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Women’s entrepreneurship and the future of the veterinary profession

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the Association for Management Education and
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Volume 22 ● Number 3 Autumn 2015
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Women’s Entrepreneurship and the
Future of the Veterinary Profession
Colette Henry and Elizabeth L. Jackson
women will not come forward to take on the veterinary business and entrepreneurial leadership roles
previously filled by men. This raises concerns in relation to the future of the profession as a whole. In this
article we discuss some of the reasons behind the current gender disparity in veterinary business and
entrepreneurial leadership roles, and suggest some potential solutions. Specifically, we highlight the role of
veterinary schools in shaping the female veterinary business and entrepreneurial leaders of the future.
Key words
Veterinary profession, women, entrepreneurship, careers, education, curriculum, SMEs.
Introduction
The veterinary sector is witnessing an unprecedented shift toward a predominately female workforce, with
women now making up around 80% of the veterinary student population (Woodfield, 2014) and over half of
practicing veterinarians. Figure 1 gives us an idea of the extent of the demographic change in the
profession in recent years.
Furthermore, recent data (Buzzeo et al, RCVS, 2014) suggest that today’s veterinary profession is
characterized by young female vets, mainly working full time in small animal practices. Yet there are
surprisingly fewer women than men at principal/director/partner level in these ‘veterinary Small and Medium-
sized Enterprises (SMEs)’. In fact, there are more than twice as many male as female sole principals, and
more than four times as many male as female directors or equity partners. Another example is the
leadership roles that are filled by men in the profession. While Table 1 below shows the gender imbalance
within leadership roles, it also provides further evidence that, despite an increase in the number of women
entering the profession, leadership roles whether business or clinically-oriented - are still being filled by
men.
The veterinary profession, once
traditional and predominately male, is
becoming increasingly feminized, with
women now making up some 80% of the
veterinary student population, and over
half the veterinary workforce. Given the
fact that there are significantly fewer
female than male business owners and
entrepreneurs globally, across all
sectors, there are growing fears that
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RCVS* specialists
RCVS Fellows
1994
2014
1994
2014
Male
87%
60%
92%
90%
Female
13%
40%
8%
10%
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About the authors
Professor Colette Henry is Head of Department of Business Studies at Dundalk Institute of Technology,
Ireland, and Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at UiT - The Arctic University of Norway. Her previous
roles include Norbrook Professor of Business & Enterprise at the Royal Veterinary College, London, and
President of the Institute for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE). An invited Fellow of the Royal
Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (RSA), Colette is also Editor of the
International Journal of Gender & Entrepreneurship (IJGE). She has published widely on topics relating to
women’s entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education and training, the creative industries, social
enterprise and veterinary business. Her latest book - Veterinary Business & Enterprise - has just been
published by Elsevier. Colette is also a Visiting Professor at Birmingham City University, and a Visiting
Fellow at CIMR, Birkbeck, London. You can contact Colette @ Colette.Henry@dkit.ie
Dr. Elizabeth Jackson is a Lecturer in Business at the Royal Veterinary College, UK. She joined the
College in 2014 and is responsible for teaching business and entrepreneurship to veterinary, veterinary
nursing and bio-veterinary science students, as well as post-graduate students. Elizabeth’s research
interests include developing the profile of veterinary business management in the profession, understanding
veterinary business structures and working with food supply chains to improve efficiency. Upon completing
agribusiness marketing under-graduate studies at Curtin University in Western Australia, Elizabeth spent
time working in various aspects of the grain industry: operations, human resource management and
biotechnology. During this time, she was studying for an MBA. Elizabeth then went back to full-time PhD
study to examine the behavioural determinants of farmers and their attitudes toward using forward contracts
for selling wool. This qualification led to a lectureship at Newcastle University (UK) where Elizabeth lectured
in agribusiness management, food marketing and supply chain systems. You can contact Elizabeth @
eljackson@rvc.ac.uk .
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... Regarding the sample structure, 62.9% of the respondents were female, indicating an increased female preference for the veterinary profession, which has also been reported by Henry and Jackson [26] in the UK. In total, 81.9% of the students were ≤24 years old and 48.6% had work experience, while 23.8% and 17.1% of the students' fathers and mothers, respectively, were entrepreneurs/freelancers, approaching the national rate of 22% [27]. ...
