Female entrepreneurship during multiple crises: An intersectional perspective on entrepreneurial ecosystems in Switzerland and Colombia

With this project we seek to examine the ways in which women entrepreneurs in Switzerland and in Colombia have been affected by and have been able to recover from crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the most recent economic distortions associated with the war in Ukraine and natural catastrophes such as recent floodings in Barranquilla (Colombia) that were related to climate change. Entrepreneurship is a key dynamic in modern economies (Audretsch et al., 2006) and increasingly entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) are understood as essential modes of spatial organizing (Spigel, 2020). Yet, if a large segment of humans (women in this case) is disadvantaged in or even excluded from such ecosystems we risk losing innovative potential. There is an implicit assumption that women entrepreneurs have an equal chance or are treated equally, but this might not be the case in reality (Brush et al., 2019). As a result, policies are often not gender-sensitive (UN Women, 2021). Yet, particularly in crises situation, economic and social policies would need to take differences across gender and other intersectional attributes into account. This is essential for building a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable society and entrepreneurial ecosystems. In this project, we will examine the ways in which EEs in Switzerland and Colombia provided a supportive environment to entrepreneurs with different intersectional identities to recover from the multi-layered challenges the various crises put on them. Women entrepreneurs with intersectional characteristics such as care duties, migration experience, age, or economic marginalization may face multi-layered challenges to keeping their businesses afloat during crises. We will compare female entrepreneurs with male entrepreneurs as to be able to decipher differences and commonalities in terms of the entrepreneurs` handling of crises situations and the ways entrepreneurial ecosystems provided (or not) a supportive environment that strengthened coping strategies. Understanding the effects of crises on different types of entrepreneurs is crucial to give empirical evidence to policymakers and practitioners who seek to sustain entrepreneurs` livelihoods and support their resilience.Our transatlantic project meets the requirements of the SPIRIT call in multiple ways: Our team consists of two research groups that are headed by female researchers. Combining various intersectional attributes and experiences themselves, we identified common but also differing challenges across our national contexts. In Switzerland and in Colombia we find entrepreneurial ecosystems (Zurich and Barranquilla) that play a central role in the respective national economy and that are affected by recent crises. It is, however, unclear whether and in which ways these EEs are inclusive for women entrepreneurs. Empirical research in other contexts provides evidence that this may not be the case (Motoyama et al., 2021; Neumeyer et al., 2019). Yet, the inclusive character of an EE becomes particularly relevant during crises. For example, women needed to shoulder the brunt of the COVID pandemic because of their care responsibilities during lockdowns (Adams-Prassl et al., 2020) while keeping their businesses running (Grandy et al., 2020). As inclusivity of EEs likely differs across countries, but also in terms of its internal networks as well as its evolutionary stages, evaluating whether context is an asset or liability (Welter, 2011) of entrepreneurship is essential. The research team has a proven track record of promoting an inclusive culture of collaboration. We engage in the spatial social sciences and combine expertise from social and economic geography, economics, and entrepreneurship studies. We will utilize a diversity-oriented recruitment and training program that allows young researchers from the Global North and South to interact with each other. To allow learning from each other, we incorporate research stays for the Colombian-based PhD student in Switzerland and for the Swiss-based PhD student in Colombia. The research team is supported by policy partners in each country, which will ensure the uptake of our findings in the entrepreneurial communities in each context. Results will be published in international peer-reviewed journals. Moreover, we will portray women entrepreneurs in videos that will be created in collaboration with media experts. With policy documents, we aim to inform recovery efforts regarding gender-sensitive policies (e.g. economic, social) to build more resilient, inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems. Our project addresses two societal challenges, namely (i) reducing inequalities and vulnerabilities and (ii) building a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable society.