The effect of gender and social sources of information on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition

Master Thesis

The Effect Of Gender And Social Sources Of Information On

Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition

MSc Business Administration

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Track

Giovanni Khoury

Student number: 10825010

Supervisor: Dr. Roel Van Der Voort

Submission date: August 31, 2015

Word count: 12,319

Statement of originality

This document is written by Giovanni Khoury who declares to take full responsibility for

the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document are original and that no

sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in

creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of

completion of the work, not for the contents.

Acknowledgments

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisor Dr. Roel Van Der

Voort who was supportive, patient and helpful throughout the process of my thesis. His

guidance and feedback were essential to finalize the project.

As well, a special thank goes to all the entrepreneurs that took the time and participated

in the survey, which yielded interesting data for the research.

In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to Christelle Medawar, my fiancée, who

supported me morally to get through with this thesis.

Finally, I would like to thank all the other people who answered my questions, provided

tips and helped me overcome small struggles.

Abstract

The study of opportunity recognition from a gender perspective received till date little attention from researchers. This paper explores the effect of the interaction of both gender and four social sources of information associated to opportunity (Industry network, family and friends, professional conventions and mentors) on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. A questionnaire was sent to a total of 76 Lebanese entrepreneurs equally distributed between female and male, who recently established a business in Lebanon which has a traditional yet westernized culture. An analysis of the data collected through the quantitative questionnaire yielded findings that are consistent with prior research about the effect of social sources of information on opportunity recognition. Nevertheless, the study is distinct from prior research because it highlights the effect of family and friends as a significant source of information to identify new entrepreneurial opportunities. Moreover, the results indicate the importance of the interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with the several sources of information. The interaction with gender has a significant effect on opportunity recognition for two sources which are mentors and professional conventions. On the other hand, the interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with family and friends and industry networks has a significant effect on opportunity recognition. Finally, the research provides implications for organizers of professional conventions and staff that assign mentors to protégé. In such situations, gender must be taken into consideration as it may affect the information received by the entrepreneur and that will support him or her to identify new ventures.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

1

2. Literature review

3

2.1 Entrepreneurship ... 4

2.2 Women entrepreneurship ... 6

2.3 Opportunity recognition in the entrepreneurial process ... 8

2.4Sources of information ... 9

Conferences and workshops ... 11

Mentors ... 13

Family members and close friends ... 15

Informal Industry Networks ... 16

3. Methodology

18

3.1 Sampling ... 18

3.2 Measures ... 20

4. Results

23

4.1 Demographics ... 23

4.2 Type of business and years of experience ... 24

4.3 Correlation and reliability measures ... 25

4.4 Test of hypotheses ... 26

5. Discussion

32

6. Conclusion

42

7. References

44

1

1. Introduction

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds” Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626)

This influential quote from Francis Bacon may be interpreted in several ways nevertheless it certainly sheds light on the importance of opportunity and its availability around men. However, this quote was brought up many centuries ago and it reveals an important point, the dominance of man. Nowadays, the discovery of opportunities is not anymore a feature of a wise man. As well, women are playing an important part in exploiting opportunities and changing the world. The rise of women entrepreneurship is taking place all over the world. Men are not anymore the only driver of the development of economies. On the other hand, women are participating to this development with their male counterpart. In some countries of the world, women entrepreneurship is building momentum more than in others. The subject is gaining interest especially in the Middle East region (Chamlou, Klapper & Muzi, 2008). Arab countries are distinct in their economics, social lives and history but they have many common characteristics like language, religion and cultural identity. Like many regions in the world, the Middle Eastern Arab countries are witnessing a significant advancement in women entrepreneurship. But women entrepreneurship is understudied despite the fact that businesses owned by women engage in the creation of jobs and wealth for economies all over the world (Brush, De Bruin & Welter, 2009). Moreover, in the Middle East women entrepreneurship is underestimated and affected by several stereotypes (Chamlou et al., 2008).

In entrepreneurship, whether related to any gender, opportunity recognition is an important element of the entrepreneurial process (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000). Moreover,

2 information has an important role in the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition process (Shane, 2000). In order to identify business opportunities, entrepreneurs rely on several sources that provide them adequate information that may lead to the identification of an opportunity. One of these sources that have been proven by research to be a beneficial source of information to determine business opportunities are social networks (Ozgen and Baron, 2007). People around the entrepreneur with whom he or she has a contact with are an important source of information that can support the entrepreneur to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities (e.g., Singh, 2000; Singh, Hills, Hybels & Lumpkin, 1999). Entrepreneurs are in contact with family and close friends, informal industry networks, mentors and people at conferences and seminars which may affect their recognition of business opportunities (Ozgen and Baron, 2007). Despite the importance of the topic, the process of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition studied by Shane (2000) is overlooked from a gender perspective (De Bruin, Brush & Welter, 2007).

Socialization differs significantly between male and female entrepreneurs (DeTienne & Chandler, 2007). As well, information received by women is restricted due to the negative self-perception of women in traditional societies that relate women to the household role (Fletcher, 2006). Moreover, women have interrupted work periods which affect their career advancement. This interruption also affects the business networks they create, therefore, the information they receive from the working place and networks differs from those of the male (Blau, Ferber & Winkler, 2002; Aldrich, 1989). This research will focus on whether there is a difference between female and male entrepreneurs in the Middle East, specifically in Lebanon, a westernized country which still has a traditional culture. This region is interesting for the study due to the fact that significant disparities between the two genders remain considerable.

3 Particularly, the study will look at possible differences between the entrepreneurs in their reliance on their social networks as sources of information. Moreover, the impact of the social sources previously discussed by Ozgen and Baron (2007) on opportunity recognition will be examined from a Lebanese context. It is possible that the effect of social sources on opportunity recognition is influenced by the gender of the entrepreneur. Therefore, the research question is formulated as follow: Does the interaction of social networks and gender affects opportunity recognition among Lebanese entrepreneurs?

The study is divided into various parts. First, it consists of literature review regarding entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship, opportunity recognition and social sources of information. The goal of the first part is to build up relevant knowledge about the topic and to explain the development of the hypotheses. The second part consists of the methodology, explanation of the survey, measures and data collection means. Moreover, the results part discusses the data collected. Furthermore, the discussion part follows, and it aims to explain the findings. In addition, judgments about the topic are given, limitations of the study provided and possible future research proposed. Finally, the answer to the question is provided in the conclusion.

