<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This article explores female entrepreneurs’ picture of self in the gaze of others. It relies on the narratives of female business owners gained via semi-structured interviews and focus groups, compiled in the framework of an international research project (iFEMPOWER)<sup>1</sup> in Austria. The study reveals that the imagined and perceived gaze of others has a significant power on how businesswomen define both their professional and personal self and how they evaluate their self-worth. The gaze of others becomes a signifier of shame (for not being enough or being too much). The results of this study contribute to a more complex understanding of female entrepreneurship, and with the interdisciplinary character it aims at shaping the contemporary discourse on the gendered entrepreneurial sector.</p>
</abstract>

This article explores female entrepreneurs’ picture of self in the gaze of others. It relies on the narratives of female business owners gained via semi-structured interviews and focus groups, compiled in the framework of an international research project (iFEMPOWER)1 in Austria. The study reveals that the imagined and perceived gaze of others has a significant power on how businesswomen define both their professional and personal self and how they evaluate their self-worth. The gaze of others becomes a signifier of shame (for not being enough or being too much). The results of this study contribute to a more complex understanding of female entrepreneurship, and with the interdisciplinary character it aims at shaping the contemporary discourse on the gendered entrepreneurial sector.

Trapped in the Gaze of Others. Discourses of Shame among Female Entrepreneurs in Austria

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Social Analysis

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

This article explores female entrepreneurs’ picture of self in the gaze of others. It relies on the narratives of female business owners gained via...

Trapped in the Gaze of Others. Discourses of Shame among Female Entrepreneurs in Austria

Published Online: Dec 22, 2021

Page range: 24 - 42

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aussoc-2021-0002

Keywords
female entrepreneurship, qualitative analysis, shame, self-worth, the gaze of others

© 2021 Erzsébet Fanni Tóth, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Trapped in the Gaze of Others. Discourses of Shame among Female Entrepreneurs in Austria

Published Online: Dec 22, 2021

Page range: 24 - 42

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aussoc-2021-0002

Keywordsfemale entrepreneurship, qualitative analysis, shame, self-worth, the gaze of others

© 2021 Erzsébet Fanni Tóth, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
female entrepreneurship, qualitative analysis, shame, self-worth, the gaze of others