Catálogo de Investigaciones | 2013-2014

23 CATÁLOGO DE INVESTIGACIONES | AÑO ACADÉMICO 2013 -2014 A profile: The self-made woman entrepreneur in Puerto Rico This study was the first to examine and to provide a profile on the self-made entrepreneurial female in Puerto Rico. The research questions were: (1) What is the profile of the self- made woman entrepreneur doing business in Puerto Rico? (2) How does the profile of the self-made woman entrepreneur in Puerto Rico compare to the GEM entrepreneurship profile? We adopted the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Model (Kelley, Brush, Greene, & Litovsky, 2011) theoretical framework together with the International Marketing Task (Cateora & Graham, International Marketing, 2007). Regarding GEM, we specifically drew on the GEM Innovation and Entrepreneurship Framework and on the GEM Entrepreneurship Profile. Our research design was a descriptive mix-method as defined by Creswell & Plano-Clark (2011) with a snowball sampling method that resulted in case studies. The population for this study comprised the leading women business owners in Puerto Rico, as published in the Caribbean Book of Lists 2013, and the members of the Women Entrepreneurs and Professionals Network of the Chamber of Commerce of Puerto Rico. The study achieved a 79% response rate. The self-made woman entrepreneur in Puerto Rico was over 40 years of age, married and with children. She was native Puerto Rican and highly educated, with many years of prior experience before creating her firm. Her business created jobs, yielded net revenues and was the main source of her income. She believed that her personality had much to do with her entrepreneurial spirit and also stressed the importance of networking. We found that the self-made female entrepreneur in Puerto Rico compared to the GEM entrepreneurship profile regarding attitudes, activities and aspirations. Nonetheless, her perception of the GEM innovation and entrepreneurship framework scored low on eight of the nine conditions. She only ranked cultural and social norms as favorable for female entrepreneurship on the island. lee ann rodríguez rodríguez doctorado en administración de empresas mentor: dra. zulma quiñones rivera entrepreneurship self-made woman puerto rico gem