a powerful tool for community
outreach and opportunities to create new and mutually beneficial partnerships with local businesses and governmental
agencies, serving as “boundary-spanning organizations that
connect academic interests with external stakeholders” (Larson & Barnes-Moorhead, p. 2). As at the two institutions
discussed above, these benefits can also include new sources
of funding (from foundation grants, corporate sponsorships,
and private benefactors) and revenue from programmatic offerings.
CONCLUSION
In short, centers for women entrepreneurs such as those described here offer a model for re-envisioning and expanding
universities’ business offerings to better serve the needs of the
growing ranks of adult and lifelong learners and contribute
to the financial vitality of their communities. But even beyond these economic and institutional benefits, educational
equity requires that university business schools and outreach
programs develop new ways to provide female learners with
educational experiences that meet their particular learning
and professional needs. As argued previously, centers for
women entrepreneurs offer women learners gender-sensitive
educational activities and experiences that they are less likely
to find in most business school classrooms, including access
to mentors, role models, networking opportunities, and open
and free discussion of their concerns in terms and language
245
with which they are most comfortable. Many of the qualities and practices typical of women entrepreneurs, despite
having been touted in the business literature as hallmarks
of a leadership model particularly suited to present business
realities (Fletcher, 2002; Fondas, 1997), still are not generally valued or developed in conventional business programs,
where they tend to be seen as too subjective, personal, or even
unprofessional. Thus, women need safe places within U.S.
universities where they can not only receive the conventional
business knowledge they need but also challenge the gendered nature of contemporary definitions of leadership and
nurture those nontraditional skills and perspectives found to
be powerful indices of success for women entrepreneurs. Establishing entrepreneurship centers designed to help them do
so thus provides a new, innovative, and powerful opportunity
for U.S. universities and business educators to advance their
educational missions.
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Woolf, V. (1929). A room of her own. New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace.
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
A Place of Her Own: The Case for University-Based
Centers for Women Entrepreneurs
Mary Riebe
To cite this article: Mary Riebe (2012) A Place of Her Own: The Case for University-Based
Centers for Women Entrepreneurs, Journal of Education for Business, 87:4, 241-246, DOI:
10.1080/08832323.2011.591846
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ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online
DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.591846
A Place of Her Own: The Case for University-Based
Centers for Women Entrepreneurs
Mary Riebe
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:02 11 January 2016
Minnesota State University, Mankato, Mankato, Minnesota, USA
The author describes the benefits of university-based women entrepreneur centers as an educational and outreach strategy and argues for their establishment and support by universities
interested in educating women entrepreneurs and advancing women-owned businesses. Based
on extensive research on women business owners and firsthand experience with two such
U.S. university-based centers, the author describes their several advantages in meeting the
distinctive needs of women as entrepreneurs and learners. Providing examples of and rationales for the effectiveness of these programs, the author also makes a case for their potential
economic development benefits for the larger economy and community and contributions to
their sponsoring universities.
Keywords: education, entrepreneurs, university, women
In her famous essay A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf
(1929) argued that for their creativity to fully flourish, women
need an independent income and a room of their own. Over
the past 30 years, an impressive infrastructure of genderspecific public and private organizations has been developed
to provide women entrepreneurs with the information, support, and access to financial resources they have needed to
create what is now the fastest growing segment of the economy. It is estimated that there are somewhere between 9 and
10 million women-owned businesses in the country, making
up approximately 40–50% of all U.S. businesses and employing more than 27 million people, or more than all the
Fortune 500 companies combined. Between 1997 and 2011,
when the number of U.S. businesses grew by 34%, the number of women-owned businesses grew by more than 50%;
in 2005 alone, the number of new women-owned businesses
was outpacing the number of new men-owned businesses by 2
to 1 (American Express, 2011; Center for Women’s Business
Research, 2005b; Glaser, 2006; National Women’s Business
Council, 2004). Thus, a case for educational opportunities
designed to encourage and advance women’s entrepreneurship can be made on economic grounds alone.
But to build on this momentum this article argues that
women entrepreneurs also need a place of their own within
the nation’s universities. University-based programs and cen-
ters for women entrepreneurs are a relatively new but important addition to the educational support infrastructure for
women business owners. Although their number are few and
their focus and format vary, such programs undertake a range
of educational, networking, and research activities aimed at
undergraduate and graduate students and women learners
and practitioners from the larger community. Despite the remarkable success of government-sponsored women’s business centers and allied membership organizations in opening opportunities for women, ample research indicates that
female entrepreneurs still face prejudices and barriers specific to their gender (American Express, 2011; Center for
Women’s Business Research, 2001, 2005a, 2005b; Diana
Project, 2004; Greene et al., 2003; Kepler & Shane, 2007).