2. Literature review

This section of the paper commences with a review of several literatures that are fundamental for the study. It starts with entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurship theories. Second, opportunity recognition and its importance in the entrepreneurial process are discussed. In addition, different social sources of information are explained. Each of the essential elements that are listed in the study is considered separately in the following sections.

4

2.1 Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship became a buzzword in the last five years according to Daniel Isenberg, a former professor of entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School and the creator of the entrepreneurship ecosystem project at Babson Executive Education. He mentioned that people can interpret the word in many ways and it became very confusing to understand what it really means (Vaccaro, 2013). But despite the confusion in its definition, entrepreneurship is a powerful tool and driver of the development and progress of economies. It empowers the creation of jobs and innovation, enhances the standards of living and boost trade in countries around the world (Clark, 2013).

From an academic point of view, the topic has been studied for many years and given attention from many scholars, though there is a lack of a generally accepted definition or theory of entrepreneurship. Many definitions are available and they describe entrepreneurship and who is an entrepreneur. According to Drucker (1985) the first time the word entrepreneur was utilized, was by Jean-Baptiste Say around the year 1800. Jean-Baptiste Say, mentioned that “The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.” Furthermore, Drucker (1985) mentioned that entrepreneurs are individuals who look for change and take the initiative to exploit it. Finally, Drucker (1985) stated that a small sized business doesn’t have to be necessarily entrepreneurial and in the event it is, it does not have to be innovative. On the other hand, Schumpeter (1934) stated that an entrepreneur is an innovative person who destabilizes the way of doing things by creating a new combination that leads to new products and services, new processes, new markets or new supply sources. These new combinations are catalysts of the economic development of a country. Furthermore, the first researcher to inquire the personality of the entrepreneur was McClelland’s (1961). On the other hand, Aldrich (1999) studied entrepreneurship for its effect

5 on the social advancement. Kirzner (1997) described entrepreneurship as “a mechanism through which temporal and spatial inefficiencies in an economy are discovered and mitigated.” Moreover, Venkataraman (1997) stated that “entrepreneurship involves the nexus of two phenomena: the presence of lucrative opportunities and the presence of enterprising individuals.” Lastly, Shane and Venkataraman (2000) describe entrepreneurship as “an activity that involves the discovery, evaluation and exploitation of opportunities to introduce new goals and services, ways of governing markets, processes, and raw materials through organizing efforts that previously had not existed”.

Research on entrepreneurship has focused on more than just definitions related to the process itself and to the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs could be either female or male, thus gender is an important element of entrepreneurship. The topic of entrepreneurship from a gender perspective attracted many researchers. Gender and entrepreneurship face several differences and contradictions in empirical findings and instructions. Some studies suggest that there are little differences in traits and needs of entrepreneurs based on their gender (e.g., Buttner and Rosen 1989; Chrisman et al. 1990; Riding and Swift 1990). On the other hand, other studies propose that male and female entrepreneurs have remarkable distinctness in characteristics, demands and experiences (e.g., Sexton and Bowman-Upton 1990; Belcourt et al. 1991). Women are getting more involved in entrepreneurial endeavors. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is facilitating the engagement of women in entrepreneurial activities through mentoring, funding means such as crowd-funding platforms, venture capitals and angel groups (Clark, 2013).

In the upcoming section, theories of women entrepreneurship will be reviewed, as entrepreneurship from a gender perspective is a main point of this study.

6

2.2 Women entrepreneurship

The definition of a woman entrepreneur according to Buttner and Moore (1997) is an individual who takes advantage of the knowledge and resources she possesses to establish or expand a business opportunity. Furthermore, the female entrepreneur must be engaged in the management of the venture, possesses at least half of the business and has been in operations for at least one year (Buttner and Moore, 1997).

Ventures owned by women are one of the most rapid growing entrepreneurial populations in the world and they participate in the creation of jobs and wealth in most economies (Brush, De Bruin, and Welter, 2009). The participation of women entrepreneurs to national economies is increasing around the world and it is also remarkable in regions like the Middle East (Chamlou et al., 2008). Even though women entrepreneurship has many advantages and is booming around the world, the topic still faces many obstacles. The number of women entrepreneurs is a minority in most of the world but according to the “Gender, Equality and Development Report 2012” conducted by the World Bank, the lowest share is in the Middle East and North Africa Region. In this region, entrepreneurship faces challenges and barriers that are gender based and influenced by cultural and social norms (Mathew, 2010 ; Muhammad and Basheer, 2010). Moreover, women entrepreneurship is undervalued in the region and is influenced by several stereotypes about the region related to war, religion and politics (Chamlou et al., 2008).

The low number of women entrepreneurs in the region is caused by several factors. First, work and social relations are determined by a patriarchal traditional structure. In the Middle East, the perception that a working woman is the result of a husband incapable of supporting the family financially remains, since society relates women to household activities and motherhood. This attitude toward working women is not favorable for female entrepreneurship

7 (Chamlou et al., 2008; Metcalfe, 2008). In addition, obstacles for women entrepreneurs are the slow, complicated and costly procedures for opening a business. As well, the uncertainty to recover lost assets after failure are problematic for both male and female entrepreneurs but the latter face more challenges in overcoming those issues (Chamlou et al. 2008). Moreover, women entrepreneurship in the Middle East region is restrained by the fact that men still direct most of the employment related perks, and business credits (Metcalfe, 2008). Finally, according to Chamlou et al. (2008), business and investment laws in the Middle East do not take into consideration genders unlike other areas were gender based laws influence the interpretation and implementation of business laws.

Despite the importance of the topic, it is still understudied and not given attention from researchers and the media (Baker, Aldrich and Nina, 1997; De Bruin, Brush, and Welter, 2006). According to De Bruin, Brush, & Welter (2007), the most well-known topics in empirical research regarding women's entrepreneurship are financing, networks and social capital. In addition, research on performance related to growth, growth strategies, and issues of success are common. As well, studies about individual characteristics and behaviors, such as entrepreneurial orientation, self-efficacy, intentions and motivations, decision models, and perceptions are diffused. Other studies researched particular groups of women entrepreneurs such as African-American women business owners, Indian women entrepreneurs and husbands and co-entrepreneur. Finally, De Bruin et al. (2007) mentioned that a specific and popular theory that is neglected from a gender perspective is the process of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition studied by Shane (2000).

