Masculinities and Leadership in Entrepreneurial Teams

Robson, Angus and Petrylaite, Edita (2015) Masculinities and Leadership in Entrepreneurial Teams. In: Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) 2015 Conference, 11 – 12 November 2015, Glasgow, UK.

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Abstract

This paper analyses the relationship between leadership and masculinities in the context of an entrepreneurial team. It sets out a conceptual basis for understanding the links between gender and leadership in a way which transcends binaries. The term ‘masculinities’ here is formulated as a plural concept, recognising that many different versions of masculinity are available and that particular performances of masculinity are highly variable (Connell, 1995).

Previous research into the relationships between gender and leadership and between gender and entrepreneurship has tended to rely on binary views of gender and leadership, contrasting masculinity with femininity, and leader with followers. These dichotomies have been explained on the basis of agentic and communal traits. There is an opportunity to contribute to gender and leadership research by exploring more nuanced and complex ideas of performance of gender and the relationship between performance of gender and perceptions of leadership. Two areas of literature are explored here which are not normally considered together: hegemonic and plural masculinities, and shared leadership in teams. Combining these literatures enables new understandings of the links between gender and leadership as richly textured and variable responses to particular social situations.

An empirical research project is planned to explore these themes in the context of an all-male entrepreneurial team. An interpretive methodology combining ethnography with semi-structured interviews will be employed to gather and analyse data through thematic narratives. This methodology is based in hermeneutics and will account for performances of leadership and masculinity as embodied and situated in communities.

The paper contributes with a conceptual basis for understanding the links between gender and leadership in an entrepreneurial team in a way which transcends binaries, by focusing on masculinities as plural and nuanced, and on leadership as shared and mutual. This allows exploration of the links between gender and leadership as richly textured and variable responses to particular social situations, in this case, in the context of an all-male entrepreneurial team.

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• Masculinities and Leadership in Entrepreneurial Teams. (deposited 12 Feb 2016 13:58) [Currently Displayed]
  • Masculinities and leadership in entrepreneurial teams. (deposited 15 Feb 2016 10:21)

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