By offering a range of educational offerings that go beyond
the conventional business curriculum and format to directly
address the distinctive needs and barriers faced by women
entrepreneurs, centers such as the two examples described
below offer business educators and their institutions an additional and innovative way to advance their educational and
outreach missions and contribute to the economic development and vitality of their regions.
Correspondence should be addressed to Mary Riebe, 12686 Eagle Trail,
Deerwood, MN 56444, USA. E-mail: casla78@aol.com
The case made here for university-sponsored centers for
women entrepreneurs is based on a broad body of research on
TWO UNIVERSITY-BASED CENTERS FOR
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
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M. RIEBE
women entrepreneurs and learners, as discussed below, and
on the experience of two such centers founded in partnership
with community organizations and corporations also interested in encouraging the development and growth of womenowned businesses. The first of these, the Center for Women’s
Entrepreneurship (CWE) at Chatham University, was established with seed funding from the Lois Tack Thompson Fund
of the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Claude Worthington
Benedum Foundation. With a target market of startup and
existing women-owned businesses in the Pittsburgh area, the
center’s mission is to support and develop economic empowerment for women who own or wish to start a business, offering programs directed toward women-owned businesses
at all stages of the business cycle. In the first three years
of its operation, more than 300 women enrolled in CWE’s
four major programs, and more than 16,000 women attended
speaking engagements, sponsored events, and community
activities sponsored by the center.
The major educational programs offered by the center
included FastTrac programs, which train prospective and beginning women entrepreneurs to develop, evaluate, launch,
and grow their businesses, and an annual “Think Big” forum, which offers women business owners an opportunity
to network, discuss growth strategies, learn from successful
keynote speakers and panelists, and be inspired to expand
their personal and professional goals. CWE offerings also
included two mentoring programs: Peer-to-Peer Learning
Roundtables, which provide participants an opportunity to
learn successful business practices from their peers in facilitated monthly meetings, and Mentoring for Women Business
Owners, a program that matches women business owners
with seasoned, successful entrepreneur mentors in the region. By offering educational programs not generally available within university settings, the center was able to attract
nontraditional and lifelong adult learners beyond those interested in conventional university-level business education
programs.
Beyond these educational offerings, CWE’s outreach and
engagement with the community included collaborations
with other organizations also committed to expanding opportunities for women, thereby also increasing the university’s
institutional visibility and its access to new populations of potential learners. During its first three years, those partnerships
included alliances with the National Association of Women
Business Owners (NAWBO), the Women Business Network,
the African American Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Women Business Centers, the National Foundation
for Teaching Entrepreneurship, the Service Corps of Retired
Executives, the Women’s Economic Development Outreach
Tour, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Business Plan Alliance. More than a dozen local businesses also cosponsored
or participated in center activities, including UPS, 84 Lumber, First Commonwealth, and PPG. CWE participated in the
Coleman Foundation and the Hughes Charitable Foundation
elevator grant session at the 2007 U.S. Association for Small
Business and Entrepreneurship conference and was awarded
a grant to establish a campus-wide Entrepreneurship Club for
undergraduate and graduate students at Chatham. The center also engaged in outreach activities for girls, including its
support for the Girl Scouts Badges to Business program that
introduces girls to the world of business and, in conjunction
with Hurley Associates, Guardian Life Insurance Company,
and NAWBO, its hosting an annual Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Conference to encourage middle school and
high school girls to consider becoming business owners.
In addition to providing programs and building community partnerships similar to those at CWE, Metropolitan State
University’s Center for Women Entrepreneurs, founded with
seed money from Wells Fargo, also had the exclusive rights
in Minnesota to provide Women’s Business Enterprise National Conference (WBENC) Certification, the only nationally recognized educational program for training and certifying women-owned businesses as government suppliers. It
also launched the Minnesota chapter of the Women President’s Organization (WPO), a membership support organization of women presidents who have guided their businesses
to at least $2 million in gross annual sales or $1 million in
services. In conjunction with the University of Minnesota’s
School of Veterinary Medicine, the center also offered a
Smart Growth program for women interested in operating
their own veterinary clinics. In its first three years, the center
served more than 250 women in its educational and mentoring programs and more than 9,000 women through its
seminars and affiliated activities.
