A Gender Perspective on Corporate Entrepreneurship - Closing the gender gap(s) in Corporate Innovation: Understanding Intrapreneurship as Position-taking

Abstract: Increasing women's representation in innovation, as the foremost source of economic growth and technological development, has been on the agenda amongst policy-makers and corporations for years. Despite this, research on corporate entrepreneurship, as an increasingly applied strategy for innovation and business renewal, and the interrelated intrapreneurship concept, are signified by gender blindness. The research field of corporate entrepreneurship has evolved towards understanding intrapreneurship as an individual-level concept, though dependent on the contextual, corporate conditions as antecedents for intrapreneurial behavior and progression. Here, organizational theorists have long acknowledged the importance of gender as part of organizational life to explain the numerical subordination of women through opportunity structures, behaviors, choices and perceptions. This leads one to wonder whether such analysis could enhance our understanding of why and how women engage in intrapreneurship. As such, this thesis takes a gender perspective on corporate entrepreneurship, in order to unveil what structural, normative and institutional frames that exist in the organization, and may deprive or enhance intrapreneurial activity amongst female employees. To answer the research purpose, an exploratory, single case study was conducted at a global, ICT company, an industry which is signified by high numerical male-dominance. The company had recently launched a corporate incubator as a facilitator for intrapreneurial employees. Although efforts had been made to increase the representation of women, they were still largely underrepresented amongst the intrapreneurs. Here, qualitative interviews were conducted with both female intrapreneurs and management in order to address the research question. By applying Bourdieu's theory of practice as an analytical framework, intrapreneurship was conceptualized as a form of position-taking. Based on the Bourdieusian concepts of field, habitus and capitals, the empirical findings indicated a number of reinforcing- and disruptive structures found on the macro-, meso- and micro level, which explained why, how and in what scope women engaged in intrapreneurship. The introduction of the corporate incubator, thus intrapreneurship, indicated both field-transformative potential and the reinforcement of current, organizational social structures. As such, the study proved the relevance of gender sensitive research- and application of CE, whilst expanding the application of Bourdieu's concepts in management- and organization studies.