Literature Review

*For whomever is editing this: my primary issue is that I have no idea how to wrap this up, but I'm also not sure if I'm confronting my research questions with enough gusto or if I'm being direct enough, so if you could look back at them and give me suggestions from that side, in addition to whatever other comments you may have, that would be wonderful.

My research topic, broadly focusing on women and entrepreneurship, and more specifically, on small business ownership, the procurement of capital, and patriarchal institutions which, intentionally or unintentionally, gender behaviors to determine objective value, is contextualized within a framework primarily consisting of business studies, interest in the more “fratriarchal” culture of corporate America (that is, that successes are determined by bonds and the ability to form homosocial, masculine relationships inside and outside of a work setting, creating a sense of occupational segregation, not a force that asserts power through “fatherly,” authoritarian rule), and correspondingly, the glass ceiling. These are not my research interests. However, I must acknowledge the limits of what is offered to me and work within a rather restrictive context of ideas and discourses. Among these limits are that most of my studies are statistical business journals and governmental reports, which do not have a theoretical framework and require quite a bit of reaching on my behalf to make the pieces fit together, and that which does relate directly and has a more concise, discernible framework is severely dated and may not apply in the same ways it once did (“Bank Loan Officers Perceptions of Men, Women, and Successful Entrepreneurs”), but is still cited in some of the most pertinent sources I found elsewhere. These limitations are both disconcerting and encouraging, as delving into the discourse and creating my own framework is a very exciting task.

As Allan G. Johnson points out in his essay, “Patriarchy, the System,” patriarchy is “organized through social relationships and unequal distributions of power, rewards, opportunities, and resources” (75). The inequality inherent to both the successes of women seeking longevity and career advancement in the corporate sphere, as well as those seeking to maintain small businesses, is where the discourses converge and become relevant.

Primarily, the theories I’ve studied closely relate to the distinct difference in perception regarding the capacity for women to succeed, and the numerous pitfalls the anticipation of their failures will present. Among these are that according to a study done by Rebel A. Cole and Hamid Mehran, “Gender and the Availability of Credit to Privately Held Firms: Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances.” The primary assertion this study makes is that “female-owned firms are significantly more likely to be credit-constrained because they are more likely to be discouraged from applying for credit, though not more likely to be denied credit when they do apply” (3). Families are worried about women taking on supplementary debt from creditors, as their ties to the family unit are much more cemented, in terms of roles and responsibilities. In addition, as in P.G. Greene’s chapter in New Perspectives on Women Entrepreneurs, it is noted that “the institutional structure of many homes and financial institutions still results in the registration of many family assets in a male spouse’s name” (7). This androcentric reading of the value of women as unequal partners in the home carries over to the ways in which they are perceived elsewhere, especially when these factors are examined and coupled with a rather large wage differential, which would prevent them from being able to procure capital for “technologically sophisticated” businesses, even if they were so inclined, as their lower pay rate would prevent the offering of large amounts of collateral. Evidence of the perception issue is included in Buttner and Rosen’s 1986 study, “Bank Loan Officers’ Perceptions of the Characteristics of Men, Women, and Successful Entrepreneurs,” which concludes that behaviors are gendered and perception hinges on sex stereotypes wherein the behaviors most readily associated with entrepreneurial prowess are also associated with masculinity, not typically androgynous masculinity, but that which is the specific province of men. This conclusion is drawn through a sample of one hundred six bank loan officers, which Buttner and Rosen examine with respect to how positive entrepreneurial qualities are distributed. One thing I find interesting about the title is that it implies that examines men and women generally, not within a context of those who possess the drive and skills to become entrepreneurs. Within a general context, it could be reasoned that these gender stereotypes might apply. However, within the context of a subset of people who are driven to create businesses in the first place, one could be asked to assume a level of marked optimism on behalf of the abilities of both gendered parties, yet men clearly benefit from gender privilege in this discourse, while women do not.

To answer my first research question, the discrepancies between the successes and longevity of male and female-run small businesses can be attributed to a number of factors. It is my opinion that women are not only socialized into a subordinate role, through a lack of leadership training, roles models, and encouragement from peers, but also perceived in accordance to preexisting sex stereotypes. I want to make the distinction of saying “sex” rather than “gender” here, because I believe that most people outside of the academic community do not view gender as a fluid continuum, but rather a series of hardwired behaviors, and hence the disconnect in perception. In addition to a lack of leadership training and encouragement, according to Cole and Mehran, women are more “risk-averse” than men (3). This could mean a number of things, either that women make safe choices, and that that is a good thing, in terms of longevity, or that they don’t take risks in businesses, which is decidedly the opposite. The context in which it is written implies the latter.

Because my frame of reference is from feminist theory, I cannot justify believing that women exhibit gendered behaviors in a vacuum, that it is nature, not nurture, that creates these behaviors that are termed inviable. In addition, the path of least resistance teaches women that a certain set of behaviors are acceptable, and expects them to act according to this, perhaps contributing to the aforementioned “risk-averseness,” though I do not feel situated in the discourse well enough to speculate on whether this is a valid and distinct possibility. I believe that women seeking entrepreneurial endeavors need to work to be more assertive, and that there needs to be training to make this possible. However, as far as the attitudes possessed by the arbiters of patriarchal power systems (i.e. bank loan officers), putting the burden of responsibility on the women to shape their pitches and justify themselves in terms of a context in which persons in power situate them, as suggested in Buttner and Rosen’s aforementioned 1986 study, is incredibly counterintuitive because it brands entrepreneurship in one specific manner and views deviation from this formula of value as a recipe for disaster. It views “feminine” behaviors as softness and an inability to create a functional workspace, rather than acknowledging the possibility of strength in difference. The ways in which we stress that women negotiate a sphere in which they have just recently been invited to share implies gendered assimilation, that women must take on male behaviors in order to succeed and achieve longevity.

Works Cited

Greene, P. G. "Feminist Theory and the Study of Entrepreneurship." New Perspectives on Women Entrepreneurs. M. J. Greer. 1st ed. Information Age Pub., 2003. 1-13. Print.

