Babson College DIRI & Gordon Institute of Business Science Present the:
2026 Diana International Research Conference
Submissions Due: December 9, 2025
We are pleased to announce that the 2026 Diana International Research Conference will be held at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa from June 26–29, 2026, with the theme:
Transforming Futures: Women and Social Entrepreneurship in a Digital Age
Social entrepreneurship is a powerful pathway for women to shape the future, harnessing innovation while critically engaging with the social, ethical, climate and cultural dimensions of technological change. Rapid technological transformation, marked by the AI and digital revolution, enables social entrepreneurs and social mission-driven ventures to leverage new tools and platforms to expand opportunities, pursue innovations, and reduce barriers to solving social problems in education, employment, the environment, climate and healthcare. By bringing together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, we aim to generate knowledge and dialogue that will illuminate how women social entrepreneurs are transforming futures in a digitally interconnected world.
More specifically, invited topics may include but are not restricted to:
- Social entrepreneurship and digitalization: opportunities and challenges with innovation, technology, and AI; ways that women are leveraging AI to address grand societal challenges.
- Theories of women’s entrepreneurial activity: how do context-specific phenomena influence women’s social entrepreneurial activity? What are the limits of Western-centered entrepreneurship theory and Western-feminism for the African or Global South context?
- Inclusive ecosystems: the role of entrepreneurial ecosystems, networks, and institutions in enabling or constraining women, especially young women social entrepreneurs; the influences of finance and investment, policy, law and governance.
- Women as beneficiaries of social enterprises: the impact of institutions, policies and practices on their launch, start-up and growth of new social ventures, especially among young women in the Global South.
We encourage papers that explore new research ideas, adopt novel methodological approaches and contribute to theory development to help advance the field and pave the way for an exciting future research agenda for the Diana community. Authors are limited to authoring/co-authoring no more than two submissions and should expect to receive notification of acceptance by March 1, 2026. Full papers are due by April 20, 2026 and will be considered for “Best Paper Awards.”
About the Diana International Research Conference
Each year, the Diana International Research Conference brings together more than 100 scholars worldwide, providing a forum to share global research dedicated to gender and women’s entrepreneurship. Building on the foundation of excellence established by the Diana Project™, the Diana International Research Institute (DIRI) continues to cultivate a vibrant international research community with an expanded reach across continents, cultures and contexts, sharing knowledge and experience through dedicated books, journal articles and conferences. The Diana Project was established in 1999 by Professors Brush, Carter, Gatewood, Greene and Hart in partnership with ESBRI in Stockholm to provide a platform for research and scholarship focusing on women entrepreneurs and their business growth.
For questions about the conference, please contact us at dirc@babson.edu
2026 Conference Chairs
- Candida Brush, Babson College, U.S.
- Amanda Elam, Babson College, U.S.
- Diana Hechavarria, Babson College, U.S.
- Anastacia Mamabolo, GIBS, University of Pretoria
- Caren Scheepers, GIBS, University of Pretoria
- Ethne Swartz, Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University
Editorial Review Board
- Haya Al-Dajani MBSC, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Gry Alsos, Nord University, Norway
- Anne de Bruin, University of Auckland, New Zealand
- José Ernesto Amorós Espinosa, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
- Karen Hughes, University of Alberta, Canada
- Natanya Meyer, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Conference Sponsors
| Key Dates | |
|---|---|
| December 9, 2025 | Abstract Submissions Due 11:59 p.m. ET |
| March 16, 2026 | Notification of Decision Sent to Authors |
| April 1, 2025 | Registration Opens |
| April 10, 2026 | Doctoral Symposium Applications Due |
| April 20, 2026 | Full Paper Submissions Due |
| June 26–29, 2026 | Conference at GIBS, University of Pretoria |
| June 26, 2026 | Doctoral Symposium and Welcome Reception |
| June 27–28, 2026 | Academic Research Conference |
| June 29, 2026 | Impact Day (Open to Public) |
Thinking of Attending? Hear from our 2024 Participants!
Diana International Research Conferences began with the establishment of the Diana Project™ in 1999 by five professors—Candida Brush, Nancy Carter, Elizabeth Gatewood, Patricia Green, Myra Hart—to accelerate research about women entrepreneurs, their business growth, and access to capital. In partnership with ESBRI, the first conference was held in Stockholm, Sweden in 2003 with 20 scholars from 13 countries. Since then, the conferences have grown to be a major global forum for research on women's entrepreneurship, producing numerous books and special journal issues.
- 1999: The Diana Project is founded by Professors Brush, Carter, Gatewood, Greene, and Hart to focus on women's entrepreneurship, initially highlighting challenges in accessing growth capital.
- 2003: The first Diana International Research Conference is held in Stockholm, Sweden, with 20 scholars from 13 countries presenting their research.
