Passing up the Job: The Role of Gendered Organizations and Families in the Entrepreneurial Career Process

Abstract

This article theorizes and evaluates the relationship between inflexible organizational practices, family factors, and gendered pathways into entrepreneurship. Using novel survey data collected by the Harris Poll, I evaluate how a decision to pass up a job that lacks flexibility is associated with self–employment, and examine how this relationship varies by gender, family status, and educational attainment. Findings suggest that passing up a job is associated with women's, but not men's, self–employment. Moreover, motherhood and a spouse's employment status predict women's self–employment, but only if they have sacrificed a job opportunity.