The Challenge of Gender Diversity for Case-Based Instruction in Entrepreneurship Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to address case-based instruction in entrepreneurship education from multiple instructors’ perspectives and describe their experiences with this approach as it relates to gender diversity. This study answers the call for more substantive research focused on issues related to entrepreneurship education, including an examination of specific teaching methods and an in-depth exploration of gender and entrepreneurship education. The findings suggest the role that case-based instruction can play in efforts to advance gender equality as part of the diversity imperative in education. Instructors considered gender diversity in case selection but found it to be a challenge. Moreover, the descriptions of the entrepreneurs and their venture behaviors in the cases were gendered, which might have resulted in unintended discriminatory gender lessons. While none of the women were portrayed in a specifically negative light, underlying assumptions about gender roles infused the cases. While the instructors considered gender diversity in case selection, they did not necessarily consider gender stereotypes, which is problematic because gender stereotypes are cognitive schemas that influence the ways in which individuals make sense of their social world and may discourage some women’s aspirations to become business owners.