Technology-Based Female Entrepreneurs in São Paulo, Brazil

• In Event: Latin American Entanglements of Gender, Sexuality, Race, Ethnicity, Coloniality - III

Abstract

The paper presents preliminary research results about female technology based entrepreneurship, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The unit of analysis are entrepreneurs supported by the Program for Inovative Research in Small Businesses of the São Paulo Research Foundation (PIPE / FAPESP), between 2012 and 2017. It seeks to characterize the profile of women entrepreneurs in this segment, the motivations and the challenges underlying their propensity to start up, the management of the ventures, their strategies for funding and the relationship with stakeholders, undetsood as those who have a concern in the business, such as partners, employees, customers, suppliers, creditors etc. This is and interdisciplinary study that proposes the use of qualitative and quantitative approaches (survey, in-depth interviews, documentary analysis and systematic literature review) to analyze the profile and trajectory of the entrepreneurs supported by PIPE/FAPESP. The theoretical framework is built at the intersection of Organizational Studies, Social Studies of Science and Technology, and the literature on female entrepreneurship. We assume that the investigation of the the entrepreneurs' profile and their businesses' stories allowed a more accurate diagnosis of possible gender-related distortions and conflicts in the creation and establishment of start up firms, as well as the identification of patterns, strategies and coping mechanisms that can support projects, programs and public policies aimed at the promotion of gender equity in technology-based entrepreneurship.

Author

• Camila Dias Rigolin, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCAR, Brazil)