The Role of Gender in Entrepreneurial Leadership Skills Training


Page 214 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 43, 2016 

 

ABSTRACT 
 

In recent years, the number of women-owned firms has expand-
ed at 1½ times the rate of U. S. businesses overall.  But given 
this impressive trend, women-owned businesses still generate 
fewer profits and revenues than businesses owned by men, and 
employ fewer people than male-owned firms.  Prior research 
has offered several explanations for this trend including lower 
self-efficacy among women, type of firms owned by women, 
choice of industry in which they operate, work-life balance is-
sues for women, and limited networks.  A growing body of liter-
ature also suggests that in order to establish sustainable and 
growth oriented ventures, entrepreneurs must develop and uti-
lize leadership skills.  Yet, little research has been conducted to 
investigate whether these skills develop the same way for both 
genders when using traditional and technologically-driven ap-
proaches.  In this research, we grapple with the challenge of 
how to effectively develop entrepreneurial leadership competen-
cies among women.  Using a quasi-experimental design, we 
empirically test the relationship, based on gender, between ped-
agogy style and perceived leadership effectiveness.  The results 
suggest that the use of game-based simulations that emphasize 
role play may be particularly valuable for improving the per-
ceived effectiveness of women entrepreneurs.    

The Role of Gender  
in Entrepreneurial Leadership Skills Training   

 
Verona P. Edmond 

North Carolina A&T State University 
vpedmond@ncat.edu 

 
David Brannon 

Towson University 
dbrannon@towson.edu 

 
Alice Stewart 

North Carolina A&T State University 
acstewa1@ncat.edu 

 
Jacqueline Williams 

North Carolina A&T State University 
jacq@ncat.edu 

mailto:vpedmond@ncat.edu
mailto:dbrannon@towson.edu
mailto:acstewa1@ncat.edu
mailto:jacq@ncat.edu