Buttner, E. Holly, and Benson Rosen. "Bank Loan Officers' Perceptions of the Characteristics of Men, Women, and Successful Entrepreneurs." Rep. Vol. 3. New York: Journal of Business Venturing, 1988. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. 

Cole, Rebel A., and Hamid Mehran. "Gender and the Availability of Credit to Privately Held Firms: Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances." LexisNexis Statistical. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.

Johnson, Allan G. "Patriarchy, the System." 1997. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 68-76. Print.

Service Learning Activism Log, Entry Four.

1) Yesterday, I tabled at Diva Invasion for Animal Safehouse. We only kept our table up until the pre-show at eight, and this was probably not the best event for raising awareness about our cause or collecting donations, since generally, people were just trying to get seats, so while almost all of the progressive organizations on campus were represented, from NORML to College Democrats, the most we did was pass out a few cards, with a severely truncated accompanying verbal description to accomodate the lack of time. Regardless, this event was aimed much more towards creating a supportive presence for a great cause, which benefits one of the organizations I care about most, Zebra Coalition, than any efforts of self-promotion, so I was happy to lend my support. I still need to get in touch with Abigail to set up some times to work on grant-writing, but for now, this event puts me at seventeen hours towards Animal Safehouse, so this is my last log for this class, though I may add any grant-writing I do in the future towards my other twenty-four hours with ASH I plan to do this month.

2) Animal Safehouse's financial structure is such that it relies entirely on the kindness of others to remain operational. As mentioned above, this event was not the best choice for fundraising, or even gaining volunteers, compared to, say, VegFest, but creating a presence in solidarity with RSOs on campus, in lieu of gaining that status ourselves, enabling us to table and raise awareness on campus, unattached to major events, is best way to bring about a level of understanding about the vitality of women's issues. Violence against women will always be a huge issue, and there is little visibility for what is an incredibly large problem. I've noticed a pattern when explaining Animal Safehouse to people. Almost everyone comments on what a great idea it is, but for the most part, compassion to the point of contribution comes from a personal place, be it a profound love of animals, or some sort of experience with gender violence. I've begun to examine financial endeavors, even those in conjunction with non-profit organizations, in terms of what people think they stand to gain from contribution. Hopefully, that isn't too cynical, but it certainly informs my lens for perception of capitalism as a system in which we all unwittingly operate. Women in these situations will often be helpless, as they have "'learned' that it is impossible to escape" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 264), and it seems that many people have first-hand experience with this level of desperation. As long as there is intimate partner violence and ways of one person asserting dominance over another in what should be a loving relationship, this will continue to be an issue.

3) I had a really great time at Diva Invasion. As volunteers, my partner and I were in priority seating, and she and I found out we're most likely taking a sociology class together next semester. I don't know what else I'm doing with Animal Safehouse, other than tabling at Publix two weeks from now, but I feel as though I've gained a lot, in terms of marketing a cause and promoting it within certain subsets of people (the animal rights activists at VegFest, the progressives at Diva Invasion), and that is invaluable life experience.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Word Count: 575

Essay Outline.

My original topic was very sparse. I had developed a probable problem, that women are inherently less likely to gain capital than men are, but I had read nothing to support that, and had just based it on what seemed to me to be a logical hypothesis, and planned to read more about entrepreneurship once I started this project and form my hypothesis from my evolving findings. I didn't write my hypothesis until after I had read, obviously, so it is generally based on my early findings and has only become broader and better supported with time.

My focus changed to examine more specifically that women generally do not apply for capital at all, that they are discouraged from the highly technological fields and instead, operate in even smaller small businesses, which are inherently less profitable (say, restaurant ownership, cleaning businesses, or the assistance of any number of other services), and why there is insufficient leadership encouragement and support. When this becomes a thesis topic, and the scope can be expanded extensively because of the lengthened word count, I'm going to focus specifically on why women are still much less apt to go into highly skilled scientific positions, based on the ways in which they educate themselves, if this is a sex difference or a socialized gender construct, and how this disadvantages them financially when starting their own businesses. However, for now, I just want to focus on the aspects of how and why women are socialized into depending on friends and family for economic agency, when these resources are available elsewhere. Of course, usually, the help of friends and family is altruistic, good, and may not even require that women feel dependent. However, my focus is on expanding options for women, rather than socializing them into a specific function or role in society. This reading is especially supported by the report from LexisNexis, as well as my New Perspectives on Women Entrepreneurs text.

I'm also fascinated with the idea of systems of power, specifically that patriarchy works with the women seeking white collar positions (or if you want to read it through the lens of Marxist feminism, the Proletariat) as players. Since the beginning of women having access to white collar work, assimilation into a male-dominated scheme required the downplaying of traditionally "female" personality traits, which assumes that they can be gendered in the first place, and thereby put into a context of hierarchal negotiation of value. Put more simply, this assumes that the ways in which we read traditional masculinity is apropos to successful negotiation in the economic sphere. Also, to clarify, my choice of verbiage when I say "female" rather than "feminine" personality traits was made because even if men were to exhibit similar gendered traits, they would not be under a microscope in the same ways women often are in the workplace. Capitalism and patriarchy as systems advance themselves symmetrically to one another, inextricably linked in terms of how they perceive men, women, and value. My research does exhibit that people in power perceive women in terms of gendered stereotypes, but regardless of my research, the power differential would be obvious to anyone who took note of how few minorities are offered powerful positions (example: only fifteen Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs). The interplay between women subordinating their own priorities in favor of the path of least resistance and the way patriarchy works systemically will comprise a very large section of the way I'm theorizing these issues.

Everything emphasized in the paragraph above just refers to corporate America, but as evidenced by the Buttner and Rosen text, "Bank Loan Officers' Perceptions of Female, Male, and Successful Entrepreneurs," these disadvantages extend far past that sector. The two issues I've yet to look into even nearly enough are the glass ceiling, since I've yet to be able to outline in my head how I can make it relevant, and work/family conflicts and how they are alleviated and complicated by small business ownership, specifically for women. I don't hate my topic yet at all, but I do need to figure out how to theorize all of the disparate issues I'm examining.

