Drivers and Barriers of Entrepreneurial Intentions in Times of Economic Crisis: The Gender Dimension

This paper shows results of a study on entrepreneurial intentions in Greece in times of a major and prolonged economic crisis, with a focus on the dimension of gender. The paper provides insights about drivers and barriers that affect intentions of becoming an entrepreneur. Results show relatively low intention of starting a business, whereas personal attitudes toward becoming an entrepreneur and perceived desirability are high. Furthermore, economic barriers, public policy barriers and business risk barriers towards undertaking entrepreneurial activities are considered to be highly important as compared to personal barriers. As far as gender is concerned, results show that, generally speaking, male and female potential entrepreneurs are quite similar in their motivation towards entrepreneurship during turbulent times.