Gender Differences in Perceived Business Success

Gender Differences in Perceived Business Success and Profit Growth Among Family Business Managers Yoon G. Lee • Cynthia R. Jasper • Margaret A. Fitzgerald Published online: 25 September 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract Using data from the 1997–2000 National Family Business Surveys (NFBS), this study investigated the effect of gender on business success and profit growth among family businesses. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) results indicate that all else being equal, female managers perceived their businesses as more successful than male managers, and they reported more profit growth between 1996 and 1999 than male managers. The results of the dummy variable interaction approach also show that a differential response existed in profit growth over time between female and male managers in relation to health status, business liabilities, business size, and whether the business was home-based. This study concludes that there are many distinct differences between male and female managers in business performance. Keywords Business success Family businesses Female manager Gender differences Profit growth Introduction According to the Small Business Administration (2002), between 1997 and 2002, the number of women-owned businesses grew at a faster rate than the number of U. S. businesses overall. In 2002, women owned 6.5 million nonfarm businesses in the United States and generated $939.5 billion in business revenues (U.S. Census Bureau 2002). Nearly 85% of all businesses owned by women are sole proprietorships (SCORE 2009). Consequently, more and more women have become managers of their family businesses and women managers play an important role in the economy and industry of the United States