Service Learning Activism Log, Entry Three.

1) This week, I tabled at VegFest with Abigail, Valerie, and Danielle. We were in the Animal Haven area, wedged between a table for greyhound adoptions and pug adoptions, so there was a lot of foot traffic, but we were largely ignored because we didn't have any cute animals with us. I suppose we didn't account for human nature. I was there from nine am when we set everything up until six when Dani and I loaded everything into her car and parted ways. We were the last two people there from our group, as the crowds died down and we let everyone else go because we only had two chairs anyway. I had really great time because a lot of my friends are the type who would go to VegFest anyway, so I convinced a lot of people to visit our booth, and I ran into quite a few old friends. My friend Betsy works as a graphic designer at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, right behind Loch Haven Park, and she came by with her friend Elizabeth after work and Elizabeth donated $20, which, not surprisingly, comprised around two thirds of the cash donations we received that day. More importantly than cash donations, however, was that quite a lot of people took our cards, mentioned donating online, or meeting a representative halfway to give pet supplies or food. One woman and her family frequently donate to the Humane Society anyway, making $200 trips to Walmart for dog food and supplies every couple of months, and she had a previously abused dog, so she formed a very personal bond with the mission of our organization and expressed a sincere desire to spread that donation around. We received interest for one or two fosters, but generally, it was obvious that at least among this subset of people, the most convenient and desirable form of contribution is generally in the form of monetary resources, which happens to be our most pressing need right now anyway.


2) Animal Safehouse's goals in assisting the fight against gender violence, or at least managing its accompanying issues, is as relevant as ever on its own.  In Women's Lives, there is a citation that says that "as many as 4 million American women are physically abused by men who promised to love them" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 260). That alone is disturbing and startling. More than that, though, putting into practiced perspective how difficult it is to procure funds, even in such an open-minded and generally affluent atmosphere, solidifies my belief that I made the right choice regarding what organization I chose for my work regarding women and financial agency/entrepreneurship. Even with what can only be considered a very well-conceived and altruistic cause, it's still nearly impossible to get anyone to care, without a gimmick (am I allowed to redirect you to my own set of previously cited statistics?) This lends itself to the belief that the structure of our hierarchal, capitalist society breeds a degree of apathy in all people, obviously acting in a manner that can be considered antithetical to anyone's empowerment, but specifically those considered "other" (read: women).


3) I had a genuinely great time on Saturday. It was a really beautiful day, so in the slow periods, I spent some time reading Lorrie Moore at our table, which was incredibly well-situated, in terms of shade, and I met some really interesting people as well. As far as the project itself, it was really fun to sell to strangers a cause I've become rather passionate about. It also gave me an opportunity to speak to Abigail in person about my situation with my hours and plan out other SL opportunities, specifically that we may work on grant writing. I'm using this cause for three separate classes, so I'm going to stop my log at fifteen hours (I'm at twelve right now, and will be finished on the forth, when I do Diva Invasion), but grant writing will still be invaluable to my research process.

Works Cited

"Domestic Violence Facts." National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. <www.ncadv.org/files/DomesticViolenceFactSheet(National).pdf>.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Word Count: 700

Working Bibliography.

Some of this is tentative, as I highly doubt I will use three works from my primary scholar and I want to diversify my scheme quite a bit more, but the general meat of my ideas has come from the following articles:

Butler, John E. New Perspectives on Women Entrepreneurs. First ed. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, 2003. Print.

Buttner, E. Holly, and Benson Rosen. "Bank Loan Officers' Perceptions of the Characteristics of Men, Women, and Successful Entrepreneurs." Rep. Vol. 3. New York: Journal of Business Venturing, 1988. Web. 15 Oct. 2010.

Buttner, E. Holly. "Examining Female Entrepreneurs’ Management Style: An Application of a Relational Frame." Journal of Business Ethics 29 (2001): 253-69. Print.

Buttner, E. H. "Female Entrepreneurs: How Far Have They Come?" Business Horizons 36.2 (1993): 59-65. Print.

Cole, Rebel A., and Hamid Mehran. "Gender and the Availability of Credit to Privately Held Firms:   Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances." LexisNexis Statistical. Web. 15 Oct. 2010.

Du Rietz, Anita, and Magnus Henrekson. "Testing the Female Underperformance Hypothesis." Small Business Economics 14 (2000): 1-10. Print.

Kalleberg, Arne L., and Kevin T. Leicht. "Gender and Organizational Performance: Determinants of Small Business Survival and Successes." Academy of Management Journal 34.1 (1991): 136-61. Web.

Sexton, Donald L., and Nancy Bowman-Upton. "Female and Male Entrepreneurs: Psychological Characteristics and Their Role in Gender-Related Discrimination." Journal of Business Venturing 5 (1990): 29-36. Print.

Wilson, Maria C. Closing the Leadership Gap Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. Second ed. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. Print.

Working Thesis.

There are so many aspects of this topic that I want to engage, so it's likely that I'll change the last part, but the first two sentences very solidly summarize the direction in which I want to take this.

Stereotyping gendered behaviors in all realms of society creates a climate that is detrimental to the development of the female entrepreneur. In an effort to conform to society's expectations for what a successful entrepreneur looks like, women are discouraged from exhibiting any socially constructed "feminine" behaviors, and must integrate themselves into the business world by denying strength in difference. Operating under the assumption that the risk-averseness of women is a negative aspect of character, not only does patriarchy in economic institutions inhibit the economic agency of female entrepreneurs, but also, a complex matrix of oppression has been created by her peers and those closest to her in discouraging her from applying for the resources necessary to gain that agency, independent of a cosigner.

Service Learning Activism Log, Entry Two.

