A critical moment: 25 years of Gender, Work and Organization

Anniversary editoria

Gender inclusion activities in entrepreneurship ecosystems: The case of St. Louis, MO and Boston, MA

Women-owned businesses have an economic impact of nearly $3 trillion in the U.S. Despite the tremendous opportunity for economic growth they present, women entrepreneurs lag behind their male counterparts in terms of number of start-ups and scaling of businesses. To understand how and why this may be taking shape, we focus on the role of entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) or those organizations that act as intermediaries between the resources of a local ecosystem and entrepreneurs. All organizations that have as their proverbial mission to serve, support or partner with entrepreneurs can be categorized as ESOs. Given their role as decision makers, gatekeepers and resource providers, such organizations have the power and capacity to determine who is granted the opportunity to access and benefit from the very networks, mentors, programs and funding that increase entrepreneurs’ odds for success. Through extensive interviews and observations over the course of 2013 to 2016, we compare and contrast the entrepreneurship ecosystems in St. Louis, MO and Boston, MA to understand differences in gender inclusion efforts at ESOs. We focus specifically on cultural cognitive frames, social normative ‘rules’, and regulatory forces as exerting institutional pressures on ESOs in the specific communities in which they are embedded. Our qualitative approach yields in-depth insights as to the mechanisms and dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in the St. Louis and Boston ecosystems by way of ESOs and their practices. Findings indicate that ESOs in the emerging St. Louis ecosystem engage in inclusion efforts through institutional pressures exerted at the grassroots level by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. These efforts seem to have yielded positive results in that women’s business ownership has increased by 16% in a span of five years between 2007 and 2012, going from 28% to 44%. In comparison, women’s business ownership has stayed around 30%, in Boston between 2007 and 2012, which is a much more established ecosystem. Our findings indicate that inclusion efforts driven mainly by top-down regulatory forces may not be as effective in changing the gender gap in entrepreneurship ecosystems. We expand on these differences and outline steps for ESOs and policy makers to build inclusive ecosystems in their cities

Classics in Entrepreneurship Research: Enduring Insights, Future Promises

Academic inquiry into entrepreneurial phenomena has had a rich history over several decades and continues to evolve. This editorial draws attention to the classics: seminal articles that make profound contributions to the development of an academic field in entrepreneurship studies. We focus on the formative years of entrepreneurship research, specifically the 1970s and 1980s, to identify classics using a key informant approach that surveys members of the journal editorial board. Each nominated classic is introduced and discussed by an editorial board member, with particular focus on research opportunities that may be pursued going forward. Analyzing classics allows for the recognition of substantive advances in entrepreneurship research and provides an opportunity to delve into the academic progress achieved in understanding entrepreneurial phenomena

Politics, Governance, and Leadership: What Can We Learn From the Academy of Management’s Response to EO13769?

Organization design seeks to balance potentially conflicting objectives while achieving a broader mission. EO13769 created a challenge for the president of the Academy of Management in leading through these conflicts, as President Anita McGahan describes: how to be true to her own moral values while leading an organization with well-established design constraints, and members with diverse opinions. This article shares the perspectives of 12 scholars on the lessons we can learn from Professor McGahan’s leadership of a constraining organization through a challenging time

Being a Self-Employed Older Woman: From Discrimination to Activism

This article presents an autobiographical account of an older woman’s lived experience of self-employment. Little is known about women who experience ongoing self-employment into their 50s and beyond. Shoshanna’s personal narrative describes her experiences and the challenges she has faced as she reflects upon her attempts to grow and sustain her business and the implications of ageism and gender inequality in laying a claim to entrepreneurship. The narrative proceeds to reflect on her activist work, as it is constructed through the creation of a social enterprise to support older people. Shoshanna’s narrative provides valuable insights into the intersection of age and gender in self-employment moving from discrimination to active support

Successive crystal structure snapshots suggest the basis for MHC class i peptide loading and editing by tapasin

MHC-I epitope presentation to CD8 + T cells is directly dependent on peptide loading and selection during antigen processing. However, the exact molecular bases underlying peptide selection and binding by MHC-I remain largely unknown. Within the peptideloading complex, the peptide editor tapasin is key to the selection of MHC-I-bound peptides. Here, we have determined an ensemble of crystal structures of MHC-I in complex with the peptide exchange-associated dipeptide GL, as well as the tapasin-associated scoop loop, alone or in combination with candidate epitopes. These results combined with mutation analyses allow us to propose a molecular model underlying MHC-I peptide selection by tapasin. The N termini of bound peptides most probably bind first in the N-terminal and middle region of the MHC-I peptide binding cleft, upon which the peptide C termini are tested for their capacity to dislodge the tapasin scoop loop from the F pocket of the MHC-I cleft. Our results also indicate important differences in peptide selection between different MHC-I alleles

We Are Boiling: Management Scholars Speaking Out on COVID-19 and Social Justice

COVID-19 is the most immediate of several crises we face as human beings: crises that expose deeply-rooted matters of social injustice in our societies. Management scholars have not been encouraged to address the role that business, as we conduct it and consider it as scholars, has played in creating the crises and fostering the injustices our crises are laying bare. Contributors to this article draw attention to the way that the pandemic has highlighted long-standing examples of injustice, from inequality to racism, gender, and social discrimination through environmental injustice to migratory workers and modern slaves. They consider the fact that few management scholars have raised their voices in protest, at least partly because of the ideological underpinnings of the discipline, and the fact these need to be challenged

Disaster awareness and information seeking behaviour among residents from low socio-economic backgrounds

An individual's socio-economic status can increase their vulnerability to, and ability to prepare for and recover in the aftermath of a disaster. People from low socio-economic (LSE) backgrounds often face greater disaster risks, but are least prepared for disaster events due to a number of factors including a lack of housing affordability, low income and literacy levels. While there is an established relationship between a person's socio-economic status and disaster vulnerability, very little is understood about the disaster information seeking needs and preferences of LSE population groups and how this affects their levels of disaster awareness. This paper addresses this gap through a comparative study of LSE and non-LSE population groups to identify key disaster information sources and how it shapes levels of disaster awareness. A survey of 224 residents was conducted, and multivariate regression analysis of both LSE and non-LSE respondents revealed a trend of disaster passivity in both population groups. English language proficiency, occupation, familiarity with the local environment are the most important factors influencing disaster awareness among the LSE population groups. For non-LSE population groups, disaster awareness is gender-dependent with females showing higher levels of awareness. Overall, television was the most trusted information source regardless of socio-economic status. The results provide a better understanding of the underlying impact of socio-economic status on disaster awareness and information seeking behaviour, which can assist practitioners and policy makers in making informed decisions on disaster mitigation strategies to reduce the disaster risk vulnerability of targeted population groups