Rethinking innovation in light of women entrepreneurship

Abstract

Framing of the research. Women empowerment and innovation are deemed an absolute priority in many countries. As a matter of fact, they had been included among the 17 sustainable development goals. Despite the common understanding that progress cannot occur regardless inclusivity, prior literature was being somewhat aloof on this matter. As the result, the research corpus seems mostly established on a sort of patriarchal knowledge, favoring a male-inspired stereotyping of the innovation narrative. Purpose of the paper. This study contributed to extend the conversation on innovation by investigating the phenomenon using the lenses of cultural dynamics and women entrepreneurship. Methodology . Using a large-scale cross-sectional dataset related to the year 2021, drawn from Eurostat and World Bank, hypotheses were tested by means of the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) linear regression method. Results . Our findings confirmed that innovation is more likely to occur when the country scores high in indulgence and there is a large number of women in business. Research limitations. As a cross-sectional analysis, the study did not capture over-time dynamics. Managerial implications . Inclusivity and well-being accelerate progress and foster innovation. Originality of the paper . The paper challenged the extant narrative of innovation by proposing an alternative gender-based view of the process.