This week initially was supposed to consist of Pride and planning more tabling, but as I'm sure is to be expected, things did not go as planned. Not only was I late because I went to lunch and the friend I was going to Pride with was late, but parking was also an absolute disaster. When I arrived, I couldn't find Voices of Planned Parenthood's table, it took me a very long time to get in touch with Abigail over the phone, and she directed me to Arielle, who didn't pick up at all. After walking around for almost two hours, I gave up. Leandra is still giving me hours because I made a contrite effort to find them, but I definitely learned that communication needs to be more specific and I need to leave earlier for the events with limited parking availability. Beyond that, I've been emailing Arielle all week about tabling, and so far, I'm staffing a table for VegFest (October 23), Diva Invasion with EQUAL (November 4), and I received approval from my manager to set up a table for five hours in front of my Publix in Winter Garden on November 20, and I may ask him if I can table on a Thursday or another Saturday as well. He has been particularly generous in giving a table under the name "Animal Safehouse," minus the "of Brevard" part, because he's only supposed to allow tables for organizations in the immediate community and I live very far away from everything, so tabling at the Publix where I work and know a lot of the customers, some even by name (hazards of working in the same store for two years), will be much more effective. I've set up a very detailed calendar to keep track of all of this, as organizing four simultaneous service learning projects is no easy feat.

One change, attitudinally, for me this week regarding how perhaps service learning in general, though not this cause specifically, are vital to work in Women's Studies is that I would like to understand the shortcomings of activist work now, specifically the teamwork and a degree of reliance on others for my projects to have a successful outcome, so that I can be a better activist when I incorporate that work into a career. I have never liked group projects. Though I suppose they can be fun with the right group dynamic, where my academics are concerned, I'm a bit paranoid and would like to be able to know that if there was a mistake, it was my fault and my fault only. The idea that someone else's mistakes could negatively effect my grade, or that I might unintentionally pass too much off on someone else and not pull my weight enough just because the option is there (I have a tendency to become complacent), is really uncomfortable for me, and because of the field I'm going into, I really need to learn to get over that and I'm glad I'm being given such an ample opportunity to do so. Otherwise, still the same general ideas, with regards to Animal Safehouse. It's great, it's vital, it fills a niche market, it needs lots of money which I'm hoping to provide.

Word Count: 543

Service Learning Activism Log, Entry One.

1) I've communicated with Arielle, Abigail, and Leandra extensively this week via email and phone calls regarding plans for the Pride parade on the tenth. We're planning to table with VOX because we don't have our own table and walk around distributing literature on Animal Safehouse. I'll be there from 1:00 PM until 6. We will particularly emphasize the need for fosters, monetary donations, and any pet-related supplies (transport kennels, food, et cetera). Additionally, I asked Arielle about what work I could do that would have a particular emphasis in finances, and her response was that I should organize a fundraiser, giving the suggestion that I ask Publix if I can table with them. This is the perfect option for me, as I happened to work at a Publix in Winter Garden that is much closer to my house than Brevard County and I know my managers would be very receptive to helping me with any projects relating to my schoolwork, as they did, after all, give me almost the entire semester off to focus on it. I'm calling them about that first thing tomorrow and hope to have a table on a weekend day or Thursday afternoon/evening sometime in the very near future.

2) As you know, my research is particularly emphasizing the problems women face as entrepreneurs, in conjunction with the meanings assigned to their gender and how it is accomplished, but more than that, I am looking at these problems through a lens that rejects the way capitalism manifests itself in our society, placing some people over others and creating a value-based hierarchy, while still acknowledging that self-interest, and by extension money, are imperative to survival, given the dominant culture. Keeping that in mind, while we would like to hope that domestic violence problems could be solved simply by altruism and society acknowledging that these problems exist, there are so many potential barriers to creating an organization that successfully combats these problems. Most pressing are the monetary implications inherent to taking animals into one's case, especially veterinary bills, and this can only be remedied through the work I am taking into my charge: fundraising. If we are to believe that eradicating domestic violence is an essential part of achieving reproductive justice and promoting sexual health (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 244), then we must value all parts of creating a nuanced picture of a healthy woman, including caring for her displaced animals, in that equation, and take whatever measures necessary to accomplish this goal.

3) I would be able to give a much better answer to this if I was expected to turn it in Monday, but as of right now, I haven't had any face to face meetings or served any hours. However, the way all of my projects have been informing each other has been very interesting and illuminating, especially in terms of networking, and I have been forced to record my work and plan things out in advance with service learning more than most other school projects. This is a wonderful organization and I'm really genuinely excited to have more to write about what I'm receiving than I'm able this time.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Word Count: 538

Article Review

After a consultation with the Women's Studies research librarian and extensive Google Scholar searches, I not only came up with some great examples of the major research, but a number of minor sources that cited the aforementioned few. The three names that came up most often were Candida Brush and the pair, E. Holly Buttner and Benson Rosen, with the latter two together being much more directly referential of women's issues, rather than simply giving a cursory overview, as with Brush. The most pertinent article to my research was called "Bank Loan Officers' Perceptions of the Characteristics of Men, Women, and Successful Entrepreneurs." Using the psychological aspects of my research questions, specifically the perceived character differences between men and women, this report fits perfectly with the scheme of my intended topic. The title is to the point, but detailed, no epitaph necessary, and the "summary" (basically an abstract) begins by specifically acknowledging that the basis is "anecdotal" (i.e. qualitative) in scheme and that this research is geared towards specifically analyzing if women are, in fact, reduced to their sex stereotypes. The research methodology is based on survey, and rather than synthesizing a particular pedagogical or epistemological theory in its scope, it basically just reports on the data collected.

