WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN
BIOTECHNOLOGY & MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY
Jovanna Nathalie Cervantes Guzman1, Dietmar Hutmacher1, Shane Matthews Qut Kelvin Grove, Brisbaine 1Qut, Kelvin Grove, Brisbaine, QLD, Australia
Abstract
In the current technology-based business environment participation rates of female entrepreneurs in STEM are incredibly low, as reported by American Express (2021), as women-owned businesses make up only 17% of all businesses in the science, engineering, and technology fields worldwide. The barriers that women entrepreneurs in STEM face include a lack of access to capital, limited networking opportunities, gender bias, and stereotyping (Poggesi et al., 2020). These challenges not only affect women’s ability to start and grow their businesses but also limit their potential impact on the economy and society. Even more worrying is that in both the Biotechnology & Medical technology (Bio&MedTech) have even lower levels of participation. Bio&MedTech is different from STEM because it has unique characteristics, such as longer development cycles and higher regulatory requirements, which can pose additional challenges for entrepreneurs (Bismark et al., 2015; Elliott et al., 2020). As Bio&MedTech is one of the industries with the lowest number of women entrepreneurs, with only 7.3% of female founders and co-founders (Startup Muster, 2020). The barriers that women face in Bio&MedTech include lack of access to funding, difficulty in finding talent, and navigating complex regulations (Ernst & Young, 2021). These challenges not only limit women’s economic opportunities but also have broader implications for society, such as reduced innovation and slower progress in addressing health challenges facing society (OECD, 2019).
Study 1 identifies factors that are associated with women´s entrepreneurial intention in Bio&MedTech through a systematic literature review. From these different factors, Study 2 seeks to analyze the entrepreneurial orientation evaluating how they may enhance and inhibit women’s entrepreneurial intentions in Bio&MedTech by using a quantitative assessment. Study 3 seeks to explores and identify the strategies that address the barriers within the entrepreneurial intention through a qualitative process.
Biography
Ph.D. Jovanna Nathalie Cervantes Guzmán, a Ph.D. student at QUT where her research project is focused on incentive female entrepreneurship in Bio-MedTech. She has a master’s degree in Marketing Management and a Ph.D. in Management Sciences from the University of Guadalajara. She was a professor at the University of Guadalajara (CUCEA) and a tutor at Griffith University. She participated in programs of entrepreneurship from Boston University and Arizona State University.
As a woman entrepreneur, Nathalie is the CEO and co-founder of the brand “Atellier Organic”. Also, she founded “EVA ACADEMY” with the support of grants from the US Department, IREX, and Arizona State University. She was a finalist in the category of Creative Industries in ‘TIC Jalisco 2021″ by Young Americas Business Trust (YBAT) and the Organization of American States (OAS). She won the ‘Women and Business Contest ” at the Pacific Trade Show 2019 in Toronto. She was selected as a fellow in the program “Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative 2020-2021” by the USA Department and IREX.
As an academic, she was selected to participate as an entrepreneurial professor in the Santander X Entrepreneurship Educator’s (SEE) Program by Santander and OXENTIA . Selected “2021 IMF Youth Fellow” by the International Monetary Fund. Finalist in “Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2021” in the category of Future Learning. Finalist in the 4th edition of the “Inter-American Prize in Innovative Educational Models in Higher Education” (MEIN-2022 Award).
As a researcher, she has published articles and book chapters in international index magazines, and currently, she is an associate editor in an International Journal that is indexed in SCOPUS and Web of Science. And also, a member of SNI CONACYT