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1 “We Are Ewits “WE ARE EWITS - HEAR US ROAR!”: EMPOWERING WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY STARTUPS (EWITS) AS AN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING MODEL TO CHALLENGE GENDERED SOCIAL NORMS IN THE FIELD By CHERYL D. CALHOUN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 1 © 2017 Cheryl D. Calhoun 2 To my wife and family 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to thank my wife, Ester, for her support and encouragement throughout this process. She provided many hours of reflection, including some challenging debate, about my ideas and understanding of my work. She was also patient, and incredibly supportive, when I just needed space to work things out for myself. I would also like to thank my children, Sean, and Jessica, who supported me along the way and never doubted that I would accomplish this goal. I would like to thank my Santa Fe College family. The incredible professionals at the educational centers and throughout the college who provided support and understanding while I juggled a full-time academic career along with a full-time pursuit of a PhD. I thank the faculty at the University of Florida, who challenged me in the classroom, and worked with me as I integrated my classroom learning into my years of experience in academia. I thank my committee members, Dr. Kara Dawson, Dr. Rosana Resende, and Dr. Andy Naranjo, who provided challenging feedback and pushed me to refine my thinking and align my research goals. I would like to thank my chair, Dr. Carole Beal, who continually reminded me the dissertation is just one step in the journey, and not my full life’s work. Without her constant encouragement to limit my scope creep, I am sure this volume would be twice as long. Her clarity of thought and focus on doing what I needed to do and leaving the rest for later is what allowed me to complete in a timely fashion. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 10 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 13 Background and Rationale for the Study ................................................................ 13 Theoretical Perspective .......................................................................................... 15 Gaps in the Literature ............................................................................................. 16 Research Design .................................................................................................... 17 Context ............................................................................................................. 17 Methodology ..................................................................................................... 18 Research Questions ......................................................................................... 19 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................ 19 Organization of the Dissertation .............................................................................. 20 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 21 Women’s Low Participation in Technology and Entrepreneurship .......................... 22 Why is Diversity Important? .................................................................................... 26 Economic Success ........................................................................................... 26 Equitable Opportunities .................................................................................... 27 Gender Theories ..................................................................................................... 28 Defining Gender ............................................................................................... 29 Gender Bias in a Gendered Field ..................................................................... 30 Gendered roles .......................................................................................... 31 Gendered field ........................................................................................... 33 Ambient Belonging ........................................................................................... 36 Entrepreneurship Theories ..................................................................................... 38 Rational Models of Entrepreneurial Intent ........................................................ 38 Extended Theories of Entrepreneurship ........................................................... 41 Educational Theories .............................................................................................. 43 Gaps in the Literature ............................................................................................. 45 Summary ................................................................................................................ 46 5 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 48 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 48 Research Design .................................................................................................... 48 Case Study Approach ...................................................................................... 49 Mixed-Methods Design ..................................................................................... 50 Feminist Epistemology ..................................................................................... 51 Context ................................................................................................................... 52 Data Collection ....................................................................................................... 53 Phase One (Review of Existing Artifacts) ......................................................... 54 Phase Two (Semi-Structured Interviews) ......................................................... 55 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 57 Procedures ....................................................................................................... 57 Phase One Analysis ......................................................................................... 58 Learner application .................................................................................... 58 Learner end-of-course surveys .................................................................. 59 Phase Two Analysis ......................................................................................... 63 Participant interviews ................................................................................. 63 Qualitative analysis .................................................................................... 64 Limitations and Assumptions .................................................................................. 65 Perspectives of the Researcher ....................................................................... 65 Intersectionality ................................................................................................ 66 Population Bias ................................................................................................ 67 Summary ................................................................................................................ 67 4 RESEARCH FINDINGS .......................................................................................... 68 EWITS .................................................................................................................... 68 Program Description ......................................................................................... 69 Ewits Participants ............................................................................................. 73 Organizers and subject matter experts ...................................................... 73 Mentors ...................................................................................................... 74 Learners ..................................................................................................... 77 Entrepreneurial Identities And Role Models ............................................................ 81 Entrepreneurial Identities.................................................................................. 82 Role Models ..................................................................................................... 83 Participants’ Experiences in Ewits .......................................................................... 85 The Reported Impact of Ewits .........................................................................
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