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A Framework for Assessing Entrepreneurial Outcomes: An International Perspective
Edited by Prof. John Watson, Prof. Elizabeth J. Gatewood and Dr Kate Lewis
Introduction
It is with great pleasure that, as guest co-editors, we bring you this special issue of the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship (IJGE ) based on a selection of papers presented at the 6th Diana International Conference (co-chaired by John Watson) held in Fremantle, Western Australia, in 2012 (in conjunction with the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research Exchange (ACERE)). Potential papers for this special issue were identified by a panel comprising Elizabeth Gatewood, Patti Greene, Colette Henry and John Watson. Between them, the panel members attended all paper presentations with a gender theme. Subsequently, the authors of selected papers were invited to submit a revised version of their paper to this special issue incorporating the feedback received at the conference. As guest co-editors we then worked with the authors to further improve their papers prior to presenting our nominated papers for this special issue to Colette Henry (as IJGE editor) for further review and final approval.
Note that Elizabeth and Patti are two of the original five "Dianas" and both Colette Henry and John Watson (as the "token" male!) attended the first Diana International Conference held in Stockholm in June 2003 (hosted by Magnus Aronsson from the Entrepreneurship and Small Business Institute (ESBRI)). Also note that in 2014, the Diana International Conference will return to Stockholm and will again be hosted by ESBRI (and organised by Magnus Aronsson, Friederike Welter and Colette Henry). Since its genesis some ten year ago, the Diana International Conference has generated considerable interest in female entrepreneurship and this, in turn, has spurned substantial research in the area. This increased interest in female entrepreneurship has not only resulted in a number of existing journals launching special issues on this topic (for example, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice has published three special issues on women's entrepreneurship: in 2006, 2007 and 2012), but also provided the motivation for establishing the IJGE (the first journal to focus on gender and entrepreneurship) which published its inaugural issue in 2009 (with Colette Henry as Editor). As a result, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of published scholarly articles...