Young graduates, gender and entrepreneurship

Abstract

Studies on entrepreneurship show the persistency of gender inequality in spite of women’s remarkable progress in the labour market. More recently, the difficulties of young graduates in entering the labour market, which are patent in growing unemployment, sub-employment and precarious employment rates, have attracted the attention of political leaders. Promoting the employability of alumni, namely of the transversal skills valued by the labour market has been one of the priorities of higher education policies. This paper privileges the analysis of qualified entrepreneurial activity, to be precise the potential involvement of women and men in technology and knowledge transfer processes, as well as in the commercialisation of scientific research. It resorts to empirical data from two researches conducted in Portugal concerning the autonomous career choices of alumni from the University of Minho, who graduated between 2002 and 2008. Two profiles stand out: the “traditional” and the “innovative” entrepreneur. The first gathers more women in proximity and care services; the second includes more men in innovative and knowledge-intensive sectors. Results imply the need of a broader discussion about the prerequisites of female economic autonomy. They also suggest that entrepreneurship promotion policies should crucially address gender specificities, both upstream and downstream of the higher education system.