Plotting through the essay

As we all know, my charts are a level that could be generously described as "subpar," and I work best, for my own purposes, with word articulation, so here's a paragraph by paragraph analysis in that more appropriate format:

Introduction

(P1): Background statistics in terms of history of entrepreneurship
(P2): Historical success contingencies and their pitfalls
(P3): Female entrepreneurs' reflections on the roots of their unequal access/sex discrimination
(P4): Summary of intended processes of analysis

Characteristics of Entrepreneurs

(P1): Straightforward delineation of positive characteristics associated with successful entrepreneurship
(P2): Summary of the aforementioned

Entrepreneurial Attributes and Sex Stereotypes

Positing exactly what it implies; is there a corollary between the aforementioned characteristics and sex stereotypes? This builds specifically on the characteristics posited as central to a bank loaner's understanding of successful entrepreneurs

Purpose of the study
Again, straightforward, but clarifying for those who may not understand why understanding and offering a solution is so very important

Method

A paragraph on the sample, obviously essential in terms of validating the methodology
A paragraph on the procedure, again essential to this methodology, as it hinges on data collection from surveyed participants
A series of paragraphs and bullet points outlining the measurement increments, which is something I had never thought about, but is obviously essential in purely qualitative research, as it outlines how bank loan officers rate certain characteristics on a scale of 1 to 6.

Results

Three introductory paragraphs defining the math parts of gathering statistical data. I don't understand it, but it's obviously important.

Men, Women, and Successful Entrepreneurs
(P1): Introduction of the diagrams pictured later. Explanatory, and sequentially comes directly after they paragraphs they address, a clear stylistic choice
(P2): Introduction of hypothesis, and its apparent veracity
(P3): Integration of previous research that drew similar, but possibly dimensionally deepened results
(P4&5): Restatement of positive data findings, and more detail to that end
(P6): Conclusion drawing

Gender of the Loan Officer
(P1&2): A sort of control for the possible influence of other factors, including the influence of the loan officer's own gender. This draws from similar comparable studies as well, with dubious results ("women managers rate women as unfit to hold managerial positions")

Discussion

(P1): Confirmation of hypothesis

(P2): Further analysis synthesizing this research with previous similar findings ("extending" it)

(P3): Citation of numerous other studies for further bolstering of the argument that the stereotypes adversely influence female performance

(P4): Restatement of the goals of the study, in terms of the argumentation for an overhaul of perceptions of the veracity of gender stereotyping

(P5): Clarification of the choice of scope

(P6): Introduction of another possible contributing factor (social networking)

(P7): Research extension proposition, for clarifying purposes and the advancement of understanding

(P8): Proposed solution, in terms of what the woman can do, rather than institutional change (as an aside, this is where the argumentation dated itself and became problematic to me, as the burden of responsibility was passed off to the woman, rather than situated clearly where it should be, in the hands of the bank loan officers themselves and their dated, misogynistic attitudes)

(P9): Wrap-up, stating the importance of women in the small business sector and offering a macro appeal to the reader

Structural Critical Analysis

The methodology obviously differs from mine, as I will base it almost entirely on synthesis of previously gathered data and theoretical analysis. The style in general is not even remotely similar to my proposed format, but it's not supposed to be. Correspondingly, my "method" paragraphs will differ in their totality from what is outlined in this paper. I'm just glad to be working with something beyond raw data and an interpretive abstract. The citation style differs from my own completely as well.

One problem with this source, however, is that it was written in 1988, so it will only be useful insofar as to contextualize historical attitudinal change, while providing a rationale for why this research was and continues to be valuable, as over twenty years later, these are still problems women face.

In terms of organization, I will not specifically stress sex differences in the very beginning as a central part of unequal access, but synthesize this as one of many problems. My scope is much broader and this only confronts one of my research questions. I will not make it a point to restate every point I make in a summary paragraph before moving on to the next section, as I think of it as a contrived effort to meet a word count. I have no intention on wasting the time of the people who bother to read what will likely be a mildly dry piece of research by restating my thoughts every few paragraphs. However, the progression from the statistical history of women in entrepreneurship to the things that historically caused failure was very natural for me and I liked that as a structural device. A lot of the ideas obviously build on each other, like math almost, so when the audience understands one claim or idea, the researchers introduce another corresponding idea and this ordering prevents any unnecessary misunderstanding of the background. I will probably not add charts right in the middle of my paragraphs, even if they're relevant, because stylistically, I find them a bit garish. The "purpose" paragraph seems essential to me, as many people dismiss the current relevance of issues that are central to the female experience. The idea of gradual progression of ideas seems central to making a cohesive argument that people can actually understand.

Works Cited

Buttner, E. Holly, and Benson Rosen. Bank Loan Officers' Perceptions of the Characteristics of Men, Women, and Successful Entrepreneurs. Rep. Vol. 3. New York: Journal of Business Venturing, 1988. Web. 1 Oct. 2010.

Revised Research Questions

What are the primary reasons for the discrepancies in successes of male versus female-run small businesses? Does gender-based discrimination exist with respect to entrepreneurship, and how does this manifest with respect to the procurement of resources that make financial successes possible? How do women operate differently from men in navigating the private sector of our capitalist system, and how do these differences preclude or advance their potential successes?

Journal Review.

I acknowledge up front that there are a few holes in this, as the beautiful, open access, peer-reviewed journal I had picked out that had all of its ducks in a row and had been stated on another site to allow undergrad research in fact only accepted graduate level and above and I didn't find that out until close to the last minute, then had to work with a number of librarians to find alternatives, so there are a few questions I missed that I will send to the editor and post an update accordingly. I found a lot of this information through joining the manuscript submission website and using my deductive reasoning skills on what was and wasn't required, based on the questions asked in the required fields, et cetera.

1) Title: Women's Studies: An inter-disciplinary journal, published by the Taylor & Francis Group, specifically Routledge, and based in the Claremont Graduate University.

2) The journal was founded by Wendy Martin, currently a Professor of American Literature and American Studies Associate Provost, as well as the Director of the Transdisciplinary Studies Program at Claremont Graduate University, in 1972, and she is currently its primary editor. Description from the website: "Women's Studies provides a forum for the presentation of scholarship and criticism about women in the fields of literature, history, art, sociology, law, political science, economics, anthropology and the sciences. It also publishes poetry, film and book reviews." (Taylor & Francis Group) Looking over the early issues, it seems to have its roots specifically in the analysis of women writers, though that is hardly its only emphasis. There are twenty-one editors representing nine different disciplines on the review board.

