What it takes to be a business woman. Gender in management, business and partnership.

Teacher

The aim of the module: To put entrepreneurship in perspective of gender, by understanding of special conditions that often interfere with business development done by women – adding a critical perspective to all course modules.

Learning goals: To prepare participants for situations of gender related issues in business management. To de-dramatize women business activities as choices in life and change attitudes towards: more open to experiment, acceptance of challenges, acceptance of failure and success.

Learning objectives:

Identify challenges and opportunities arising in each woman’s entrepreneurial journey
Understand implications of gender in the process of establishing business
Identify gaps and try to fill them with important changes

Learning outcomes:

The participants will be able to recognize, analyze and meet challenges and issues that arise due to gender in business development. They will become aware of the global nature of this process, be encouraged to pursue their personal goals despite eventual critical attitudes from their environment, and will develop their own understanding and communication tools for avoiding conflicts and mistreats due to gender issues. They will also become aware of the potential of women led business models, and of the discourse of conventional versus social entrepreneurship.

Note for discussion leader: Focus groups show that conversations about gender stereotypes may touch on persons’ deep emotional and psychological anchors, diverging the discussion from business and entrepreneurship, which for the sake of the learning outcomes, should not be completely avoided but carefully monitored and limited. The dimension of personal attachment is important for long term effects of the learning and initiation of change in participants’ environment; in order to be able to have an honest dialogue with and between the participants, it is very important to use language suitable for the group.