The strengths of close ties: Taiwanese online entrepreneurship, gender and intersectionality

被引:14
作者
Leung Wing-Fai [1 ]
机构
[1] Natl Univ Ireland Univ Coll Cork, Sch Asian Studies, Cork, Ireland
关键词
social networks; gender; start-up companies; social capital; new media; intersectionality;
D O I
10.1080/1369118X.2015.1069873
中图分类号
G2 [信息与知识传播];
学科分类号
050302 [传播学];
摘要
This article examines entrepreneurs who have started innovative Internet and mobile technology companies in Taiwan because they are at the forefront of industrial changes in the country. Similar to findings in Europe and the USA, education and careers in technology in Taiwan remain dominated by men. However, I argue that the gender inequality of the sector is partly the result of the fact that small new enterprises rely on family support and close social networks. Few women are able to join the sector with male friends and colleagues due to the close social ties of the founding teams (homophily). Among my female interviewees, half have started their nascent companies with their husbands and male partners (husband and wife teams). However, gender, family backgrounds and childcare responsibilities affect both men and women, and the interviewees in my study were open in discussing these personal factors in relation to being entrepreneurs. This article argues that starting an Internet company is a family decision, discussed within the household. Intersectionality, not only gender, explains the founders' decision to start a company, and their choice of co-founders.
引用
收藏
页码:1046 / 1060
页数:15
相关论文
共 34 条
[1]
[Anonymous], 2012, VENTURE LABOR WORK B
[2]
[Anonymous], J MANAGEMENT
[3]
Beck U., 2000, BRAVE NEW WORLD WORK
[4]
Birdsall M., 2013, Business Accelerators: the evolution of a rapidly growing industry
[5]
Brah A., 2004, J INT WOMENS STUDIES, V5, P75
[6]
Brinton M.C., 1998, The new institutionalism in sociology, P181
[7]
Castells M., 1996, RISE NETWORK SOC
[9]
Chiu CP, 2011, INT J CHILD CARE EDU, V5
[10]
CRENSHAW K, 1993, STANFORD LAW REVIEW VOL 43, NO 6, JULY 1991, P1241