Clark University The proposed research will focus upon the economic importance of women-owned businesses (WOB) in the economic restructuring process of the U.S. The objectives of the study are to explore the processes through which gender and geography shape entrepreneurship and through which gendered entrepreneurship is in turn transforming places. The study will compare two metro areas of similar size, but with different proportions of WOBs: Colorado Springs, CO and Worcester, MA. The research plan calls for three phases of data collection in each place. The analysis will combine the case-oriented comparative method with variable-oriented statistical analysis. The research will contribute to theoretical and empirical understandings of the relationships among geography, gender, and entrepreneurship.