- 2003–2019: The conferences become a bi-annual and later an annual event, held in different countries and focusing on various themes related to women's entrepreneurship.
- 2019: The conference is held at Babson College in Wellesley, MA, and the first Diana International Research Institute Impact Day is convened to focus on practical solutions for financing women entrepreneurs.
- Ongoing: The conferences have built a global research community and legitimized the field of women's entrepreneurship, supported by ongoing publications and academic partnerships
| Year | Conference Title | Location | Co-Chairs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Diana International Organizing Conference | Stockholm, Sweden | Diana Founders & Magnus Aronsson |
| 2003 | Diana International Organizing Conference | Stockholm, Sweden | Diana Founders & Magnus Aronsson |
| 2004 | Diana International Conference | Stockholm, Sweden | Diana Founders & Magnus Aronsson |
| 2006 | Diana International Conference | Stockholm, Sweden | Magnus Aronsson |
| 2007 | Diana International Conference | Madrid, Spain | Candida Brush & Anne de Bruin |
| 2008 | Advancing Women’s Entrepreneurship and Supporting the Growth of Women Owned Businesses | Belfast, Ireland | Colette Henry & Pauric McGowan |
| 2010 | Extending Women’s Entrepreneurship Scholarship in New Directions | Banff, Canada | Karen Hughes & Jennifer Jennings |
| 2012 | Women Entrepreneurs in the 21st Century | Perth, Western Australia | Alicia Castillo & John Watson |
| 2014 | Women’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Global Economy | Stockholm, Sweden | Magnus Aronsson, Friederike Welter & Colette Henry |
| 2015 | Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Women’s Entrepreneurship | Wellesley, Massachusetts, U.S.A. | Candida Brush |
| 2016 | Women Entrepreneurs and Technology; Women in Family Business | Bodo, Norway | Gry Alsos & Elisabet Ljunggren |
| 2017 | Women Entrepreneurs in High Growth Businesses: Programs, Practices and Policies | (Oct) Kansas City, Missouri | Candida Brush, Patti Greene, Amanda Bullough & Diana Hechavarria |
| 2018 | Women’s Entrepreneurship and Culture | Bangkok, Thailand | Uli Guelich, Amanda Bullough & Friederike Welter |
| 2019 | Women’s Entrepreneurship: Catalyzing Change and Innovation | Wellesley, Massachusetts, U.S.A. | Candida Brush, Lakshmi Balachandra, Angela Randolph & Amanda Elam |
| 2021 | Women and Family Entrepreneurship | Nice, France (on-line) | Andrea Calabro, Severine Leolarne, Adnane Maalaoui, Candida Brush & Smaiyra Million |
| 2022 | Digital Women’s Entrepreneurship | Dublin, Ireland | Maura McAdam, Regina Connolly, Candida Brush & Karen Hughes |
| 2023 | Exploring Diversity of Experiences and Impact | Wellesley, MA, USA | Candida Brush, William Gartner, Karen Hughes, Amanda Elam and Anita Shankar |
| 2024 | Women’s Entrepreneurship: Implications for Policy | Stockholm, Sweden | Candida Brush, Amanda Elam, Magnus Aronsson, Malin Malmstrom, Christine Woods, Friederike Welter |
| 2025 | Entrepreneurship at the Edge: Extending the Boundaries of Gender and Entrepreneurship | Auckland, New Zealand | Candida Brush, Amanda Elam, Diana Hechavarria, Christine Woods, Janine Swail, Anne de Bruin |
The Diana International Research Conference has resulted in numerous publications, including at least 13 special issues of academic journals and 12 edited volumes dedicated to gender and women's entrepreneurship.
Key journals and examples of special issues include:
- Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice: Multiple special issues have been published, including issues in 2006, 2007 (edited by de Bruin, Brush, and Welter), and 2012 (edited by Hughes & Jennings). The 2007 issue has over 4,000 citations.
- Small Business Economics: A special issue on women entrepreneurs and ecosystems was published in 2018 (edited by Edelman, Manolova, Brush, and Welter).
- Entrepreneurship and Regional Development: A special issue was published in 2012 (edited by Cooper and McGowan).
- Journal of Small Business Management: A special issue focusing on high-growth women's entrepreneurship was released in January 2019.
- Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal: A special issue titled “Catalyzing Change and Innovation in Women's Entrepreneurship” was forthcoming in 2021 (co-edited by Brush, Eddleston, Edelman, Manolova, McAdam, and Rossi).
- Venture Capital: An International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance: A 2018 issue on the theme “Women Entrepreneurs and Finance” was a notable outcome, with high article view counts. An earlier special issue (Volume 5, Issue 1) in 2003 also featured articles from the Diana Project.
- The Diana Project also led to the vision for the creation of the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship.
These publications are a significant legacy of the Diana Project, advancing research and theory on gender in entrepreneurship.