In the next section, theories of opportunity recognition which is the dependent variable used in this study will be reviewed.

8

2.3 Opportunity recognition in the entrepreneurial process

There is a large number of definitions of entrepreneurship in academic publications, but two notable scholars that relate the entrepreneurship concept to opportunities are Shane and Venkataraman (2000). According to them, entrepreneurship comprises of exploring, assessing and employing opportunities in order to bring out new services and products, new markets and processes, raw materials and new methods of organization. Furthermore, they mention that the area of entrepreneurship needs to examine “the sources of opportunities, the processes of discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities; and the set of individuals who discover, evaluate and exploit them” (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000, p.218). Entrepreneurial opportunity is defined by Shane (2003) as “a situation in which a person can create a new means-end framework for recombining resources that the entrepreneur believes will yield a profit” (Page 16). The previous definition induces that entrepreneurial opportunities consist of two factors that interact, being the individual and resources or in other words the environment (Fuduric, 2008). In line with theory of entrepreneurship related to resource, Alvarez & Busenitz, (2001) mentioned that “entrepreneurs have individual specific resources that facilitate the recognition of new opportunities and the assembling of new resources for the emerging firm”. Among the most important resources are the monetary, human and social of which the entrepreneur can take advantage, establish and develop new businesses (Aldrich, 1999).

Opportunity recognition is an important feature of the entrepreneurial process and is considered the first step in which entrepreneurs identify a certain opportunity. The discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities is affected by the prior to dissemination of knowledge and information in society (Shane, 2000 ; Shane 2003). According to Shane (2000) information has an important role in the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition process. Moreover, he mentions that information is distributed unequally among individuals and that entrepreneurs

9 have access to different types of information. Furthermore, prior knowledge is specific to the individual who discovers an opportunity and it has multiple sources (Venkataraman, 1997). In addition, Sarasvarthy et al (1998) mentioned that different opportunities are discovered by different people because they collect and interpret information differently.

The next section discusses theories of social sources of information and takes into consideration four sources relevant to the study which are family and friends, informal business networks, mentors, and business conferences and workshops.

2.4 Sources of information

Two reasons lead individuals to discover business opportunities. The first one is psychological factors associated with the cognitive ability of persons. The second is non-psychological factors related to the ability of the individual to access information (Fuduric, 2008). Information that is beneficial for the entrepreneur can be acquired from several sources. First, it can be collected through human capital which could be general such as education, work experience, and entrepreneurial experiences (DeTienne and Chandler, 2007). As well, specific human capital of an industry can be a useful source of information, such as prior knowledge of about ways of serving markets, prior knowledge of markets and prior knowledge of customers’ problems (Shane, 2000).

Secondly, the social capital of the entrepreneur is an important source of information. Hanifan (1916) was the pioneer in describing social capital. He mentioned that “if an individual comes into contact with his neighbour and they with other neighbours there will be an accumulation of social capital, which may immediately satisfy his/her social need and that might also bear a social potentiality sufficient to the substantial improvement of living conditions in the whole community. The community as a whole will benefit by the cooperation of all its parts, while the

10 individual will find in his associations the advantages of the help, the sympathy, and the fellowship of his neighbours” (Hanifan 1916, p 130). Social capital is the collective value of social networks that can benefit the entrepreneur. The social networks or in other words people around the entrepreneur with whom he or she has a contact with are an important source of information that can support the entrepreneur in recognizing entrepreneurial opportunities (e.g., Singh, 2000; Singh, Hills, Hybels & Lumpkin, 1999). There are several characteristics of social networks that support individuals in discovering opportunities. One of them is the extent of diversity of networks. Repetitive information can be avoided by having diversity in the members of a given social network (Aldrich, 1999). Moreover, the strength of ties among individuals of a social network may impact information received by the entrepreneur. Ties within a network may be classified as absent, weak and strong (Granovetter, 1973). Whether they are strong or weak, ties may benefit the entrepreneur. Strong ties among individuals boost trust between them, thus leading to more credible information (Casson, 1982). One of the strong ties is family and friends of the entrepreneur (Granovetter, 1973). On the other hand, weak ties can also be a source of information for the entrepreneur because through these weak channels, he or she may be able to receive knowledge that is not provided through the strong ties (Singh et al., 1999). Moreover, the entrepreneur’s ability to connect with widespread social networks is essential to achieve successful entrepreneurial opportunity recognition (Ardichvili & Cardozo, 2000).

Social networks are as important for women as for men, but there is an asymmetric distribution of information between genders. One of the causes of this imbalance is that women are socialized differently than men and tend to have different kinds of social networks (DeTienne & Chandler, 2007). As the collective value of social network create the social capital, prior knowledge and information acquired through social capital may differ between women

11 and men. Therefore the entrepreneurial opportunity discovery between the two genders may also be distinct (DeTienne and Chandler, 2007 ; Brush et al. 2009).

There are many social sources of information, but this research will discuss the four sources studied by Ozgen & Baron (2007).These social sources of information for the entrepreneurs are professional forums such as conferences and workshops, experienced mentors, family and friends, and informal business networks that include customers, suppliers, employees of financial institutions and colleagues that the entrepreneur meets during his career before establishing his business (Ozgen & Baron, 2007). The four elements will be discussed further in the upcoming section and hypotheses will be formulated.

Conferences and workshops

Business conventions and workshops are a source of information for entrepreneurs who are in search for new trends and advancement in their area of expertise (Ozgen & Baron, 2007). According to Ozgen and Baron (2007), conferences and seminars have a positive impact on opportunity recognition, through providing entrepreneurs with relevant information that is useful to identify business opportunities. As part of these business related events, networking activities play a basic and fundamental role. As well, these activities are important in other events such as industry associations, clubs, alumni meeting and social clubs (Sonnenberg, 1990). In these different events, networking actions may benefit individuals and entrepreneurs who attend them by providing them with resources, knowledge and new opportunities. They may also reinforce already established relations (Sonnenberg, 1990).

