اکوسیستم های کارآفرینی و زنان کارآفرین: سرمایه اجتماعی و رویکرد شبکه Entrepreneurship ecosystems and women entrepreneurs: a social capital and network approach

1 Introduction Entrepreneurial (eco)systems have become a popular topic of discussion among scholars and policy makers. These discussions have led to the development of different conceptualizations with a collection of interrelated parts. For example, Isenberg (2010) constructs entrepreneurial ecosystems around nine elements such as cultural change and the reformation of regulatory frameworks. Neck et al. (2004) emphasize the importance of incubator organizations, universities, and support services to generate a constant flow of new ventures. Spigel (2017) and Stam (2015) have further built on these studies, detailing the function and linkage of each component. A commonly listed feature of all these ecosystem archetypes is their ability to support the formation of social capital between networks of stakeholders. Defined as the Bsum of the resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an individual or a group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition^ (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992, p. 119), social capital is an important theoretical perspective to better understand the social stratifications in an entrepreneurial ecosystem. This is particularly relevant in highgrowth venture environments, where women entrepreneurs are facing barriers to access network resources such as mentors, investors, or advisors (Carter et al. 2003). Although work on female entrepreneurs’ social capital has increased steadily over the years (Neergaard et al. 2005; Yetim 2008), many questions remain with respect to entrepreneurial ecosystems. To address some of these questions, our study conceptualizes entrepreneurial ecosystems as a social network of stakeholders with reciprocal ties. This allows us to examine the presence of distinct social clusters based on individual and venture characteristics as well as how social capital is distributed between male and female stakeholders. To provide regional context, we selected the metropolitan areas of Gainesville and Jacksonville, in Florida. Gainesville’s ecosystem is a prime example for a university-based entrepreneurial ecosystem that provides a broad stream of intellectual property, creating various opportunities for new technology-driven ventures. The extensive infrastructure of support programs and organizations such as accelerators or incubators further supports university graduates to start their entrepreneurial career. Jacksonville’s ecosystem is driven by a diverse set of firms with respect to size and industry. The large geographic and demographic area provides opportunities for new ventures that serve business-to-consumer as well as business-tobusiness markets. A sizable number of business associations targeting underserved groups provide female and minority entrepreneurs with the opportunity to connect and build social capital.