Feedback on these activities and programs at both universities was overwhelmingly positive, with 80–85% of respondents regularly reporting that offerings had not only met
but exceeded their expectations. Other measures of success
included yearly growth in the number of collaborating organizations and participants, a noteworthy percentage of returning participants, frequent referrals to friends and colleagues,
and ample anecdotal reports that the knowledge and support
gained from center programs had directly contributed to the
growth and success of participants’ businesses. Furthermore,
these programs also provided educational opportunities and
support to many women entrepreneurs who were contributing to the economic development of their communities but
were not interested in earning a university or business degree
or were operating at a scale or in industries typically not
addressed by university programs.
RATIONALE FOR WOMEN-CENTERED
ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
The rationale for creating entrepreneurship centers designed
specifically for women is based not only on economic and
institutional grounds, as significant as those are, but on considerable research showing that women entrepreneurs have
distinctive educational needs that presently can best be met in
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UNIVERSITY CENTERS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
a women-centered environment. Although a sizable body of
research over the past 30 years has found that men and women
business owners are more similar to each other in personality
traits than they are to the rest of working population, it has
also shown that women business owners tend to think and talk
about their businesses, view their leadership roles, and operate their businesses in ways markedly different than those
of their male counterparts (Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt,
2001; Greene et al., 2003; Weeks, 1994). In NAWBO’s
words, “Women think differently, manage differently, and
define success differently” (Center for Women’s Business
Research, 1994, p. 1). These differences argue strongly for
providing women with gender-specific educational opportunities and support services that fit their particular needs as
entrepreneurs and learners.
Ample research, for example, shows that women entrepreneurs, in comparison with their male counterparts, take
a more varied path to business ownership; are less likely to
have received conventional training in business skills; come
to entrepreneurship at an older age; have different business
goals, including being motivated more by personal than financial rewards; express greater concern for meeting their
combined responsibilities at work and home; are more likely
to seek outside advice; and have a stronger belief in the
value of business education (Center for Women’s Business
Research, 1994, 2001, 2005a, 2005b; Greene et al., 2003; Kepler & Shane, 2007; Merrill-Sands, Kickul, & Ingols, 2005;
Scherer, Brodzinski, & Wiebe, 1990). As demonstrated by
the enthusiastic response to the women-centered programs
offered by membership organizations and the centers discussed above, these characteristics of women entrepreneurs
make them not only appropriate but particularly eager candidates for nontraditional educational programs addressed
specifically to their business approaches and needs.
Furthermore, women entrepreneurs have been shown to
think, manage, and talk about their businesses in ways that are
rarely addressed or accommodated in traditional (and traditionally male) business education and forums. Research has
shown that women are more likely to view their work in terms
of values, beliefs, interpersonal connections, spirituality, and
family than their male colleagues. One study of business
owners’ motivations and management styles found that more
than half of the women interviewed emphasized intuitive, creative, right-brain thinking, whereas three-fourths of the men
emphasized logical, left-brain thinking, and that women’s
decision-making style was more whole-brained than men’s
(Center for Women’s Business Research, 1994). Researchers
have observed that women entrepreneurs’ management style
also demonstrates the centrality of relational connections in
women’s lives, and several have reported that many women
business leaders are motivated by a strong desire to empower others and serve the greater good of their communities (Fels, 2004; Hewlett & Buck, 2005; Millam, 2005;
Riebe, 2001). Multiple studies have found that the leadership style of women business owners tends to be more par-
243
ticipative or democratic and less autocratic or directive than
that of their male counterparts (De Bruin, Brush, & Welter,
2007; Greene et al., 2003; Hewlett & Buck, 2005; Robinson
& Lipman-Blumen, 2003). Research has revealed that such
women employ many of the elements of what some have
called postheroic leadership, which is less autonomous and
focused on individual achievement, utilizes a collaborative
process, and demonstrates emotional relational intelligence
(Fletcher, 2002). Indeed, feedback from participants in the
women-centered programs offered by the centers discussed
above often alluded to the relief they felt and the confidence they gained by hearing fellow women entrepreneurs
talk openly about their own work in such terms.