Networking exercises differ among males and females. The two genders have different behaviors while networking and have distinct needs from these activities as well. First, networking for men is initiated in order to increase utility and it is considered as useful and

12 practical. On the other hand, women undertake networking activities to get social benefits (Vinnicombe and Colwill, 1996). Vinnicombe and Colwill (1996) said: “…to see networks from a

utilitarian perspective is to see the instrumental value of every interaction. To see networks from a social perspective is to receive another very different kind of gift ‐ that of friendship and support. Women, the literature suggests, tend to be particularly adept at giving and receiving these gifts in the context of networking. Men, seeing networks as utilitarian, are more likely to receive their utilitarian benefits. Women, seeing them as social, may reap mainly social rewards” (p. 90). Moreover, the activities of women are influenced by the confidence placed in other

people or in other words the building of trust (Farr-Wharton & Brunetto, 2007). As well, women entrepreneurs are not as good in networking activities as men entrepreneurs are. Women have more formally constructed networks as opposed to men entrepreneurs which limits the amount of information they can receive from these events that may lead to the recognition of business opportunities (Smeltzer and Fann 1989 ; Verhuel and Thurik, 2001).

Besides the disparity in networking activities between the two genders, there is also an imbalance in the presence of women in business related events in the Middle East region. The attendance of women in entrepreneurship and business conferences is low in the Middle East both as general attendees, speakers and entrepreneurs. In an interview conducted on March 25th_{, 2015 with Racha Ghamlouch, the speakers and entrepreneurship relations manager at} ArabNet1 _{she stated that the attendance of women to the ArabNet’s conventions and} workshops in each of the Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is still very low compared to the male presence. She further mentioned that attendance of women to conferences organized in Beirut from year 2012 to year 2015 was respectively 26%, 31%, 40%,

1 _{ArabNet is the leading hub for digital professionals and entrepreneurs, and conferences and workshops} organizer in the Middle East

13 and 37% of the total attendance. The numbers show a progress but the number of men is still higher than that of the women. Moreover, the percentage of women speakers is also low. Since 2010 the percentage of women speakers for ArabNet conferences in all of the Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is at 17% of total speakers. Finally, she mentions that only 20% of total pitches were done by female entrepreneurs. These numbers shows that entrepreneurship and business related conventions in the Middle East and Lebanon are still dominated by men. This domination covers general attendance, speakers and entrepreneurs pitches. Taking into consideration the crucial role of professional events as a source of information for entrepreneurs, the imbalance of gender and the distinction in their networking activities during these events, this research proposes the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis A1: Interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with attending conferences and

workshops has an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

Null Hypothesis A0 is as follow: Interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with attending

conferences and workshops does not have an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

Mentors

Another social source that has a role in providing the entrepreneur with beneficial information for opportunity recognition is professional mentors (e.g. Ozgen and Baron, 2007 ; St-Jean and Tremblay, 2011). A mentor is the person with more experience who advises and counsels the mentee or protégé on career support and personal development. (Ragins and Scandura, 1999). The relationship established between the mentor and the mentee results in learning advantages for the mentee (Wanberg et al., 2003) who can also be an entrepreneur (Sullivan, 2000).

14 Entrepreneurs may increase their alertness to business opportunities through the use of information they can gain from their mentor. Mentors play an important role in shaping the perception of entrepreneurs regarding market information and in providing them guidance (Ozgen and Baron, 2007). Mentoring relationships between the mentor and the protégé could be affected by many factors. Firstly, the level of experience of the mentor has an influence on the relationship. This experience has an impact on the career progress and on psychosocial mentoring (Allen and Eby, 2004). Secondly, the combination of gender has an impact on mentorship relations. The efficacy of the relationship between the mentor and his or her protégé is affected by the gender of both actors (Allen and Eby, 2004). Moreover, the role of gender in such relationship has an effect on several recognized benefits received by the protégé. These benefits may be related to career advancement, psychosocial reasons, and providing a good example to the protégé (Sosik and Godshalk, 2000). Females receive fewer advantages than men from relationships with male mentors. As well, relationships with male mentors are more difficult to cope with and direct (Morrison & Glinow, 1990; Noe, 1988).

In order to obtain a mentor both genders have obstacles, but within this concern females perceive and face more barriers than men (e.g. McKeen and Burke, 1989 ; Noe, 1988 ; Ragins and Cotton, 1991). Moreover, Ragins and Cotton (1991) mention that women have less favorable formal opportunities to access mentorship support. As well, in their relationships, male put a lower emphasis on support between persons and intimacy compared to females (Feldman, 1999). Furthermore, it is easier for women to initiate a relationship with a female mentor than with a male mentor (cf. Clawson and Kram, 1984 ; Kram 1985).

According to these reviews, the following hypotheses are proposed:

Hypothesis B1: Interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with receiving support from a

15

Null Hypothesis B0 is as follow: Interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with receiving

support from a professional mentor does not have an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

Family members and close friends

Family members and close friends are a social source that may provide entrepreneurs with information leading to the identification of business opportunities (Ozgen and Baron, 2007). According to Ozgen and Baron (2007), despite being a social source of information, family and friends are not a strong source of information for entrepreneurs to identify business opportunities as informal industry networks are. Such difference is present between these two sources because family members and friends lack information and knowledge related to the industry that interests the entrepreneur. In addition, family and close friends are considered a strong tie within a network (Granovetter, 1973). Different literatures consider that strong ties among individuals enhance trust between them therefore it leads to creating more trustworthy information. Entrepreneurs may benefit from both strong and weak ties within their network (Koller, 1988; Casson, 1982).

In a conservative Middle East context, family plays an important role and has distinct characteristics. According to Metcalf’s (2006) review of international development reports (UNDP,2003; World Bank, 2003a, 2003b) gender position in Middle Eastern countries is defined by four factors. This research focuses on two factors that are:

- The individual does not take a central role in society but his or her family does. - Men are considered the sole or main supporters of the family.

The central role of the family applies also to Lebanon which is considered a developing yet westernized country in the Middle East region. In the Lebanese society, family plays a central

16 role and is given more value than the individual himself. This is due to the collectivist nature of the Lebanese culture which promotes strong ties among family members and people behaviors are affected by obligations and norms (Sidani, 2002). Moreover, in the Middle East there is still a perception that a working woman is a reflection of a husband that is not able to support the family financially and therefore society relate women to household and motherhood roles (Chamlou et al., 2008; Metcalfe, 2008). Particularly, Lebanese women entrepreneurs feel pressured to comply with cultural values and take lead in the management of households. As well, they considered coping with family and work-life a tough challenge but they are able to keep a balanced life (Jamali, 2009).

