Journal Article

Intersections of gender, ethnicity, place and innovation : mapping the diversity of women-led SMEs in the United Kingdom

Abstract

This article advances knowledge on the diversity and heterogeneity of women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United Kingdom by analysing how gender intersects with ethnicity and place to influence their engagement in innovation. We adopt an intersectional perspective, and base our analyses on the Longitudinal Small Business Survey (LSBS) data of 29,257 SMEs over the period 2015–2018. Our findings suggest that despite their limited number, as well as firm size and industry sector constraints, women-led SMEs are actively engaged in innovation activities. In addition, our results on the effects of intersecting categories of gender, ethnicity and place on innovation, further emphasise the heterogeneity of women-led SMEs, both with regard to their likelihood to engage in innovation, as well as the place where innovation is most likely to occur. Implications for policy and practice are highlighted.

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Authors

Owalla, Beldina
Nyanzu, Elvis
Vorley, Tim

Oxford Brookes departments

Oxford Brookes Business School

Dates

Year of publication: 2021
Date of RADAR deposit: 2024-03-13

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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