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The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of gendered communication on women's behavioral intentions regarding nonprofit and for-profit entrepreneurship. Women represent half of the U.S. workforce, but only about one third of all American entrepreneurs are women. Feminists have argued that because entrepreneurship is largely understood as

The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of gendered communication on women's behavioral intentions regarding nonprofit and for-profit entrepreneurship. Women represent half of the U.S. workforce, but only about one third of all American entrepreneurs are women. Feminists have argued that because entrepreneurship is largely understood as a masculine activity, women — who are predominantly socialized to espouse a feminine gender role — are less likely to become entrepreneurs. Previous scholarship and the particular theoretical lens of social feminism suggest that communication about entrepreneurship that is congruent with a feminine gender role would lead to the recruitment of a greater number of women entrepreneurs. Findings of the current study, however, suggested the opposite, providing support for poststructuralist feminist theory. Women who viewed a feminine entrepreneurship recruiting brochure about entrepreneurship reported themselves to be more feminine and less likely to report intentions to become entrepreneurs than women who viewed a masculine entrepreneurship recruiting brochure. These findings suggested that feminine communication may prime women to think of themselves as feminine, which may then lead them to view themselves as not masculine enough to be entrepreneurs. The applications of these findings stretch beyond engaging more women in entrepreneurship and also extend to scholarship that investigates gender's effects on women's pursuit of other masculine careers, including those in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Until the larger discourse on entrepreneurship changes to be inclusive of femininity, it is unlikely that strategies that feminize entrepreneurial activity in controlled situations will have an effect on changing the patterns of women's entrepreneurial intentions.
ContributorsIffert, Audrey (Author) / Montoya, Mitzi M. (Thesis advisor) / Rund, James (Thesis advisor) / Niemczyk, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
The advertising industry plays a crucial role in how ideals and norms are established in United States society. Recent work is revealing the negative impact advertisements can have on self-esteem and self-image, especially for women. Unrealistic body-types, often created through photo editing, continue to contribute to eating and emotional

The advertising industry plays a crucial role in how ideals and norms are established in United States society. Recent work is revealing the negative impact advertisements can have on self-esteem and self-image, especially for women. Unrealistic body-types, often created through photo editing, continue to contribute to eating and emotional disorders. Such fabricated ideals hinder the progress of social and economic justice for women. This exploratory study investigates whether images of women in traditionally male-dominated roles can weaken sexist attitudes and whether less sexism and highly sexist groups differ in image processing. Participants who scored high or low on the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory were exposed to a set of images of females in the female-dominated occupation of waitress and females in the male-dominated occupation of construction while measuring their neural activity using EEG. Participants complete the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory before and after the experiment. P3 oddball effects are measured for each participant with the hypothesis that the High Sexism group will view female construction workers with a higher oddball effect than the low sexism group. With 38 participants, there is a significant difference between the groups with individuals scoring low on the ASI showing a greater difference between the waitress and construction worker images compared to individuals scoring high on the ASI. Further, exposure to these images did not significantly reduce ASI scores in either group.
ContributorsOstendorf, Tasha (Author) / Swadener, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015