According to the literature reviewed above, family has a central role in Middle Eastern societies and it may have the potential to provide useful information to entrepreneurs. Moreover, women have strong ties in the family and have an essential role as mothers. This research will propose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis C1: Interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with having discussion with family

members has an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

Null Hypothesis C0 is as follow: Interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with having

discussions with family members does not have an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

Informal Industry Networks

Another source that is a beneficial supply of information for entrepreneurs that affect the discovery of business opportunities is informal industry networks. Such industry networks consist of individuals like colleagues, customers, suppliers and employees who work in financial companies with whom the entrepreneur was in contact before establishing his or her company

17 (Ozgen and Baron, 2007). The broader the informal industry network of the entrepreneur is, the better chances there are that he or she could gather appropriate information (Johansson, 2000).

In Arab countries, women participation in economies is increasing and such increase is significant in countries that possess large numbers of labor but limited resources such as the Lebanon, than in nations having rich resources and a lack in labor (UNDP, 2003 ; UNFM, 2004). Despite the advancement of women participation in economies, national cultures in Middle Eastern countries are strongly influenced by religion. The main religion of the Middle East being Islam, it affects individual subject positions and managerial practices. Islam greatly defines relations in the economic, identity and social context (Tayeb, 1997). It defines as well the family roles and gender (Tayeb, 1997). Moreover, in Islamic cultures the strong gender positions affect the development of women’s careers (Metcalfe, 2006).

In addition, women entrepreneurship in the Middle East region is constrained because male still dominate the workplace and they control the benefits related to work (Metcalfe, 2008). As well, women face social and organizational barriers in the labor market in addition to restriction of mobility that cause a downtrend in their career advancement (Metcalfe, 2008). Moreover, a barrier to career development for women in the region is their motherhood role and their association to the household (Chamlou et al. 2008). Finally, interrupted work periods of women affect their career advancement and the networks they create. Therefore, this interruption period distinguishes the information women entrepreneurs receive out of their networks from that received by their male counterpart (Blau, Ferber & Winkler, 2002; Aldrich, 1989). This research proposes the following hypothesis:

18

Hypothesis D1: Interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with having discussions with

members of the informal industry network has an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

Null Hypothesis D0 is as follow: Interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with having

discussions with members of the informal industry network does not have an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

3. Methodology

3.1 Sampling

In order to test the hypotheses previously formulated, a questionnaire has been sent through emails and in some situations it was completed by myself through telephone and face to face structured interviews. The content of the survey is in English and it was translated into French especially for 4 entrepreneurs that preferred to answer in French, taking in consideration that it is the second language in Lebanon.

The intent of the questionnaire is to measure the awareness of Lebanese male and female entrepreneurs towards entrepreneurial opportunities. Moreover, the survey poses questions regarding the extent to which four social sources (mentors, family and close friends, professional conventions and informal industry networks) provided entrepreneurs with essential information that supported them to discover new ventures. The data collected enables me to analyze the interaction between the gender of the entrepreneur and each of the four sources in order to test the four hypotheses mentioned in the previous section.

19 The participants are identified through several organizations that empower entrepreneurship in Lebanon. These organizations are: “Potential” which is a for profit initiative in the Middle east that supports entrepreneurs and individuals to develop business skills and startup businesses, “WE Initiative” is an initiative by the “Banque Libano Canadian that aims at the empowerment of women entrepreneurs, “Women Entrepreneurship Program” at the American University of Beirut, Tomorrow Youth Program, and finally, participants were identified through ArabNet, the biggest conference and hub for entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, the survey was sent to entrepreneurs existing in my Linkedin network.

The survey has been sent to a total of 126 entrepreneurs 63 female and 63 male. Out of the total 126 entrepreneurs, 76 replied (60 %reply rate). Participants in the research are Lebanese entrepreneurs both female and male who have established a business in Lebanon in any industry within a maximum of two years of completing the survey. This timeframe was chosen because the research is retrospective in nature and entrepreneurs completing the survey already established their business, thus they need to have a fresh memory in order to answer the different questions and provide adequate answers. Moreover, participants must be over 18 years old, which is the legal working age in Lebanon. The questionnaire was sent via email containing a short explanation of the research. A reminder was sent after seven working days to participants who didn’t reply and a second reminder followed in an additional seven working days. Finally, a thank you email has been sent to participants who completed the survey.

The questionnaire included questions with a clear meaning therefore participants were able to understand what is required from them and provide reliable answers. The questionnaire was designed to be short and do not take more than 10 minutes to be completed. Therefore, it was less time consuming for participants to reply, especially that most of the entrepreneurs have

20 busy schedules. In addition, participants in the survey were assured anonymity. Their contacts details and name were not required. Data collected is confidential and it is only used for the purpose of this research and nowhere else. Participants interested in the results of the study would be able to receive it at the end of the study.

The survey was tested by a pilot of 8 individuals who are close friends, family members and university class mates. The pilot test helped me to ameliorate the survey by fixing some technical issues and also to assure that the official version sent to entrepreneurs was totally functional.

3.2 Measures

The survey was divided into five sections (Appendix A). The first section included demographic questions regarding age, gender, religion, area of residency and years of entrepreneurial experience. The second part consisted of statements relating to entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, and was followed by questions about alertness to entrepreneurial opportunities. The next set of questions was concerning the reliance of entrepreneurs on social sources such as informal industry networks, mentors, conferences, workshops and seminars, and family members and close friends. The last section of the survey was dedicated to respondents’ additional comments. Response to the items was done on a 5 levels Likert scale of 1 to 5 (1= Strongly disagree; 2= Disagree; 3= Neither agree or disagree; 4= Agree; 5= Strongly agree).

Opportunity recognition (dependent variable)

The dependent variable, opportunity recognition, was measured by five items selected from former research done by Singh et al. (1999). These items are connected to the capacity to

21 recognize opportunities (e.g., I am able to recognize new business opportunities in industries where I do not have personal experience). Moreover, the dependent variable was measured by items associated to alertness to business opportunities (e.g., I have a special alertness or sensitivity toward new business opportunities). Overall, the measurement of this variable will allow examining the extent to which entrepreneurs were alert and able to recognize business opportunities.

Conferences and workshops

The participation in professional conferences and workshops was measured by two items. These items were associated to the extent to which individuals relied on professional conventions as sources of information leading to opportunity recognition (e.g., Attending business conferences helped me receive information that was useful to recognize a business opportunity). Items in this part of the questionnaire supported to measure if the attendance to professional conventions had an effect on opportunity recognition. Thus, data collected enabled the research to discover whether the interaction of this variable with gender had or not a significant effect on opportunity recognition. Therefore, it allowed testing the null hypothesis A0.

