Academic Entrepreneurship – Gendered Discourses and Ghettos

Authors

  • Ylva Fältholm Luleå University of Technology
  • Lena Abrahamsson Luleå University of Technology
  • Eva Källhammer Luleå University of Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242010000100004

Keywords:

academic entrepreneurship, discourse, gender, entrepreneurial ghettos, gender mainstreaming.

Abstract

In this article, based on texts on academic entrepreneurship as well as on interviews with teachers and researchers at two Swedish universities, we explore how global and local discourses of academic entrepreneurship are constructed and gendered. How can gender mainstreaming interventions be introduced in the arena academic entrepreneurship? We show that the entrepreneurial discourse is met by both counteracting and contributory discourses in academia. We also show that texts promoting entrepreneurship pictures of men address both women and men, while pictures of women are only targeted to women, often found in ‘entrepreneurial ghettos’ and conceptualized as in need of support, as less risk-willing and less willing to commercialize their research. A problem addressed in this article is how to design gender mainstreaming interventions without reproducing such stereotypes. We believe the solution is not gender neutrality, but to move back and forth between liberal feminist and more critical constructionist approaches. .

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Author Biographies

Ylva Fältholm, Luleå University of Technology

Deparment of Human Work Sciences, PhD, Associate Professor

Lena Abrahamsson, Luleå University of Technology

Department of Human Work Sciences, PhD, Professor

Eva Källhammer, Luleå University of Technology

Department of Human Work Sciences, PhD student

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Published

2010-03-22

How to Cite

Fältholm, Y., Abrahamsson, L., & Källhammer, E. (2010). Academic Entrepreneurship – Gendered Discourses and Ghettos. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, 5(1), 51–63. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242010000100004

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Section

Research Articles