Female Entrepreneurship in Portugal

Entrepreneurship is an increasingly studied international phenomenon, often being understood as a way of creating jobs and boosting economic growth, development, and innovation. This chapter aims to take on the problem related to gender and entrepreneurship in the Portuguese society. The goal is to explain the concept of entrepreneur, behavioral, and social differences between the masculine and the feminine gender as entrepreneurs and identify Portuguese female entrepreneurs. A qualitative, multiple case studies methodology is applied to the sample of eight Portuguese female entrepreneurs, the data collection instrument being the semi-structured interview. Regarding the obtained results, it can be stated that the majority of the interviewees has entrepreneurs in the family, the father being the most mentioned figure as booster of entrepreneur activity. The wish for personal realization and independence are the main factors that motivated self-employment. No entrepreneur felt any discrimination or gender inequality as a female entrepreneur.