Mentors

The protégé’s reliance on a professional mentor as a source of information that helped him or her to discover business opportunities is measured by three items (e.g., The mentor provided me with important information about changes and trends in technology and markets that helped me to identify a business opportunity). Items in this section of the questionnaire supported to measure the extent to which entrepreneurs considered information received from their professional mentor as useful to identify new businesses. Therefore, data collected

22 assisted the research to discover whether the interaction of this variable with gender had or not a significant effect on opportunity recognition. Therefore the null hypothesis B0 could be tested.

Family and close friends

Two items measured the extent to which entrepreneurs found information they received from family members and close friends as useful in order to identify business opportunities (e.g., Discussions with family members or close friends helped me to recognize a business opportunity.). These items of the questionnaire allowed measuring the impact of family and friends on opportunity recognition. Moreover, data collected, assisted the research to discover whether the interaction of this variable with gender had or not a significant effect on opportunity recognition. Therefore the null hypothesis C0 could be tested.

Informal industry networks

The reliance on employees of financial institutions, colleagues, customers and suppliers as a source of information for opportunity recognition was measured by four items (e.g., Discussions with employees of financial institutions helped me to recognize a business opportunity). Items in this section of the questionnaire supported measuring the extent to which entrepreneurs considered information received from members of the informal industry network as useful to identify new businesses. Therefore, data collected assisted the research to discover whether the interaction of this variable with gender had or not a significant effect on opportunity recognition. Therefore the null hypothesis D0 could be tested.

Gender

The gender of the entrepreneur may affect opportunity recognition. Moreover, the interaction of this variable with each of the other independent variables may have a significant

23 impact on the recognition of business opportunities. Therefore, knowing the gender of the entrepreneur is essential in order to test all the four null hypotheses.

Remarks

In the remarks section at the end of the survey, it was possible for participants to share their opinion about the questionnaire and the topic of opportunity recognition. Thus, I was able to get additional insights about entrepreneurs’ opinions.

4. Results

4.1 Demographics

The total number of complete responses in the survey is 76. These responses were considered valid and used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. The demographic information of the participants is available in Table 1. The participants are equally represented by gender, 50% are male and 50% are female entrepreneurs. The age of respondents ranges from 22 to 52 years. The majority of respondents, 48.5% are in the age category between 30 to 39 years, 32.8% in the category 20 to 29 years, and 15.7% in the category 40 to 49 years and finally 3% in the category 50 to 59 years. Furthermore, the average age of female entrepreneurs is 32 years which is very close to the average age of male entrepreneurs which is 34. Moreover, all the respondents hold the Lebanese nationality. A large part of the sample has reached a higher education, hence 36% hold a Bachelor’s degree, 53 % hold a Master’s degree and 5 % hold a PhD’s. Among the participants 60 % are Christians, 30 % Muslims and 10 % Agnostics. Finally, the majority of entrepreneurs who participated in the study are residents of the capital Beirut and of its suburbs. This majority consists of almost 70 % of the total number of

24 participants or 60 entrepreneurs out of the total 76. The remaining 16 entrepreneurs reside in different areas of Lebanon such as North Lebanon, Metn, Keserwan, Aley, and Mount Lebanon.

Table 1. Demographic information

Gender Male

50%

Female 50% Area of residency Beirut and

suburbs 70 % Metn 12 % North Lebanon 5 % Other 13 % Age 20-29 years 32.8 % 30-39 years 48.5 % 40-49 years 15.7 % 50-59 years 3 % Highest level of

education Professional Diploma 6 % Bachelor degree 36 % Master degree 53% Phd 5 % Religion Christian 56 % Muslim 30 % Druze 4 % Agnostic 10 %

4.2 Type of business and years of experience

As part of the survey, participants were asked in which industry the business that they established performs. Answers were diversified as they mentioned 14 different industries in which they operate. The most frequent ones were IT which consisted 30 % of the total number of replies, consulting 13 %, design 11 %, media 11 %, advertising, 10 % and healthcare 7 %. Participants were also asked to mention how many years of experience they have as an entrepreneur. The majority of responses, 39 % were between the ranges of 1 to 5 years of experience. The second largest category is 5 to 10 years at 31 % and 30 % have more than 10 years of experience. This information is highlighted in table 2. Moreover, female entrepreneurs

25 in the sample have an average experience of 8.2 years whereas male entrepreneurs have a slightly higher average of 9.5 years of entrepreneurial experience.

Table 2. Years of entrepreneurial experience and type of the last created business

Types Of Last Business Created Information Technology 30 % Consulting 13 % Design 11 % Media 11 % Advertising 10 % Healthcare 7 % Years Of Entrepreneurial Experience 1 - 5 years 39 % 5 - 10 years 31 % > 10 years 30 %

4.3 Correlation and reliability measures

In order to perform the check on reliability and correlation between variables, the common measure of scale reliability Cronbach Alpha had been used. The accepted value of Cronbach Alpha is at least 0.7 and maximum 1. Reliability was acceptable for all the scales. Opportunity recognition was measured by 5 items and the Cronbach Alpha value was (0.71). For “reliance on mentor” which was measured by 3 items, α = 0.8. For “discussion with individuals in Informal industry networks” which was measured by 4 items, α =0.78. For “reliance on conferences, workshops and seminars” which was measured by 2 items, α =0.77. For “discussion with family and friends” which was measured by 2 items, α =0.72.

Construct validity

A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to predict “Opportunity Recognition” from the independent variables “Reliance on mentors”, “Attending conferences

26 and workshops”, “Discussions with family members or close friends” and “Discussions with members of the informal industry network”. The regression equation found is (F(4, 44) = 47.726, p < .05), with an R2 of .813. The p value for each of the variables is as follow, reliance on mentor (.001), attending conferences and workshops (.009), discussions with family and close friends (.049) and discussions with members of Informal industry networks (.001). Participants predicted Opportunity Recognition is equal to 0.440 + 0.276(Reliance on mentor) + 0.193(Attending conferences and workshops) +0.225(Discussions with members of the informal industry network) + 0.254(Discussions with family and close friends). All the variables were measured on 5 levels Likert scale. According to the statistics above, there is enough evidence to claim that all the variables used in the study statistically predict the dependent variable “Opportunity Recognition”.

