Sustainability through the tourism entrepreneurship journey: a gender perspective

Figueroa-Domecq, C., Kimbu, A., de Jong, A. and Williams, A. M. (2022) Sustainability through the tourism entrepreneurship journey: a gender perspective. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(7), pp. 1562-1585. (doi: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1831001)

Abstract

Women’s tourism entrepreneurship has been identified as fundamental to meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals of both ‘gender equality’ and ‘decent growth and economic growth’ but neither entrepreneurship nor sustainability are gender neutral in the tourism industry. Therefore, further research is required into how gender influences sustainable entrepreneurship, providing insights for tourism entrepreneurship policy. In response to a prevalent essentialism in much of the literature, this paper adopts a post-structuralist framework, alongside a mixed-methods approach, to understand the complex role of gender and sustainability at different stages of entrepreneurship. The initial focus is on a survey of 539 tourism students (women and men) which analyses the latent and nascent entrepreneurship stages, while 19 interviews with established tourism entrepreneurs provide further insights into these issues. The analysis focusses especially on the individual characteristics of risk, personal attitudes to entrepreneurship and behavioural control. While broad gender differences are observed, notably in societal perceptions of risk aversion, there is also considerable blurring of the approaches of established entrepreneurs in particular to sustainability and entrepreneurship. If entrepreneurship is to enhance sustainability, policy needs to account for the non-essentialised gendered dimensions that inhibit and enable sustainable tourism entrepreneurship.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: de Jong, Dr Anna
• Authors: Figueroa-Domecq, C., Kimbu, A., de Jong, A., and Williams, A. M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability
• Journal Name: Journal of Sustainable Tourism
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0966-9582
• ISSN (Online): 1747-7646
• Published Online: 14 October 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor and Francis Group
• First Published: First published in Journal of Sustainable Tourism 30(7): 1562-1585
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy