Antecedents of Self-Employment of Female Professionals

This study examines how professional entrepreneurship of women can take place, based on the push and pull theories of entrepreneurship. In particular, we argue that individual capabilities (as a pull factor) make the self-employment of female professionals less likely while discrimination (as a push factor) make the self-employment of female professionals more likely. In addition, we analyze the moderating effect of discrimination on the relationship between individual capabilities and the self-employment of female professionals because individuals make the decision of self-employment based on a combination of two factors. Furthermore, we examine that the moderation of gender consciousness on the relationship between the pull and push factors and the self-employment of female professionals. With a sample of 1,356 female lawyers in the U.S., we examine our hypotheses predicting the rate of self-employment with respect to which prior salary, attribute-based discrimination, family-based discrimination, and gender consciousness. As a result, we found that prior salary predicted slower self-employment; either attribute-based or family-based discrimination makes it faster; and in addition, gender consciousness further predicted slower self-employment.