4.4 Test of hypotheses

In the previous section it was confirmed that the four types of social networks studied in this research have an effect on the identification of business opportunities. But, as claimed in the hypotheses the effect of each of the four social sources on opportunity recognition may differ based on the gender of the entrepreneurs.

First of all, a two-way ANOVA was used to test if the interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with attending professional forums such as business conferences and workshop had an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. The ANOVA results were F(4,66) = 4.870 , p = .002, with regard to a level of significance equal to .05. Therefore there is enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis A0. Thus, the alternative hypothesis A1 is accepted and the interaction of attending conferences and workshops with the gender of the entrepreneur has an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. The results are displayed in table 3.

27 Table 3.

Source Sums of squares df Mean Square F Sig

Attending conferences * Gender 5.983 4 1.496 4.870 .002

Error 20.271 66 .307

Second, a two-way ANOVA was adopted to test if the interaction of gender of the entrepreneur with having a professional mentor had an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. The ANOVA results were F(4,65) = 3.935 , p = .006, with respect to a level of significance equal to .05. Therefore there is enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis B0. Thus, the alternative hypothesis B1 is accepted and the interaction of having a professional mentor with the gender of the entrepreneur had a significant effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. The results are shown in table 4.

Table 4.

Source Sums of squares Df Mean Square F Sig

Mentor * Gender 4.061 4 1.015 3.935 .006

Error 16.770 65 .258

In addition, a two-way ANOVA was employed to test if the interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with having discussions with family members or close friends had an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. The ANOVA results were F(5,63) = .978 , p = .438, with reference to a level of significance equal to .05. Therefore there is enough evidence to accept the null hypothesis C0. Thus, the alternative hypothesis C1 is rejected and the interaction of having discussions with family members and close friends with the gender of the entrepreneur

28 has a non-significant effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Results are shown in table 5.

Table 5.

Source Sums of squares df Mean Square F Sig

Family and close friends * Gender 1.132 5 .226 .978 .438

Error 14.582 63 .231

Finally, a two-way ANOVA was employed to test if the interaction of the gender of the entrepreneur with having discussions with individuals who are part of the informal industry network had an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. The ANOVA results were F(7,53) = 1.122 , p = .363, with regard to a level of significance equal to .05. Thus, there is sufficient evidence to accept the null hypothesis D0. Thus, the alternative hypothesis D1 is rejected and it could be declared that the interaction of having discussions with members of the informal industry network such as colleagues, customers, suppliers, and employees of financial institutions with the gender of the entrepreneur had a non-significant effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. The results are presented in table 6.

Table 6.

Source Sums of squares df Mean Square F Sig

Industry network * Gender 1.987 7 .284 1.122 .363

29 As results show, the interaction of gender with each of the variables “having a mentor” and “attending conferences” have a significant effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Thus, a post-hoc test was carried, specifically a simple main effect analysis. This test was effectuated in order to discover where exactly the significant interaction took place and thus to discover which gender differs from the other at which level of the independent variable.

First, there was a significant simple main effect for gender and only one level of the other independent variable which was respondents who declared “I totally disagree that attending conferences and workshops helped me to identify business opportunities”, F(1,66) = 17.915 , p <.05. According to the Pairwise Comparison, among the respondents who totally disagreed that attending conferences and workshops influenced them to identify business opportunities (having a low score on Likert scale), female scored higher than men on the recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Second, there was a significant simple main effect for gender and only one level of the other independent variable which is respondents who scored low on the Likert scale and stated “I disagree that information received from mentor helped me to identify business opportunities”, F(1,65) = 6.161 , p <.05. According to the Pairwise Comparison, among the respondents who disagreed that having a mentor helped them to identify new business opportunities, female scored higher than men regarding the ability to identify opportunities.

A general recap of the hypotheses and of the results of tests is shown in the table 7. The survey enabled the collection of data that was used to test the 4 hypotheses previously described, as well, it included a section where participants were able to add their comments regarding the survey itself or their general opinion about the subject. In the upcoming section, the most relevant quotes to the study are featured and analyzed.

30 Table 7. Results for each hypothesis

Hypotheses Result (Supported – Not supported) Hypothesis A1: Interaction of gender of the

entrepreneur and attending conferences and workshops has an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

Supported

Hypothesis B1: Interaction of gender of the

entrepreneur and having a professional mentor has an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity

recognition.

Supported

Hypothesis C1: Interaction of gender of the

entrepreneur and having discussion with family members has an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

Not supported

Hypothesis D1: Interaction of gender of the

entrepreneur and having discussions with members of the informal industry network has an effect on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

31

Additional comments

In the survey respondents were able to leave an additional comment with relevant information about the topic or regarding the survey in general. The responses were anonymous, thus, the composers of the quotes could not be identified. The relevant comments to the study are shown below.

“Opportunities are just a step away from us. All you need to do is to step forward and talk to people around you from different backgrounds and social classes to get new and different knowledge and information.”

“People around us are an important source of information, but perseverance and relying upon oneself is the key of success in any entrepreneurial activity.”

“Experimentation and failure compliment opportunity recognition and build entrepreneurial success.”

“Interactions with every single person around you may open new opportunities and give you new ideas for businesses.”

“My business partner and I have very often called our female entrepreneurs friends in similar businesses and in other industries to organize brainstorming sessions 3 or 4 times in the last 2 years to get outside views and new trends about the industry. The information we received through these friends was really helpful to recognize new business ideas and develop them.”

“I find it challenging to identify opportunities while I am within the circle of the industry.”

32 The collected comments of entrepreneurs are interesting and acknowledge the importance of people around them or in other words their social networks as a source of information to identify new business opportunities. Moreover, some of the quotes highlight the importance of getting information from individuals that have a different cultural background or from people that belong to industries and circles that are distinct from those the entrepreneur belongs to. As well, some entrepreneurs consider that in order to recognize, employ and develop business opportunities, it is essential to be determined and take the initiative. Finally, no difference between the genders could be identified from the comments left in the survey.

The next part of the study discusses the results that are noted above, the suggestions and the limitations of this research.

