Dr Patricia Lewis, Reader in Management at Kent Business School, receives acclaim for her 2006 paper on entrepreneurial normativity and female entrepreneurs as Google Scholar designates it a Gender Classic.
‘The quest for invisibility: female entrepreneurs and the masculine norm of entrepreneurship’ is published in the journal Gender, Work & Organisation. Dr Lewis’s article was rated a Gender Classic because it is among the top ten cited papers published in the broad area of Gender Studies in that year. Google Scholar classic papers are highly-cited papers in their area of research that have stood the test of time, they are also the most most-cited articles that were published ten years earlier.
In the article, Dr Lewis explores how women business owners react to the way in which men and the masculine, represent the normative case of entrepreneurship; that is, the self-evident standard against which difference is measured. To be conflated with normativity means being powerful in both cultural and material terms within the field of entrepreneurship with access to that field being affected by whether or not an individual represents the norm.The paper explores the differences and divisions between women business owners who are silent about gender issues and those who are not.
In response to this news Patricia said:
“As much of my research considers the way in which cultural norms help or hinder women in business, I am delighted that this paper continues to contribute to ongoing debates about gender and diversity in the contemporary business world. While significant progress has been made in increasing levels of diversity in entrepreneurship and leadership, there is still further progress that can be made. My hope is that research like mine contributes to our understanding of the complexities involved in increasing the diversity of the business world.”
Congratulations Patricia from all at Kent Business School.
Dr Patricia Lewis teaches on the first year module Introduction to Management on the BSc International Business Programme. Find out more about Kent Business School Undergraduate programmes.