3) There are eight issues per year. There are both electronic and print copies for subscribers. I called the editor's office and the secretary told me they do accept undergraduate research papers for article submissions, as this was unclear on the website. The journal publishes topics specific to the aforementioned disciplines, with no overriding theme specific to each issue, though there was recently an issue dedicated solely to the "Woman Art Collector." Because the journal is by subscription only, I was unable to read through multiple issues, but I accessed the sample copy and there was a strong emphasis on identitarian issues ("Black Women, Beauty, and Hair as a Matter of Being") and literary analysis (an article on an autobiographer and an analysis of transgressive women's writings) in the articles in that particular issue. Because I couldn't read entire issues, I referred to the table of contents in a few issues from this year to further feel out what they publish, and that yielded a few articles that seem closely related to a few of our class's topics, among them "Motherhood, Stereotypes, and South Park," and going back a couple of years, "Variations in Values: A Narrowing Gap Between Male and Female Employees in a Singaporean Firm in Southeast Asia?" As mentioned above, the editor is Wendy Martin, an English professor at Claremont Graduate University in California, and the publishing house is British. They don't host a conference.

4) This is a preeminent journal in the field, one of the only instances I found that all of our disciplines are equally represented. Essentially, this would be instance in which we would aim high. Given the expense of the journal and its content, this is a highly academic journal, aimed towards professors, librarians, and scholars.

5) All scholars, emerging or otherwise, with relevant papers, reviews, and articles, et cetera may submit. Resubmission is allowed, and there is a special field to indicate whether or not it's been submitted multiple times. The maximum length of submissions is twenty-five pages, and it seems the average is between fifteen and that maximum. There is no suggested length. It employs MLA, and there is an online submission drop box for all manuscripts. Your work can be submitted in whatever format necessary, but all of the contents, including pictures, if they are used, will be consolidated into a .pdf file for peer review. The abstract must not exceed two hundred words, one hundred recommended, and there is a space for a cover letter. The Works Cited must be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals. Submissions must be original and unpublished. You do not need to be a member to publish, but you obviously need an account with the manuscript submission website.

Works Cited

"Taylor & Francis Journals: Welcome." Women's Studies: An Inter-disciplinary Journal. Taylor & Francis, 2010. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/journal.asp?issn=0049-7878&linktype=1>.

"Women's Studies: An Inter-disciplinary Journal." Women's Studies: An Inter-disciplinary Journal. Taylor & Francis. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. <http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g917928090>.

"Women's Studies: An Inter-disciplinary Journal." Women's Studies: An Inter-disciplinary Journal. Taylor & Francis. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g794613610>.

Research Questions:

I'm hoping that despite that I missed the lecture on this and didn't get notes that I'll structure these questions at least somewhat close to the structure you're looking for, so here goes.

Questions:
What are the primary reasons for the discrepancies in successes of male versus female-run small businesses? How does gender-based discrimination manifest itself with respect to the procurement of resources that make financial successes possible? How do women operate differently from men in navigating the private sector of our capitalist system, and how do these differences preclude or advance their potential successes?

Service Learning Proposal.

Service Learning Proposal for Animal Safehouse of Brevard

By: Patricia Parker

September 23, 2010

Meredith Tweed

WST 4002

Community Partner Profile:

Community Partner: Animal Safehouse of Brevard
Community Partner Contact: (407) 620-6865, http://www.animalsafehousebrevard.org/

Community Partner Mission Statement: “Our objective is to form a network of foster families to provide homes for pets of domestic violence survivors until they can be reunited in a safe living environment. We provide all food, supplies, vet care, and other essentials throughout their stay with us. We also help women reunite with their animals post-shelter by assisting with pet deposits and transport." (ASHB)

Political and/or Social Basis for Organization: "According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (www.ncadv.org), there were 113,123 reported cases of domestic violence and 180 domestic-violence related homicides in Florida in 2008. Women and children should not have to leave their pet(s) behind." (ASHB)

The Proposal

Memorandum

TO: Meredith L. Tweed

FROM: Patricia Parker

DATE: September 24, 2010

RE: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for a Service Learning Project

The following is a proposal to outline the needs, rationale and feasibility for a service learning project to benefit Animal Safehouse of Brevard. The following proposal contains background on the need for and benefits of a ASHB project, an outline of the work I plan to do, the rationale for its inclusion in WST 4002, and a scheduled timeline. This proposal may need to be revised after beginning the project and must be flexible to meet the needs of the Service Learning project and the community partner.

Problem:

Animal Safehouse of Brevard is a relatively new nonprofit organization that has yet to establish itself in many ways, but especially financially. Often, the resources needed for animal care in the wake of receiving a new charge just aren't there, in which case, Leandra, like many business proprietors, is forced to pull from her own pocket to meet her organization's needs. This business model can only be effective for so long, before the financial and the physical toll become too much for proprietors. The mechanics of this problem, among others, in the process of establishing a business as a woman, are my primary interests, and while I can't fix the entire problem, I can certainly offer a different perspective than most other service learning students, as my emphasis is focused on one of the most significant roadblocks Animal Safehouse is encountering while endeavoring to empower women.

Plan Proposal:

I will be working with Leandra in fundraising for the organization, as well as shadowing in its basic managerial and financial aspects. This is a very small scale organization, both in person power and resources, despite that it addresses an issue that is usually ignored or underrepresented in terms of solutionary action. In similar situations, this often leads to dishearteningly severe declines in operational viability, and can preclude progress for women to establish themselves as contributing members of their communities. My work will focus only on how to prevent this from happening to Animal Safehouse, by taking into my charge the discrepancies in financial resources, while analyzing what factors can contribute to the alarming inconsistencies in the success rates of male versus female run businesses.

