04 April, 2025

Saskia Stoker, Ingrid Wakkee and our Hincks academic researcher, Ana Cruz-García, have just published an article “Unveiling belonging: women entrepreneurs’ belonging strategies to navigate the embedding process” in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship. The data include the voices of Dutch and Irish women entrepreneurs from the European project WeRin (women entrepreneurs in inclusive regional ecosystems).

You can open access the article here

Abstract: Opportunity-driven women entrepreneurs encounter gendered challenges in leveraging social networks essential for business development. This research builds on Stead (2017), exploring how women navigate these challenges and foster belonging within these networks. Utilising a post-structural feminist lens, we aim to understand the strategies employed by women entrepreneurs to maintain embeddedness in social networks. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the complex interplay between gender, belonging strategies and embeddedness in entrepreneurship.

The findings indicate that many women entrepreneurs successfully acquire essential resources within a masculine social networking context. They employ strategies that both align with and challenge traditional gender norms. A performed strategy, belonging by commonalities, enables women to enhance their connections, navigate gendered challenges and secure access to resources. Additionally, gendered network consciousness helps women to identify existing connections and determine whom to network with for valuable resources. Conscious networking strategies include mechanisms such as mutual support and allyship, enabling women to proactively seek connections and overcome gendered challenges in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Click here to learn more about the WeRin project.

Dr. Ana Cruz García

Academic Researcher,

Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence