Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the process in which Japanese women entrepreneurs acquire and mobilize resources through their career in order to start up their business. Research questions in this paper are as follows: What kind of resources did Japanese women entrepreneurs acquire? From whom did they acquire them? How did they acquire them?
I conducted intensive interviews with 69 women entrepreneurs concerning how they acquired four types of resources (i.e. human, cultural, social, and economic capital) in areas of family, school, and workplace through three stages of life (i.e. infant, adolescent, and adult stages). Using seven occupational career factors, I conducted cluster analysis of women entrepreneurs in terms of patterns of career formation and obtained four clusters. Four types (clusters) of women entrepreneurs are as follows: “Specialist,” “Unintended Career,” “Generalist” and “Career planned to become an entrepreneur from earlier years.” The four types were cross-classified by life course variables such as period background, stages of life, family life event, timing of event, and turning points. Profiles of four types of entrepreneurs are described and explained using life course variables.
