For her publication ‘’It just seems that they don't act like men': The influence of gender role stereotypes on women's entrepreneurial innovation activities’, in which she investigates the influence of gender role stereotypes on women's innovative entrepreneurship, Janina Sundermeier receives the ECDF Annual Award for the best paper in the field of digitalization and diversity 2024. The prize is endowed with 1000 Euros.
Are women as strong digital entrepreneurs as their male counterparts? The achievements of the digital transformation and the diverse possibilities of digital entrepreneurship would suggest that equality in entrepreneurial activities is well advanced. The reality is different, as Janina Sundermeier, Professor of Digital Entrepreneurship and Diversity at the FU Berlin, has discovered. For her study, she interviewed various players – men and women – in the Berlin start-up ecosystem and found a strong negative influence of gender role stereotypes on women's innovative entrepreneurship. However, it also shows what women are doing to counter the hurdles and prejudices. The work was published in the Journal of Business Research in December 2024 and was honoured with the ECDF Award for Digitalization and Diversity 2024. We asked Janina Sundermeier about the topic and her study:
Ms Sundermeier, what roles do gender and diversity play in digital entrepreneurship?
‘Digital entrepreneurship plays a crucial role today, as digital technologies are increasingly permeating our private and professional lives. Examples of this include digital platforms that shape our consumer behaviour and cloud technologies that enable completely new forms of collaboration. Start-ups in the field of artificial intelligence or blockchain are fundamentally changing industries and driving innovation, while digital business models can also be used to tackle global challenges such as climate change and health crises. Research often still assumes that access to digital entrepreneurship is equally possible for everyone. This assumption ignores the fact that systemic barriers - such as unequal access to capital, networks or education - disproportionately affect women and other groups. For example, there is often a lack of female perspectives in the development of digital innovations, even though they could make a decisive contribution to ensuring that technologies and business models address more diverse needs. It is therefore essential to analyze not only the technological, but also the social and structural prerequisites for digital entrepreneurship and to establish targeted gender-equitable support measures. Only in this way can digital innovations be designed inclusively and reflect the diversity of society, particularly with regard to gender equality.’
How would you categorize the work for which you received the award in this context?
‘Gender role stereotypes are a key obstacle to women being perceived and able to act as digital entrepreneurs on an equal footing with men. In my research project, I conducted a three-year ethnography in the Berlin startup ecosystem and found that the ideal digital entrepreneur is still strongly associated with a white, middle-aged, educated man with an academic background and stereotypically male characteristics. Women, on the other hand, are often perceived as deviating from this supposed norm. They are said to primarily address niche markets, to be more emotional than rational when it comes to exploiting innovation potential and to be significantly more risk-averse. These prejudices mean that women often lose legitimacy in the field of digital entrepreneurship and face major hurdles, for example when it comes to accessing capital or other crucial resources. In order to make digital innovations more diverse and inclusive, it is essential to critically scrutinize and dismantle these stereotypes. Only then can women be recognized as digital entrepreneurs on an equal footing and realize their full potential.’
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Janina Sundermeier is Junior Professor of Digital Entrepreneurship and Diversity at Freie Universität Berlin and Associate Researcher at the ECDF. Link to the award-winning article: ‘It just seems that they don’t act like men’: The influence of gender role stereotypes on women’s entrepreneurial innovation activities
The ECDF Annual Award for Digitalization and Diversity is awarded annually to the best paper dealing with gender and diversity issues in the context of digitalization. It has been awarded since 2023. In order to recognize the broad spectrum of the ECDF's interdisciplinary and diverse work, applications for work results such as exhibitions, installations or other formats are also welcome. ECDF professors, their doctoral students and postdocs are eligible to apply. The closing date for applications is 31 October each year.