Research on adult women learners has identified gendered differences in learning styles that also support the
establishment of women’s entrepreneurship centers (Code,
1991; Hayes & Flannery, 2000; Pearson, 1992). Although
women have more than proven themselves as capable learners within traditional learning situations, ample evidence also
suggests that women’s preferred learning style or way of
knowing is more intuitive, subjective, and collaborative (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986; Flannery, 2002;
Hayes, 2001). This research shows that men and women
characteristically employ different ways of knowing and that
many women learn most powerfully from what Belenky et al.
have termed connected learning, which, in contrast to more
individualistic and adversarial forms of learning, is based
on an openness to new ideas and points of view. Although
much of the learning taking place within center programs,
as within traditional business education, is content-based, it
is also consciously geared toward the personal development
of learners and the promotion of social change, which in the
case of women, learning researchers point out, may call for
learning activities that help identify and challenge personal
and gender belief systems (Hayes, 2001; Hugo, 2000). The
positive responses of center participants directly affirm the
power and practical effectiveness of such connected learning,
in which knowledge is generated from and connected to their
lives and reality as women and entrepreneurs.
Also relevant to providing effective learning opportunities for women is the work of scholars in a number of
fields substantiating the power of storytelling in generating
and disseminating knowledge (e.g., Brooks, 2000; Brooks &
Edwards, 1997; Hayes & Flannery, 2000; Passerini, 1989;
Vaillant, 2002), which manifests itself in women’s oft-cited
eagerness to hear and share one another’s individual stories. Thus the presentations at conferences and gatherings
for women entrepreneurs and the mode of mentoring encouraged in women-centered programs most often take the
form not of abstract, didactic lessons, but of women’s own
stories—a format that is overtly discouraged in most maledominated educational and professional settings. The success
of women’s business centers and membership organizations
and the enthusiastic response to programs at the women entrepreneur centers described above demonstrate the efficacy
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M. RIEBE
of providing settings where women can talk about their own
businesses and management principles in their own terms,
of having a place of their own where they can discuss business issues in their own voice without apology or translation,
where they can talk about the challenges they share as women
without worrying whether their discourse conforms to masculine norms of leadership or professionalism.
Another way in which women-centered organizations are
ideally suited to support the success of women entrepreneurs
is by providing ample access to women role models, mentors,
and networks. Because women as a group are relatively new
to entrepreneurship, they have far fewer same-sex role models than do their male counterparts, and the few successful
businesswomen who do appear in the popular media are more
likely to be CEOs or other highly placed women in corporations than entrepreneurs. Yet, as Blake-Beard (2003) points
out, it is essential to women’s career development to see examples of how other women have effectively navigated their
careers and to hear stories of how other women are succeeding without sacrificing everything else in their lives. A survey
conducted by the National Foundation of Women Business
Owners found that although women are less likely than their
male counterparts to have had a mentor before opening their
business, they are more likely to consult outside sources regarding business management and growth and to seek help
from interpersonal networks, including nonexpert or informal mentors such as family members and other business
owners (Center for Women’s Business Research, 2001). Research has also shown that membership in an association or
network of other businesswomen has a highly significant effect on the profitability of women-owned businesses (Greene
et al., 2003). By publicizing and honoring the progress and
success of women business owners, such organizations also
provide women with the recognition that they need to succeed but, which, research tells us, they are less likely to
receive than men (Fels, 2004). Thus, women’s centers and
organizations can play an important role in the success of
women-owned businesses and their local economies by providing a place for successful women to develop networks and
share their expertise with other women.
RATIONALE FOR UNIVERSITY-BASED
CENTERS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
As noted previously, the effectiveness of and ongoing need
for women-centered entrepreneurship centers have already
been amply evidenced by the remarkable success of the current network of government-sponsored Women’s Business
Centers and membership organizations such as NAWBO and
the WPO. Yet, this article argues, university-based centers
for women entrepreneurs offer their own distinctive and considerable advantages and benefits for women learners, sponsoring universities, and local communities.
First, by virtue of their access to women during their
academic training as undergraduates and graduate students,
university-based centers can reach more women earlier in
their career paths than has been the case with other women’s
business centers. Research shows that a greater number of
younger than older women express interest in starting their
own businesses, but that older women are more likely than
younger women to actually do so (Neese, 2004). Providing
young women with encouragement, training opportunities,
and role models during their degree-seeking education can
help more younger women gain the confidence they need
and shorten the learning curve necessary to launch their own
businesses. And as noted previously, by not being limited
to a traditional business curriculum and format, centers can
also engage in outreach activities to girls and even younger
women, at the same time contributing to their university’s
recruitment efforts and visibility in the community.
