Entrepreneurship and the intersection of work, leisure, and family

Abstract

Entrepreneurship, and more specifically, home-based operations are frequently cited as a new and progressive form of employment that will not only lead to enhanced economic development, but will also improve the quality of life for people employed in this market sector. Some of the main advantages believed to be associated with entrepreneurship include greater flexibility and autonomy in relation to work schedule, greater independence, and increased opportunities for career advancement. Yet, at the same time, the entrepreneur may face challenges obtaining sufficient start-up capital, obtaining financing for expansion of current operations, and developing relationships with clients. Many of these concerns may be exacerbated for women due to traditional gendered ideologies and stereotypes. For example, women continue to retain primary responsibility for childcare and may, therefore, face challenges negotiating family commitments in addition to paid employment.

The purpose of this study was to critically examine the experience of entrepreneurship for women and men in home-based businesses, and in particular to explore how these entrepreneurs manage and negotiate the competing life spheres of work, family, and leisure. The study examined the values assigned to work, family and leisure, the extent to which conflicts were experienced between life spheres, and whether the entrepreneurs were able to achieve a sense of balance in their lives. Particular attention was paid to the role of gender and gender relations in determining the daily life experiences of the entrepreneurs.

A feminist qualitative methodology was utilized to gather data from 13 entrepreneurs (7 men and 6 women) who owned home-based businesses located in St. John's and Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador. Nine of the businesses were sole-proprietorships and two were partnerships (owned and operated jointly by both spouses), as well, all of the businesses had been in operation for at least two years. The majority of the entrepreneurs were married (n=11) and six single (with one living with an opposite sex partner and the other recently divorced). In-depth interviews were conducted with the entrepreneurs and with five of their life partners. The interviews focused on the daily life experiences of the entrepreneurs, including the time spent on work, family and leisure, as well as the kinds of activities involved, and the experiences and valuations of each life sphere. In addition, reasons for moving into entrepreneurial work were explored. The life partners were asked about their experiences of living with an entrepreneur and about family and leisure activities. The data were analyzed qualitatively, using the constant comparison method, and the Q.S.R. *N.U.D.ist. software programme to search for emergent themes. Validation interviews were conducted, both with the entrepreneurs and with the life partners, to tests these emergent themes.

The analysis showed that gender was a primary determinant of the daily life experiences of these entrepreneurs. The men devoted more time to their businesses and were away from home on business-related matters more frequently than the women. As a result the men spent considerably less time than the women in household or family activities, although most of the men did engage in leisure activities outside the home with friends or colleagues. The women's lives represented a combination of paid work and household work. In all of the cases, except one, they retained primary responsibility for the home and family, despite being in two-income households. Participation in leisure activities for the women also sustained this focus upon the family as their involvement centered upon their children, with very few opportunities being experienced for personal leisure.

When reflecting upon their negotiations of work, leisure, and family, differential experiences were uncovered for the women and men. The women were more satisfied with their ability to balance work and family, while the men expressed frustration at not being able to spend more time at home. Most of the women had chosen entrepreneurial work so that they could spend time with their children, while the men had more typically been pushed into this form of employment for economic reasons.

The findings indicate the centrality of gender in the lives of entrepreneurs. This was evident in their work-related decisions, their division of household labour within the family, and their leisure constraints and opportunities. In addition, the entrepreneurs' negotiations of their daily lives can also be seen as reproducing gender, in that the gendered basis for their decisions reinforced traditional ideologies associated with femininity, masculinity, motherhood and fatherhood. While the women indicated some freedom of choice with regard to their work, this was clearly constrained by their family responsibilities. The men, on the other hand, felt they had less freedom regarding their decision to operate a business, but more freedom in relation to their family and leisure spheres. The Newfoundland culture, which places particular importance on family and family life, also played a significant role in the experiences of the entrepreneurs in this study. This focus upon family produced a sense of pride and satisfaction for the women with their key role in the family unit, but a sense of loss for the men who played a much smaller role in the family.

Overall, it was evident that entrepreneurial work does not provide easy solutions to quality of life concerns for employed people. While this form of employment does have some advantages (e.g., greater ability to combine work and family for women, a larger potential income), it also has many disadvantages (e.g., leisure constraints, lack of freedom), and continues to reinforce traditional ideologies of gender.