Choosing mothering and entrepreneurship: a relational career-life process

Abstract

Purpose To date, research on women’s entrepreneurship has largely been focused on how gender roles may constrain the venture process, or cause role conflicts for women pursuing an entrepreneurial career. While acknowledging the validity of such perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to apply a broader perspective of career-life development, answering the call for a more nuanced and embedded understanding of an entrepreneurial career. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a constructionist, relational analysis of the experiences of 13 Canadian women who started their business following the life transition to motherhood. Interview data were coded using grounded theory methods. Findings The conceptual model captures the influence of the mothering role in shaping the transition into entrepreneurship, illuminating the reciprocal relational processes of context, choice and outcomes in the career-life development of mother entrepreneurs. Research limitations/implications While this is a small sample, and findings are not generalizable, application of relational theory of career-life offers implications for supporting women’s transition to, and continued success in, entrepreneurship. Practical implications Career theory offers practical application to the management of mother entrepreneurs’ career-life development. Originality/value To date, there has been limited application of career theory to entrepreneurship, particularly to understanding the gendered, relational career-life experiences of mother entrepreneurs.