Because university-sponsored centers for women entrepreneurs are affiliated with their business schools but not
directly tied to a single degree program, they can also attract students, alumni, and community members from a wide
range of fields and majors. This is particularly significant in
the case of women entrepreneurs, as women business owners have traditionally come from more varied backgrounds
than their male counterparts and are more likely to have a
liberal arts than a business or technical degree. Such a center’s university setting and interdisciplinary format allow it
to provide entrepreneurial learning opportunities for students
in other degree programs and professional schools who may
not be candidates for a traditional business education, such as
the veterinarians served by Metro State or women in art and
design who are interested in opening their own galleries or
studios. Even within most undergraduate business programs,
women students typically make up half of the students but
only a third of those majoring in entrepreneurship. The presence of a women’s center on campus offers entrepreneurship
educators an opportunity to attract greater numbers of current women students to the field and to aid their institution’s
recruitment of women students and of faculty interested in
entrepreneurship.
The visibility of a women’s center is also likely to inspire
more female business students majoring in fields such as
management or finance to consider starting their own businesses later in their careers, a growing phenomenon that has
received considerable notice in recent years (Hewlett & Buck,
2005; Merrill-Sands et al., 2005). A compelling argument
can also be made that entrepreneurship offers women several
advantages over management positions and may be a more
amenable career direction for many (Fels, 2004; Fletcher,
2005; Greene et al., 2003; Mattis, 2004; Scott, 1986; Still &
Timms, 2000). Women’s centers are uniquely positioned to
make that case and prepare women for it.
A women’s center also provides alumna and other women
business owners in the community with a place to find professional development opportunities and to volunteer their
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UNIVERSITY CENTERS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
services as role models and mentors to the next generation of women entrepreneurs. Anecdotal evidence from several universities has shown that university-affiliated women’s
mentoring programs and centers are particularly effective at
attracting successful women as mentors and participants because such programs appeal to those women’s own sense of
mission and of themselves as pioneers wanting to make the
path easier for those following them. This desire to give back
to their communities has been found to be a major motivator
of women in management and of women business owners
alike (Hewlett & Buck, 2005; Riebe, 2001).
Last, the academic affiliation of university-based women’s
business centers also gives them considerable credibility
among women seeking professional development options.
The programmatic offerings of these centers are firmly
grounded not only in present best practices but in the growing body of research on women’s development within a wide
range of academic fields. Such centers are ideally placed to
effectively integrate research, learning, and practice, to stimulate the aspirations of women, and to broaden the perspectives of their male colleagues. Unlike academic departments,
as Larson and Barnes-Moorhead (2004) point out, centers
“are flexible organizations that can [rapidly] change staffing
and programs in response to societal demands for new knowledge” (p. 4) so as to benefit their students, institutions, and
communities. University-based entrepreneurial centers offer sponsoring universities a powerful tool for community
outreach and opportunities to create new and mutually beneficial partnerships with local businesses and governmental
agencies, serving as “boundary-spanning organizations that
connect academic interests with external stakeholders” (Larson & Barnes-Moorhead, p. 2). As at the two institutions
discussed above, these benefits can also include new sources
of funding (from foundation grants, corporate sponsorships,
and private benefactors) and revenue from programmatic offerings.
CONCLUSION
In short, centers for women entrepreneurs such as those described here offer a model for re-envisioning and expanding
universities’ business offerings to better serve the needs of the
growing ranks of adult and lifelong learners and contribute
to the financial vitality of their communities. But even beyond these economic and institutional benefits, educational
equity requires that university business schools and outreach
programs develop new ways to provide female learners with
educational experiences that meet their particular learning
and professional needs. As argued previously, centers for
women entrepreneurs offer women learners gender-sensitive
educational activities and experiences that they are less likely
to find in most business school classrooms, including access
to mentors, role models, networking opportunities, and open
and free discussion of their concerns in terms and language
245
with which they are most comfortable. Many of the qualities and practices typical of women entrepreneurs, despite
having been touted in the business literature as hallmarks
of a leadership model particularly suited to present business
realities (Fletcher, 2002; Fondas, 1997), still are not generally valued or developed in conventional business programs,
where they tend to be seen as too subjective, personal, or even
unprofessional. Thus, women need safe places within U.S.
universities where they can not only receive the conventional
business knowledge they need but also challenge the gendered nature of contemporary definitions of leadership and
nurture those nontraditional skills and perspectives found to
be powerful indices of success for women entrepreneurs. Establishing entrepreneurship centers designed to help them do
so thus provides a new, innovative, and powerful opportunity
for U.S. universities and business educators to advance their
educational missions.
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