Gender influence on firm-level entrepreneurship through the power structure of boards

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine the gender composition and structure of the board of directors in not-for-profit organisations and their relation to firm-level entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a survey sent to Swedish riding schools. The paper focuses on not-for-profit associations and the analysis is based on 60 respondents. The data were analysed by multivariate methods.

Findings – The overall gender composition of boards had no influence on firm-level entrepreneurship. However, a high proportion of women in powerful positions were found to have a positive influence on one of the study’s two dimensions of firm-level entrepreneurship, i.e. strategic opportunism. No influence concerning gender in powerful positions was found on risk taking, the other dimension of firm-level entrepreneurship.

Originality/value – The attention to gender composition not only focuses on the board at large, but also highlights the specific positions of the chairperson, secretary and treasurer in the board structure. Another valuable insight concerns firm-level entrepreneurship, here treated as a two-dimensional concept, consisting of strategic opportunism and risk taking, which finds support in the analysis. Further, the empirical data were collected from an industry that includes a high proportion of women on the boards, i.e. the Swedish riding school industry. The study contributes to the debate concerning the gender composition on the board of directors where a high proportion of women in powerful positions is positively related with strategic opportunism.