Rationale for Women's Studies:
My research is more referential of small businesses (profit-based) owned by women and the issues involved in the startup process and why these problems exist, but the financial problems in running this organization are very similar. The only organizational differences is that it hinges on donations or fundraising, rather than profit. I want to come to some understanding of the difficulties of running an organization, any organization, that hinges on financial resources, while being a woman operating in a unabashedly capitalistic, self-serving society. There are very interesting implications to doing this with a nonprofit, as the act of charitable activism is counterintuitive to the nature of how we perceive our world economically, yet depends on the same resources in order to survive. The discrepancy in the success rates of female versus male-run businesses is astronomical, and I'm curious as to why this is the case. As a social constructionist, I'm not one to say that women are inherently less able to handle the stresses of the financial sector, but the interplay of certain outside factors, especially discouragement from applying for the credit which will make the endeavor initially possible, needs to be isolated and understood, so that women aspiring to be financially successful, independent of any cosigner, can make educated decisions regarding the viability of their projects. Pulling from the article, "Women's Studies, Neoliberalism, and the Paradox of the Political," which we've read recently, one potential problem I can isolate regarding women as operators in a capitalist society, especially concerning small businesses, is that "the rise of corporate power is relative to the increasing disenfranchisement of flexible laboring bodies." (Rubin 248) While this is not directly relevant to my field research, it does give me a perspective from which to base my thoughts when attempting to aid in the financial successes of ASH.

Action:
I have been emailing Abigail Malick, the Service Learning Coordinator, and Leandra about my goals for this project and what they need done, beyond the more traditional service learning suggestions (transport, cleaning, animal interaction, fostering), and it seems that there are a lot of opportunities for fundraising and tabling for education and opening up dialogue. Their financial resources are currently very depleted and I plan to be taking a very active role in learning about that aspect of the business, so my activity will reflect this.

Timeline: 

October 10- Orlando Pride Fest Orlando

October 23- Veg Fest Orlando

October 30- Suntree Fall Festival

Works Cited

Animal Safehouse of Brevard. 2010. Animal Safehouse of Brevard. 24 September 2010.

Beins, Angela and Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, eds. Women’s Studies for the Future: Foundations, Interrogations, Politics. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2005.

Word Count: 944

Library Research Module

1) I didn't know where to start with women who theorize on my topic, so I went straight into database searches for keywords. I began with simply "women business" and yielded thousands of results. Here are bullet pointed ways I used the subject topics to yield hyperlinked keywords. Each dropped bullet represents a subtopic of a subtopic, or in the case of the commas, multiple subtopics.

• women owned business enterprises
• federal aide to women owned business operations
• government accountability, government lending
• business education
• career development
• economic aspects
• economic conditions
• finance

Next, I got more specific, querying "women small business," and yielded only "women executives" as a relevant subtopic. The following results are similar, with the arrow indicating "yield," or rather, another subtopic.

• Women capitalism → patriarchy → government policy
• Women leadership → women executives
• Women labor → Sexual division of labor → businesswomen, pay equity, sex roles in the work environment, international business enterprises, feminist economics

2) I began with this question in the journal databases, starting in the business college, with a specific emphasis in business, and went to the LexisNexis Statistical Insight Journal and searched "women business." It was a goldmine. I found a research study based on statistics collected from the Survey of Small Business Finances entitled "Gender and the Availability of Credit to Privately Held Firms: Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances." It's purely quantitative research that posits exactly in the direction I wanted to take my research, but stresses specifically that women are not barred from obtaining credit, but rather discouraged from applying in the first place and charged greater interest rates, despite being more likely to be required to offer collateral. It also examines the general intersectional differences in identity that differ between male and female small business owners, with an emphasis on the education gap, which favors men. The abstract was basically the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Anyway, more on LexisNexis: I also found a research document entitled "Equality for Women: Where Do We Stand on Millenium Development Goal 3?" This is further qualitative research that I've yet to review, but am excited to delve into, though it represents women on a global scale and isn't particular to just business ownership, so I'm unsure of its direct application.

Cole, Rebel A., and Hamid Mehran. "Gender and the Availability of Credit to Privately Held Firms:   Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances." LexisNexis Statistical. Web. 9 Sept. 2010.

Buvinic, Mayra, Andrew R. Morrison, A. Waafas Ofosu-Amaah, and Mirja Sjöblom, eds. "Equality for            Women: Where Do We Stand on Millenium Development Goal 3?" LexisNexis Statistical. Web. 9 Sept.  2010.

Next, I became curious about the sociological implications of my topic, so I searched the sociology journal databases and checked out Contemporary Women's Issues. A lot of these results were in the form of extremely brief newsletters, outlining general statistics, such as how women-owned businesses are on the rise, with the most quickly growing examples listed (related fact: the top five metro areas are all cities in Florida). Additionally, I read a newsletter entitled "Women business owners rank concerns" and to my surprise, it speaks only of financial issues on a macro scale, not an individual basis. However, while these are statistically based, it's in the form of surveys, rather than analysis of preexisting data. This distinction was quite surprising to me, and even more than that, I found quite a few articles about finance as it exists in other countries, as analyzed by their own citizens or American researchers. Most of the LexisNexis information is compiled either by the US government or in the case of the principal article mentioned above, the Federal Reserve Bank. 


Basically, my greatest surprise was that even in sociological research, the truncated reports produced completely lacked voice, and instead reported blankly on statistics. I have yet to find a VOICE for what I'm trying to research and write about, and given my previous background and area of study, this is quite disconcerting. However, after further research, I realized that the brevity and lack of commentary is not isolated to sociology, as the Worldwide Political Science Abstracts database offered much more substantial articles, though the only one that related to my research was part of a dissertation compilation that I'm not sure we have any volumes of dating past 1980 entitled "Government contracts: A study of minority small business owners' and administrators' strategies for success," published this year. Furthermore, these journals are pointing me in a new direction; perhaps an analysis of microcredit in developing nations would be more valuable? At this point, I'm so deep in the research that I am only posing this because I am discouraged by the lack of readily accessible commentary on this issue in the domestic sphere, although perhaps searching for it will yield more original commentary? In an effort to narrow it to the domestic, I even tried "women business America" as a search term on the CWI database, and yielded zero results.


