Gender and Venture Orientation: Unpacking the 'Double-Bind' of Pitching for Women

Pitching is essential for securing funding for start-ups (Balachandra et al., 2019). However, gender bias has been observed in pitching competitions, where men with masculine traits are favored (Kanze et al., 2018). Moreover, pitching outcome also depends on venture orientation, which is linked to gender. Men tend to gravitate toward commercial entrepreneurship and profit, while women prefer social entrepreneurship and impact (Le Loarne-Lemaire et al., 2017). Thus, women are often pressured to perform, masculine traits to overcome the “gender penalty” (Lee & Huang, 2018). This strategy is also problematic as it leads to the performed gender-venture orientation incongruity, resulting in negative evaluations from investors and peers (Huang & Knight, 2017). Thus, women entrepreneurs find themselves in a “double-bind” situation, where both conforming to feminine stereotypes and performing masculine traits are deemed unsuitable (Lee & Huang, 2018). Objectives of this study are to: 1. Identify the gender traits exhibited by men and women entrepreneurs when pitching. 2. Examine how the level of congruity between stereotypical gender traits and venture orientation (profit vs. impact) influences pitching outcomes. 3. Determine whether gender characteristics or venture orientation plays a more significant role in determining the pitching outcomes.

Entrepreneurial pitching has been long understood from the transactional perspective (Teague et al., 2020), seeking to look for elements and variables of entrepreneurial pitch that influence outcomes. From a practice theory perspective, a pitch can be understood as a performance, where routinized ways of body movements, objects, and texts are expressed and legitimized (Nicolini, 2013). For example, Teague et al. (2020) emphasized the significance of practice and performance in pitching by observing different narratives for various stages of entrepreneurial development. Meanwhile, Clarke et al. (2019) examined hand gestures and their synchronization with pitch content and speech. Studying gender in pitching, Balachandra et al. (2019) found that investors are biased toward masculine behaviors, implying that both men and women entrepreneurs need to perform masculine traits. But businesses are not gender-free. Women are more likely to pursue social entrepreneurship, and men are slightly more interested in commercial entrepreneurship. Consequently, how gender is performed is causally connected to the venture orientation—profit vs. impact (Hechavarria and Ingram, 2016). Social entrepreneurship is associated with empathy, compassion, and the willingness to create impact (Anglin et al., 2022), and entrepreneurs are expected to behave more communally, typically related to women, when pitching (Lee & Huang, 2018). Contrarily, profit-oriented entrepreneurs present in a more agentic way, which relates more to men (Lee & Huang, 2018). Gender is viewed as a social structure in this study, which means that it is fluid and socially constructed (Wade & Ferree, 2019). This view considers gender to be distinct from biological sex, with gender roles being (re)constructed based on social understanding and expectations (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2006). By understanding that gender is socially constructed, gender is embedded in the identity process (Katila et al., 2019), suggesting that gender constitutes identity and identity shapes how individuals perform the perceived identity. The performance of gender is the performance of masculinity and femininity, as well as a situated social construct (Butler, 1990).

This mixed-methods research comprises two studies. Study 1 is qualitative addressing the first objective. Ninety-nine pitches published on YouTube were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021). Additionally, semiotic communication, such as hand and body gestures, was analyzed by consulting previous research (e.g., Clarke et al., 2019). The data was iteratively analyzed with NVivo to depict what entrepreneurs pitch and how semiotic signs accommodate the pitch from the gender lens. Study 2 is a quantitative experiment addressing the second and third objectives. It uses a 2x2 between-subjects design to manipulate gender traits and venture orientation using AI-generated videos. Dependent variables include persuasiveness (Hu & Ma, 2021), viability (Hu & Ma, 2021), innovativeness (Ali et al., 1995), and investment intentions (Alharbey & Van Hemmen, 2021), measured with pre-validated scales. Two hundred students, randomly assigned to one of the four conditions, will watch the video and fill in a questionnaire. Group comparisons will be conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 27. Model of Study 2:

GROUP 1: Male traits/ venture oriented toward profit
GROUP 2: Male traits/ venture oriented toward impact
GROUP 3: Female traits/ venture oriented toward profit
GROUP 4: Female traits/ venture oriented toward impact

For study 1, we found that entrepreneurial masculinities that emphasize the heroic figure, who is thriving for winning and expanding the business, dominate the pitching performance. Masculinities were presented in the content of the pitch, for example, by repetitively discussing the uniqueness, the giant market potentials, and the high-profit expectations. Also, masculinities were observed in body gestures, for instance, people raise their hands up, form and draw shapes in the air to showcase that they are confident and in control of the situation. Both men and women entrepreneurs perform masculinities. In contrast, femininities were observed at pitching as

well, especially when the ventures aim at making an impact. Therefore, the findings highlight the compulsory performance of masculinities and the additional values of femininities to enhance the stories and to illustrate the impact furthermore. From the investors' side, they specifically would ask questions to clarify the assertiveness, confidence, and ambition of the entrepreneurs. Furthermore, we found that investors tend to ask slightly more preventive questions, for example about failure, toward women entrepreneurs. For study 2, we expect to see that the entrepreneur-venture fit has a significant impact on pitching outcomes. Specifically, we predict that entrepreneurs who exhibit congruent gender traits with their venture orientation (e.g., male-type traits for profit-oriented ventures or Groups 1 and 4) will be more persuasive, perceived as more viable and innovative, and attract higher investment intentions compared to those who exhibit incongruent gender traits with their venture orientation (e.g., female-type traits for profit-oriented ventures or Groups 2 and 3). We also predict that venture orientation will play a more significant role in determining pitching outcomes compared to gender characteristics. That is ventures orienting toward profit (Groups 1 and 3) will receive more positive outcomes than the ventures orienting toward impact (Groups 2 and 4).

This research addresses the gender bias in entrepreneurial pitching and proposes a potential solution to overcome it. Examining how gender is performed provides insight into the gender traits exhibited by men and women entrepreneurs during pitching, as well as how the level of congruity between stereotypical gender traits and venture orientation influences pitching outcomes. By doing so we contribute to gender and entrepreneurship research area, specifically to the notion that businesses are not gender-neutral. Additionally, the study contributes to entrepreneurship-as-practice theory by discovering different pitching styles based on the business types, and how gendered behaviors influence entrepreneurs and others to perform and act in certain ways. From the practical perspective, the study provides insights that could benefit not only women entrepreneurs facing discrimination but also men. The study sheds light on which venture orientation (profit vs. impact) to highlight in start-up pitching to increase persuasiveness, perceived viability and innovativeness, and investment intentions.

Furthermore, this study makes a methodological contribution by combining qualitative and quantitative methods and utilizing modern technology, such as AI-generated videos, for experimental purposes. Ultimately, the study contributes to theory and practice and helps the development of more equitable and inclusive practices in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.