Why do female entrepreneurs decide to exit their ventures? : A qualitative study on the entrepreneurial exit decisions of female entrepreneurs in Sweden.

Abstract: There are fewer female entrepreneurs than their male counterparts worldwide. This disparity persists even in countries like Sweden with the highest gender equality index scores and therefore presumed to be more gender equal. Moreover, women are underrepresented in the entrepreneurship literature. With fewer studies exploring female entrepreneurs and the gender-specific challenges, they face because ofinsufficient support, financial and otherwise. Gender equality in entrepreneurship has socio-economic importance and it plays a significant role in the overall economic growth. Making entrepreneurship a crucial economic development tool for women. With previous research showing that female entrepreneurs tend to exit their ventures at a higher rate, in this study we have explored the entrepreneurial exit decisions of female entrepreneurs with a focus on Sweden. Through our qualitative study, we interviewed 10 women that had previously made an entrepreneurial exit. Our findings show that female entrepreneurs mostly exit due to voluntary reasons, which affirms previous research that has found that female entrepreneurs are more likely to exit voluntarily than male entrepreneurs for mostly personal reasons and not because of underperformance (Justo et al., 2015; Jawarna et al., 2020). Moreover, we have further explored voluntary exits and involuntary exits. With findings showing that voluntary exits happen mostly due to management-related issues, economic instability, geographic relocation, or when the entrepreneur finds what they perceive as a better opportunity. All the involuntary exits in this study were a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study contributes to the literature of entrepreneurial exit as well as gender studies with its recommendations.