ABSTRACT
The question of the legitimacy of women entrepreneurs is far from self-evident. Indeed, entrepreneurship and the characteristics traditionally associated with the entrepreneur (risk taker, results-oriented, professionally and/or personally deeply engaged, adventurous, appreciative of the norm of internality) appear to be largely tied to the traditional Western view of masculinity (Bird & Brush, 2002; Ahl, 2006; Calas, Smircich & Bourne, 2009). The work of historians shows that, apart from certain sectors (Feydeau, 2000), entrepreneurship has long been an exclusively male activity (Barjot, Anceau, Lescent-Gilles & Marnot, 2003; Marseille, 2000). This socio-historic reality is not neutral if we consider that “the male environment is often hostile to the arrival of women” (Guichard-Claudic, Kergoat & Vilbrod, 2008:17).
