Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and entrepreneurship is of critical importance to women because it provides a means to becoming self-sufficient, in charge of ones own career path, and as a way to rise about the glass ceiling of the corporate world. Women who perceive themselves as having the necessary skills and knowledge to start their own companies have a higher likelihood of starting a business than those who do not. Therefore, it is important to understand the training needs and perceptions regarding the efficacy of entrepreneurship training programs specifically targeted to women.
The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of selected demographic characteristics and business related variables on perceptions of entrepreneurship training effectiveness among women and to compare the perceptions of training effectiveness by whether or not the participants were business owners.
This study was conducted through an analysis of archival data collected from participants in the Women in Business workshops offered by an entrepreneurship institute in a College of Business at a large research institution located in the southeastern portion of the United States. Findings revealed there were very positive perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the program on the part of most participants, both business owners and non-business owners. However, analysis of qualitative data collected in the study identified issues and important factors not found in the quantitative data. Some of those factors included importance of familial support and the role of a female mentor.
Based on the findings, the researcher concluded that having a female mentor is important to all Women in Business attendees as is support from family members. The researcher recommended that mentoring, both in terms of finding a female mentor and becoming a mentor for other women preparing to become entrepreneurs, become a central component of the Women in Business training program.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04212011-091948 |
| Date | 26 April 2011 |
| Creators | Carter, Carol A. |
| Contributors | Wiley-Patton, Sonja, Johnson, Earl, Verma, Satish, Machtmes, Krisana, Burnett, Michael F. |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04212011-091948/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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