Women business owners: The re-domestication of women’s entrepreneurship through digital networking practices
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Female entrepreneurship has become a key policy focus in the UK, while social networking sites are increasingly promoted as tools to support women’s business growth and economic empowerment. These platforms are often positioned as solutions that accommodate the dual demands of business and caregiving. This thesis examines how women business owners navigate the tensions between entrepreneurial and maternal identities across both traditional in-person networking spaces and online platforms. It explores how gendered norms and expectations shape their networking experiences and the strategies they use to manage competing roles across these different spaces. The methodology employed involves a women centred approach and comprehensive analysis of user data through in-depth interviews as part of a netnographic study. Through the lens of Goffman’s idealised identity theory and Foucault’s panopticon prison, findings reveal how women business owners experience a complex relationship of competing identities associated with the perceived masculine notion of entrepreneurship and feminised norms associated with motherhood across in-person and online networking spaces. Findings highlight that although social networking sites present opportunities for women, they also present a dark side to female entrepreneurship, suggesting that social networking sites are instrumental in maintaining, rather than resolving, the current patriarchal approach to business ownership, deemed as the Re-domestication of women in business through digital entrepreneurship. Extending beyond academic implications the thesis suggests that policy makers must consider a gender impact analysis for women business owners to understand the constraints they face, with particular reference to motherhood. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to our evolving understanding of women business owners and their management of competing identities within in-person and online networking. Female entrepreneurship has become a key policy focus in the UK, while social networking sites are increasingly promoted as tools to support women’s business growth and economic empowerment. These platforms are often positioned as solutions that accommodate the dual demands of business and caregiving. This thesis examines how women business owners navigate the tensions between entrepreneurial and maternal identities across both traditional in-person networking spaces and online platforms. It explores how gendered norms and expectations shape their networking experiences and the strategies they use to manage competing roles across these different spaces. The methodology employed involves a women centred approach and comprehensive analysis of user data through in-depth interviews as part of a netnographic study. Through the lens of Goffman’s idealised identity theory and Foucault’s panopticon prison, findings reveal how women business owners experience a complex relationship of competing identities associated with the perceived masculine notion of entrepreneurship and feminised norms associated with motherhood across in-person and online networking spaces. Findings highlight that although social networking sites present opportunities for women, they also present a dark side to female entrepreneurship, suggesting that social networking sites are instrumental in maintaining, rather than resolving, the current patriarchal approach to business ownership, deemed as the Re-domestication of women in business through digital entrepreneurship. Extending beyond academic implications the thesis suggests that policy makers must consider a gender impact analysis for women business owners to understand the constraints they face, with particular reference to motherhood. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to our evolving understanding of women business owners and their management of competing identities within in-person and online networking. Female entrepreneurship has become a key policy focus in the UK, while social networking sites are increasingly promoted as tools to support women’s business growth and economic empowerment. These platforms are often positioned as solutions that accommodate the dual demands of business and caregiving. This thesis examines how women business owners navigate the tensions between entrepreneurial and maternal identities across both traditional in-person networking spaces and online platforms. It explores how gendered norms and expectations shape their networking experiences and the strategies they use to manage competing roles across these different spaces. The methodology employed involves a women centred approach and comprehensive analysis of user data through in-depth interviews as part of a netnographic study. Through the lens of Goffman’s idealised identity theory and Foucault’s panopticon prison, findings reveal how women business owners experience a complex relationship of competing identities associated with the perceived masculine notion of entrepreneurship and feminised norms associated with motherhood across in-person and online networking spaces. Findings highlight that although social networking sites present opportunities for women, they also present a dark side to female entrepreneurship, suggesting that social networking sites are instrumental in maintaining, rather than resolving, the current patriarchal approach to business ownership, deemed as the Re-domestication of women in business through digital entrepreneurship. Extending beyond academic implications the thesis suggests that policy makers must consider a gender impact analysis for women business owners to understand the constraints they face, with particular reference to motherhood. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to our evolving understanding of women business owners and their management of competing identities within in-person and online networking. Female entrepreneurship has become a key policy focus in the UK, while social networking sites are increasingly promoted as tools to support women’s business growth and economic empowerment. These platforms are often positioned as solutions that accommodate the dual demands of business and caregiving. This thesis examines how women business owners navigate the tensions between entrepreneurial and maternal identities across both traditional in-person networking spaces and online platforms. It explores how gendered norms and expectations shape their networking experiences and the strategies they use to manage competing roles across these different spaces. The methodology employed involves a women centred approach and comprehensive analysis of user data through in-depth interviews as part of a netnographic study. Through the lens of Goffman’s idealised identity theory and Foucault’s panopticon prison, findings reveal how women business owners experience a complex relationship of competing identities associated with the perceived masculine notion of entrepreneurship and feminised norms associated with motherhood across in-person and online networking spaces. Findings highlight that although social networking sites present opportunities for women, they also present a dark side to female entrepreneurship, suggesting that social networking sites are instrumental in maintaining, rather than resolving, the current patriarchal approach to business ownership, deemed as the Re-domestication of women in business through digital entrepreneurship. Extending beyond academic implications the thesis suggests that policy makers must consider a gender impact analysis for women business owners to understand the constraints they face, with particular reference to motherhood. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to our evolving understanding of women business owners and their management of competing identities within in-person and online networking.
Source: University of Liverpool
DOI: 10.17638/03197174
Author: Ordish, Amanda
Language: English
Subfield: Management of Technology and Innovation
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7203765803