WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: THE MESSAGE IN THE MEDIA—THE WORD ON WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS FROM 1996–2000
Nan
S. Langowitz, Babson College
Claudia Morgan, Brandeis University
Principal Topic
The purpose of this research was to examine the coverage of women entrepreneurs in the print media. The number of women-owned businesses has been increasing at twice the rate of male-owned businesses in the U.S., and women’s entrepreneurial experiences have received substantive (although comparatively under-representative) attention in major circulation print media. The framing principle for this study was that the media is a powerful force in shaping perceptions of reality. In this study, we identified the normative messages provided by print media coverage of women entrepreneurs and examined several themes with respect to the description and experience of women entrepreneurs.
We compared the content of business magazine profiles of women entrepreneurs with the findings of a survey on women entrepreneurs’ experiences and practices. We analyzed the extent to which the media-based messages were consistent with the experiences of survey subjects.
Method
The research design included three stages: (1) Identification of articles in the popular business press that profiled women entrepreneurs and their firms. Using a compiled database of all articles with the keyword phrase “women entrepreneurs” for the period of 1996 to 2000, 514 articles were found across popular academic, and professional periodicals. We categorized 133 of those articles as profiles in the popular press and found that 78 of those articles were to be found in seven high-circulation popular business publications. 45 of these articles were sub-sampled from the group for a minimum content and 500-word count threshold. (2) Content analysis was conducted on the 45 sub-sample articles to tag the presence of themes identified by as normative to the experience of women’s entrepreneurship. (3) These themes were compared to the subjective experiences and practices of a recently surveyed sample of women entrepreneurs. The survey sample included 64 women entrepreneurs who participated in research addressing the entrepreneurial experience.
Findings and Implications
This study identifies the main messages about women entrepreneurs and contrasts them with the attitudes and experience of practicing entrepreneurs. A number of themes could be substantiated as norms through this comparison while others remained to be examined in future research. The study thereby sheds light on how the business media shapes the perception of reality around women entrepreneurs and provides implications for the associated business community.
CONTACT: Nan Langowitz, Babson College, Center for Women’s Leadership, Babson Park, MA 02457; (T) 781-239-4496; (F) 781-239-5230; langowitz@babson.edu
2002 Babson College. All Rights Reserved. Last Updated March 2003.