Women Leaders and Entrepreneurial Orientation in High-Technology Industries. A Problem of Role Congruity Between Glass Ceiling and Paper floor?

Abstract While women entrepreneurship is slowly, but progressively, growing in high-technology industries, women still face considerable constraints in many dimensions of the entrepreneurial process. We theorize that these constraints are not related to women’s lack of capabilities and attitudes but rather to a perceived women’s lack of congruity with the entrepreneurial role. We propose that role congruity affects the relationship between the woman entrepreneur and internal stakeholders (e.g., employees), not only external ones, thereby dampening the entrepreneurial orientation of women-led firms. We suggest that women entrepreneurs address the perception of role incongruity by taking actions aimed at improving role congruity and reducing the importance of role-congruity assessment. The former type of action involves the adoption of an entrepreneurial bricolage strategic posture, while the latter involves support from entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs). Through a regression analysis on a sample of 463 Italian firms, we find that entrepreneurial orientation is lower in women-led ventures and that the adoption of entrepreneurial bricolage behaviors reduces this gender-related penalty; however, we do not find any effect on the part of support from ESOs.