Why does a qualified woman leave a career within an organization to become an entrepreneur or a self-employed professional?

Abstract

Using a life course approach, we explored the professional careers of 25 women graduates with the following research question in mind: why does a qualified woman leave a career within an organization to become an entrepreneur or a self-employed professional? For this study, the theoretical framework of the kaleidoscopic career provided a useful tool to examine the multiple professional and personal determinants of women’s careers. The results indicate that a woman makes this choice based on different but interlinked elements, namely the search for professional challenges, authenticity and work- life balance. New dimensions were identified by  the  study  deepening  our  understanding of why women start their own businesses. In our conclusion we highlight the fact that the traditional, male-focused, models explaining entrepreneurship are not able to encompass either the complex and varied factors influencing a woman graduate’s life course or the decision to become an entrepreneur or a self-employed professional.