5. Discussion

The results reported in the preceding section have an important contribution to the field of opportunity recognition. On the one hand, the research examines the topic of opportunity recognition from a gender prospect and adds valuable insight into it. Opportunity recognition from a gender point of view received little attention from researchers lately. On the other, hand opportunity recognition itself has attracted the attention of many academic in the last decades. Moreover, the finding may add some interesting and valuable insights into theories of entrepreneurship.

The novel work of Ozgen and Baron (2007) reveals that people around the entrepreneur or in other words his social networks could be an important source of information that may help identify a new business idea. According to their findings, entrepreneurs can take advantage of their social networks such as their professional mentors, members of their informal industry network and by attending conferences and workshop to obtain information that could support

33 them to discover new ventures. Moreover, Ozgen and Baron (2007) point out that the social source of information, family and close friends, which is considered a strong tie of the entrepreneur do not have a significant effect on opportunity recognition.

The current research confirms the findings of Ozgen and Baron (2007) regarding the significant effect of social sources of information on opportunity recognition. Nevertheless, it contradicts their deduction regarding the effect of family and close friends on opportunity recognition. According to results of the thesis, the three social sources which are informal industry network, mentors and business conferences & workshops have a significant effect on the identification of a business opportunity. Moreover, these results indicate that the discovery of business opportunities is also significantly affected by family and close friends. On the one hand, the research infers that the majority of Lebanese entrepreneurs consider having received information from discussions with family members and close friends that assisted them to identify an entrepreneurial opportunity. On the other hand, according to Ozgen and Baron (2007), family members and close friends is a source of emotional and financial support to the entrepreneur and it does not essentially provide information to discover new ventures because family and close friends lack information relevant to the industry in which the entrepreneur operates. The study of Ozgen and Baron (2007) includes a sample of nascent entrepreneurs that established tech companies in a western developed country which is the United States of America, whereas, the present study includes experienced entrepreneurs who established companies in several industries in Lebanon which is an undeveloped Middle Eastern country. Despite this difference between the two studies, a comparison could still be made because both cases examine the effect of the reliance on family members and close friends as a source of information on opportunity recognition.

34 The difference in results may be due to distinct cultures and values between the two countries were the researches took place. In the United States of America social bonds among different family members are considered weak (Aldrich and Cliff, 2003).Whereas, in Lebanese families the ties and bonds between the members are solid. As well, the Lebanese society is characterized by a collectivism culture in which the role of the family is crucial and more important than the role of the individual himself (Sidani, 2002). The different cultures of the two countries may have an impact on the strength of ties among family members and the type of information transferred during discussions between members. In a traditional culture like the Lebanese one, family members may have more interactions and their relationships are based on strong connections, thus, it is possible that discussions between the entrepreneur and family members and close friends yielded interesting information beneficial to discover new ventures. On the contrary, it is possible that in the United States, the weak bonds among family members hindered the transfer of insightful information that would help the entrepreneur to discover a new venture. The comparison of family and friends as a source of information could be an attractive subject for follow up research.

In addition to the research of Ozgen and Baron (2007), this thesis takes in consideration an important variable which is the gender of the entrepreneur. The purpose of the research is to examine the interaction of the gender of Lebanese entrepreneurs with each of the four social sources of information previously mentioned and illustrate if each these interactions have a significant effect on opportunity recognition.

First of all, according to the literature reviewed and data analyzed, the study indicates that the interaction of gender and the independent variable “attendance to conferences and workshops” affect opportunity recognition. Results of the study approved hypothesis A1 and confirms this notion. Moreover, according to the simple main effect test conducted it was

35 revealed that the difference between genders occurred among respondents who stated that they “totally disagree that attending conferences and workshops helped me to identify business opportunities”. At this level, female entrepreneurs were better at recognizing opportunities than male entrepreneurs who also considered attending conferences as not beneficial for them to identify new ventures. The findings indicate that men who considered professional conventions to be an unbeneficial source of informal did not score high on opportunity recognition and they did not have an entrepreneurial ability to discover opportunities in general. On the other hand, women entrepreneurs who stated that conferences and workshops were not beneficial sources of information for them were still able to recognize business opportunities. Despite their ability to recognize opportunities, it seems that some female entrepreneurs had issues in receiving beneficial information from this social network. It may be that women entrepreneurs faced challenges in networking activities during the professional conventions. An interesting notion to acknowledge in this regard, is that women have less skills than men in networking activities which reduced the amount of information they receive from such activities (Smeltzer and Fann 1989 ; Verhuel and Thurik, 2001). As well, it is possible that female entrepreneurs may have faced obstacles in building trust with other participants in conferences and workshops. It is interesting to take in consideration that professional conferences in Lebanon are dominated by men whether in attendance, number of speakers and entrepreneurial pitches. This male dominance may have limited females to build trustful relations and be able to receive relevant information to discover new opportunities. Moreover, an important notion to consider is that females need to build trust in order to network effectively (Farr-Wharton & Brunetto, 2007).

In addition, literature review and analysis of data indicated that the interaction of gender and the variable “having a professional mentor” affects opportunity recognition. Results

36 of the thesis approved the alternative hypothesis B1. This indicates that the effect of having a mentor on opportunity recognition is influenced by the gender of the entrepreneur. More specifically, the simple main effect test conducted shows that the difference between genders occurred among respondents who stated that they “disagree that information received from their mentor helped them to identify business opportunities”. In this case women entrepreneurs were able to score higher on opportunity recognize than their male counterpart did. These findings indicate that despite their perception of not benefiting from a mentor by receiving relevant information to discover opportunities, some women were still able to recognize opportunities more than men entrepreneurs did.

The reason could be that relationships between protégés and mentors were not strong and therefore the information received by the protégés was not significant enough to enable the discovery of new ventures. An important notion to take in consideration is that a strong relationship established between the mentor and the mentee support the latter to learn and acquire new information (Wanberg et al., 2003). In addition to a weak relationship, the combination of gender in the mentoring relationship may have affected the information received by entrepreneurs. It is possible that that women entrepreneur received more male mentors and fewer female mentors. Some interesting suggestion must be taken in consideration. First, the combination of gender in the relationship between mentor and protégé affects the efficiency of the mentorship (Allen and Eby, 2004). Second, women find it easier to initiate a relationship with a female mentor than it is to build a relationship with a male mentor (Clawson and Kram, 1984 ; Kram, 1985). Finally, females obtain fewer benefits than men from relationships with male mentors and relationships with male mentors are more difficult to be dealt with and managed (Noe, 1988 ;