How mentoring could enable women entrepreneurs to cross the psychological Rubicon

Purpose: This study investigates how quantitative studies have conceptualized and measured the roles of mentoring and role models in entrepreneurial intention and behavior. The two research questions are (1) why do current approaches fall short in identifying which form of support more effectively influences entrepreneurial behavior among women? (2) What could be an alternative approach?

Design/methodology/approach: The research employs a literature review on women's entrepreneurship, mentoring and role modeling to highlight the limits of existing quantitative approaches and propose a more experimental approach. Data were collected from the Web of Science Primary Database, focusing on articles published between 2001 and 2024. As a large majority of research on women entrepreneurship has been qualitative, the final analysis includes 15 empirical quantitative studies that discuss mentoring or role models in the context of women's entrepreneurial intention and behavior. Building on the distinction between the specific needs characterizing the motivational versus volitional phases (Delanoë-Gueguen and Fayolle, 2018), we analyzed the data using Dolnicar et al.'s (2024) methodological classification to highlight the limitations of most existing empirical studies in bridging the intention–behavior gap. The in-depth analysis of the methodology is preceded by a qualitative analysis adopting a feminist lens (Ahl, 2006; Calás et al., 2009) to uncover the underlying norms, the assumption regarding the role of women entrepreneurship and the conceptual framing of the mentors.

Findings: By integrating feminist critique with methodological scrutiny, this study advances understanding of mentoring in entrepreneurship research. Our analysis shows that most studies adopt a deficit-based view, portraying women as needing to overcome individual shortcomings to fit existing support systems. Such framing neglects the imperative to reconfigure these systems around women entrepreneurs' experiences. We call for a methodological shift – especially experimental designs –to examine alternative support forms. Accordingly, we propose a mentee-centered mentoring model that recognizes mentors' dual role as guides and role models while addressing the specific challenges women face in moving from intention to action.

Originality/value: This study makes two contributions to entrepreneurship research. Theoretically, it calls for a shift from role models to mentee-centered mentoring to bridge the gap between women's entrepreneurial intention and action, positioning mentoring as a driver of structural change. Methodologically, it stresses the value of experiments that capture real behavior to produce findings applicable to practice.