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Chapter
Purpose – The chapter aims to explore women's entrepreneurship in the sciences, specifically, veterinary medicine, and to highlight future potential.Methodology/approach – Following a review of the extant literature, the chapter employs a single case approach to explore the experiences of a woman academic entrepreneur in the field of veterinary medicine.Findings – The findings support the view that women are significantly under-represented in the sciences (SET/STEM) both as professionals and as entrepreneurs. The chapter also finds that, due to a relatively low number of veterinary professionals currently working in industry and/or commercialisable research areas, the sector offers significant potential for entrepreneurship, particularly among women veterinarians.Research limitations/implications – Despite providing rich and meaningful insights that enhance understanding, the single case approach limits the potential for generalising the findings.Practical implications – Given the significant increase in the number of women entering veterinary education in recent years, the chapter has important implications for how gender is considered in the promotion of entrepreneurship within veterinary medicine curricula.Social implications – In view of the imminent gender shift within the profession, the case discussed in this chapter serves as an important role model to encourage more women to engage in entrepreneurship.Originality/value of chapter – As one of the few studies offering insights on women's entrepreneurship in veterinary medicine, this chapter helps enhance our understanding of the field.
Article
Purpose This paper aims to explore business and, more specifically, entrepreneurship education within veterinary medicine and discuss the perceptions of veterinary students and veterinary employers in relation to its teaching within veterinary medicine. Some challenges for veterinary business and entrepreneurship educators are highlighted. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a small exploratory pilot study, which included student focus groups and an employer survey, the paper highlights the differences between employers' and students' perceptions of the value of business‐related education. Students' preferred programme content and expected pedagogical approaches are also discussed. Findings The paper finds that veterinary students do not place the same value on entrepreneurship and business‐related education as employers, not perceiving it as a “priority” within their veterinary studies. This poses a number of challenges for educators in terms of: seeking to integrate entrepreneurship and business‐related topics within an already crowded programme of study, determining relevant content and delivery methods, and designing appropriate assessment methods. Research limitations/implications The paper explores a relatively new concept (i.e. business and entrepreneurship) within veterinary education and, as such, the authors fully recognise that further empirical research – beyond this exploratory study – is needed. Originality/value The paper highlights the discrepancy between veterinary employers' and veterinary students' perception of the overall value of business and entrepreneurship education. Findings relating to students' expectations of programme content and their preferred pedagogical approaches should be of value to educators in helping them to reshape their current offerings or, at the very least, manage students' expectations.
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analyzes the influential role of perceived self-efficacy in agent causality / analyzes the causal function of self-efficacy beliefs and the different psychological processes through which they exert their effects efficacy-activated processes / cognitive processes / motivational processes / affective processes / selection processes / construction of self-efficacy as a self-persuasion process (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The relationships between gender, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intentions were examined for two sample groups: adolescents and adult master of business administration (MBA) students. Similar gender effects on entrepreneurial self-efficacy are shown for both groups and support earlier research on the relationship between self-efficacy and career intentions. Additionally, the effects of entrepreneurship education in MBA programs on entrepreneurial self-efficacy proved stronger for women than for men. Implications for educators and policy makers were discussed, and areas for future research outlined.
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Availability of, and access to finance is a critical element to the start-up and consequent performance of any enterprise. Hence, any barriers or impediments to accessing appropriate levels or sources of funding will have an enduring and negative impact upon the performance of affected firms. Although findings have been somewhat inconsistent, there is support for the notion that women entrepreneurs entering self-employment are disadvantaged by their gender. This argument is evaluated through a theoretical analysis of gender using the example of accessing both formal and informal sources of business funding to illustrate how this concept impacts upon women in self-employment.
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Women now dominate student enrollment in colleges of veterinary medicine in the USA, as well as in other countries. Projections indicate that this will remain a constant. The implications for teaching, learning, mentoring, leadership, professional development, student and faculty diversity, and curriculum structure are enormous. This article provides the groundwork for examining gender diversity in veterinary medical education. Women's development and ways of knowing are identified as paramount for understanding and benefiting students and faculty in their higher education experiences and in their professional lives. Seminal research focusing on women's development and ways of knowing is introduced, summarized, and contrasted to male-centered models, and implications for teaching practice are considered. Our underlying premise is that research about women's moral and intellectual development is relevant to veterinary education and supports the adoption of student-centered approaches to teaching and learning.