Anyway, I'm getting distracted. On to WorldCat. For whatever reason, the principal search results for articles utilizing the search terms "women" and "business" were all in Slovenian. There were five thousand+ internet resources under these search terms, and I looked at pages upon pages and didn't find any that were relevant without narrowing it down further than I had to using the topic specific databases. However, when narrowed to "women," "business," and "government loans," I yielded similar results to my LexisNexis results, including two early nineties sources from the U.S. Small Business Administration, concerning "the facts about women-owned small businesses." This overlap is not something I saw in the sociology database.


3) As I mentioned before, the sociological sources were primarily newsletters, and as such, were not very informative beyond unimpressive statistics, or could have been quite informative, in the case of the aforementioned dissertation, but were out of my immediately available reach. My preference for this research has become research journals and dissertations, but more than that, I need to find where solid, interesting theorizations begin, with a seminal scholar in the field, which will happen after I get in touch with professors more directly related to my field of interest. However, business itself is obviously quantitative and generally not based in theory, and other than Marxist feminism and labor issues, I struggle to find where women's studies would intersect. If anything, the initial research process has only made me unsure of the viability of my topic as it stands and I am seriously considering another financially motivated topic. As for comparison, the level of detail included in the sociology database I referred to was, in a word, inadequate, though I'm very excited to go back to the library on Monday to look into that Political Science dissertation abstract further. For initial data, it seems that my best bet is the statistics compiled by the government in research reports on LexisNexis. Basically, I've researched for well over nine hours of active time and I have yielded very little, so I'd love help redirecting myself because honestly, the inadequacy of my results does not reflect a lack of effort.

Invention Module

1) Ideas:

Well, as I've previously mentioned, I'd like my focus to emphasize women and entrepreneurship, but another idea I've batted around lately is how linguistics often reinforces the gender binary and cultural constructions of gender. Example: in Spanish, the word "kitchen" is female, and most electronics are male. The gendering of language, to me, is quite problematic and dated, but perhaps my sensibilities are just too liberal to understand the utility of it. Additionally, I was listening to NPR the other day and there was an interview with a linguist about constructed languages through the ages and one she mentioned specifically was Láadan, a language created by American science fiction writer Suzette Haden Elgin in 1982 to test the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. It focuses specifically on feminizing communication to counter its male-centered limitations. While I don't encourage this sort of default gender separatism, it fit perfectly with what I had already been considering concerning transcultural linguistics. I don't PLAN to make this my topic, but since we're already listing our ideas, I thought I would mention it.

2) Research:

Back to my original plan: I think my emphasis should be specifically in government grants because I'll most likely be working with Leandra's nonprofit for my field research, and also, because it's easier to quantify the statistical inconsistencies in a macro scheme than working within a specific community. Also, it will better inform my personal interests, as I have no intention of using this information while living even remotely close to Florida. Professor Tweed mentioned also the possibilities for perspectives involving women in a capitalist society, and I also believe this would be highly valuable. With this level of specificity and ability to act as a direct corollary to my original, rather vague idea, I don't feel the need to list other possibilities, unless further specificity is requested.

3) Previous paper ideas:

As I've mentioned, I just changed my major from English Literature, and I highly doubt that my papers on German Enlightenment thinkers, Tolstoy, and the like would relate in the least, though I wish they would. I almost considered returning to my most immediate comfort zone and doing a deconstruction of some of the horrible women in Shakespearean plays and their inexplicable cultural glorification (read: Cleopatra, whom I absolutely abhor), but I thought working completely outside of what is familiar to me would be a more challenging and ultimately rewarding academic experience.

Skipping straight to eight: research journals

I'm struggling to find where my research would fit because it combines the quantitative with what is obviously qualitative, and only strictly fits into the Women's Studies discipline and nowhere else. The only possible journal, beyond the UCF URJ, that I can come up with is Gender & Society, but obviously, for now, this seems rather lofty, though this can be reevaluated when I consider if I'm going to turn this into a thesis project.

Introductory Letter

In case you missed it, with all of the silly banners and things, I'm Patricia Parker. Essentially, I'm from the metro area (I've lived in Clermont for seventeen years and currently commute), but I was born in San Jose, California. I'm a junior in the Interdisciplinary Studies program with a Women's Studies track currently, and a second concentration in Letters and Modern Languages. I just transferred to UCF and changed my major all at once, so I've been a bit overwhelmed as of late, but I'm doing my best to acclimate.

My interest in this class, and the track in general, relates more readily to the "gender" aspect than the "women" part. Gender politics and discourse inform everything, and I don't believe that in focusing on that, rather than the empowerment of women through a history from their point of view(s), we take any power away from women in the discussion in the process. However, in researching the pitfalls of the gendered experience, male or female, I think that I, on a personal level, can begin to understand the motives inherent in the separatism that people create when examining the genders even today. 

I considered a minor in Entrepreneurship because I plan to attend culinary school and obtain a second bachelor's not long after finishing here, with the eventual goal of owning my own bakery or restaurant, but I'm terrible at anything related to math or finance and didn't feel like being graded on something I could probably do much better at teaching myself or outsourcing to someone with a different skill set, but I digress. Because of all of this, my primary research goal is in w0men and entrepreneurship, specifically the roadblocks involved in obtaining small business loans in a banking system that often still employs quite a bit of institutionalized patriarchy. I'm not sure if this is a practical goal, at least regarding the field research aspect, in which case there are a number of other women's issues that interest (or infuriate) me in equal measure. This is only my initial idea because it most readily informs my own personal concerns.


Extensive scholarly research, especially using databases, is not something I'm particularly well-versed in, though I have written lengthy term papers in the past for English and Philosophy, so I plan to use this class as a jumping off point for developing those skills. While the prospect of going to graduate school is becoming increasingly less likely, I would like to do some 5000 level graduate seminars next year, and obviously, scholarly research will be imperative at that level.


I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus and the blogging protocols.