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Introduction
Age is increasingly receiving attention as a factor impacting entrepreneurial activity (Barković Bojanić et al., 2024; Dvouletý et al., 2024; OECD/European Commission, 2023; Brieger et al., 2021; Gielnik et al., 2012). Notably the literature on senior entrepreneurship, also dubbed “old-age”, “grey”, or “silver entrepreneurship” (Mayer & Leick, 2019; Stirzaker et al., 2019; Brouwer & Delfmann, 2019; Cannon, 2008), has grown substantially (cf., Backman & Karlsson, 2019; Kautonen & Minniti, 2014; Lévesque & Minniti, 2011, 2006). Surprisingly, gender has not been very influential in this literature focused on “senior entrepreneurship”, although there exists a continuously high interest of scholars in female entrepreneurship (for instance, Ughetto et al., 2020; Brush et al., 2019; Guzman & Kacperczyk, 2019). The origins of female entrepreneurship date back to the 1980s when persistent differences in entrepreneurial activities by females compared to males were identified (cf., Poggesi et al., 2016; Koellinger et al., 2013). Despite its abundance, the current research on female entrepreneurship fails to provide empirical evidence notably on the motivations of elderly females in their later active working-life or post-retirement phase of life in pursuing entrepreneurial activities, including insights into the root causes of their entrepreneurship, their performance, well-being and overall life satisfaction, and how culture and institutional factors are at play for this group of female entrepreneurs. Interestingly, policy reports highlight a substantial gender gap regarding senior entrepreneurs, for example, in the EU countries (OECD/EU Commission, 2023); this, again, underlines not only the need for policy action for this group of entrepreneurs, but also calls for researching the distinct phenomenon of “female senior entrepreneurship”. Indeed, scholars have recently begun exploring intersections of age and gender related to entrepreneurship (e.g., Audretsch et al., 2024). However, apart from this scarce literature, “female senior entrepreneurship” represents a novel and, hence, under-researched theme in the entrepreneurship literature. “Female senior entrepreneurship” is defined in this special issue as nascent or early-stage entrepreneurial activities by females in their later active working-life or post-retirement phase of life. Entrepreneurship by senior females may comprise self-employment, the establishment and registration of a new company, other relevant start-up efforts, engagement in running and managing a family business (including take-overs), or their entrepreneurial intentions and motivations. The phenomenon is also relevant to study for practitioners, as the question of how under-represented groups in society, such as elderly females, may empower themselves through self-employment and entrepreneurial activities and contribute to sustainable economic development is increasingly gaining in importance – given an accelerating demographic ageing on a global scale.
List of Topic Areas
Topic area 1: Individual motivations for and causes of female senior entrepreneurship: Which motivations exist with female senior entrepreneurs? Are female senior entrepreneurs typically pushed into self-employment by necessity and subsistence considerations? What characterises female senior entrepreneurs with other motivations, for instance, opportunity-driven, technology-oriented or lifestyle-focused female senior entrepreneurs? How are prior career patterns related to female senior entrepreneurship? How is female senior entrepreneurship associated with recent economic and political instability, vulnerability and crisis situations (e.g., the past COVID-19 pandemic, financial instability, geopolitical vulnerability and conflicts, etc.)?
Topic area 2: Female senior entrepreneurship in context: institutions, culture, networks, and entrepreneurial ecosystems: How do institutions, such as pension systems, and institutional shifts, e.g., reforms in pension systems, impact female senior entrepreneurship? What is the role of social and cultural factors, for instance, gender or age norms and gender representations, in driving or obstructing female senior entrepreneurship? Which other contextual factors foster and support, or hinder, female senior entrepreneurship? How is female senior entrepreneurship involved in entrepreneurial networks and entrepreneurial ecosystems? Which particular entrepreneurial ecosystems do female senior entrepreneurs use? How do entrepreneurial ecosystems influence female senior entrepreneurship in different country contexts?
Topic area 3: The outcomes of female senior entrepreneurship, the role of policies for and financing of female senior entrepreneurship: Which specific outcomes or performance, e.g., in terms of survival, growth, or failure of businesses, can be linked to female senior entrepreneurs? Are there differences, compared to either younger entrepreneurs, or male entrepreneurs, in terms of the outcomes and performance of female senior entrepreneurs? Which funding sources do businesses established by female senior entrepreneurs use? (e.g., external funding, financial capital from family members, own savings) What is the role of public policy in fostering female senior entrepreneurship? Are there specific policy programmes aimed at female senior entrepreneurship? If so, how effective are these programmes in promoting female senior entrepreneurship?
Topic area 4: Female senior entrepreneurship, economic development and macro-trends: How does female senior entrepreneurship contribute to economic growth and development, including sustainability transitions? How do country- or country-group specific factors (for example, conditions in emerging-market economies, post-transition countries, vulnerable developing economies) impact female senior entrepreneurship on the level of the economy? How does female senior entrepreneurship influence labour markets in nations or regions? And vice-versa, how do labour-market conditions impact female senior entrepreneurship? What role do demographic macro-trends, such as immigration, emigration, demographic ageing and shrinking populations, play in driving female senior entrepreneurship? What is the role of technology (digital technologies, AI) in female senior entrepreneurship?
Topic area 5: Health and well-being aspects of female senior entrepreneurship: How can the general well-being of female senior entrepreneurs be described? Which factors influence the well-being of female senior entrepreneurs? Do stress and other mental conditions (e.g., burnout) matter (more) for female senior entrepreneurs (compared to other entrepreneurs)?
Topic area 6: Definitions, conceptual underpinnings and theoretical frameworks of female senior entrepreneurship: Which definitions are appropriate to describe female senior entrepreneurship? Which theoretical frameworks may be applied to analyse female senior entrepreneurship? How can female senior entrepreneurship be explained as an entrepreneurial process? Which are the root causes and outcomes of female senior entrepreneurship from a process perspective? Which theories or concepts are suitable to shed light on and explain female senior entrepreneurship in its complexity?
Submission Information
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Key Dates
Opening date for manuscript submissions: 1 August 2026
Closing date for manuscript submissions: 15 February 2027
References
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