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Breaking the Glass Ceiling: A Research on Gender Equity in the Venture Capital Industry

Tippi Åhnberg & Karin Pattyranie

Student thesis: Master thesis

Abstract

The importance of incorporating women in the venture capital industry is an essential step to advance the industry and ensure gender equity within both venture capital funds and portfolio companies. A research gap was identified in terms of what strategies could be implemented on a broad scale to increase gender equity in Scandinavia. The purpose of this research is to mitigate the identified gap and present strategies to increase gender equity in the venture capital industry.

The methods used to answer the formulated research question are open-ended semi-structured in-depth interviews, to gain empirical data along with structured written answers. This qualitative research aims at exploring the research objective where literature review in addition to theoretical framework is incorporated.

The findings of the research present five key strategies for increasing gender equity, which are: (1) Awareness Strategy, (2) Female Networking, (3) Standardized Screening Process, (4) Influence Strategy and (5) External Reporting.

The research suggests that future research should focus on the novel empirical findings of this research – phenomenon’s male-debt and femwashing. This research provide valuable insights into what strategies are currently being used for increasing gender equity within the venture capital industry and how they might impact society and economies at large.

EducationsMSc in International Business, (Graduate Programme) Final Thesis
LanguageEnglish
Publication date2023
Number of pages119