03/30/2026
By Lani Faith Gacula

The Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Manning School of Business invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Lani Faith Gacula on “Inclusion to Equality: Multi-Level Barriers to Female Entrepreneurship.”

Date: Friday, April 10, 2026
Time: 2 – 3:30 p.m.
Location: Pulichino Tong Business Center, Room 462 and via Zoom

Committee Members

  • Chair: Michael Obal, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Manning School of Business, UMass Lowell 
  • Denise Dunlap, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Manning School of Business, UMass Lowell 

  • Rangapriya (Priya) Kannan, Ph.D., Dean, Lucas College & Graduate School of Business, San José State University

Abstract:

This study strategically integrates the role of gender, investment decisions and venture founding in female entrepreneurship at the macro, meso, and micro levels. The primary focus is on foregrounding female entrepreneurs while acknowledging the importance of social and environmental factors influencing women’s ability in accessing financing and venture founding. The acquisition of financial resources remains one of the most critical tasks for entrepreneurs as they attempt to develop a new venture (Ko & McKelvie, 2018). In addition, founding of new ventures is a significant source of technological innovation, and a key contributor to the development of high-growth economic environments (Marullo et al., 2018). However, entrepreneurship has historically been considered a male-dominated field (Bird & Brush, 2002). Research indicates that female entrepreneurs continue to face structural barriers (Ozkazanc‐Pan & Clark Muntean, 2018; Galmangodage et al., 2025) such as limited access to financing (Karlstrøm et al., 2024; Sahasranamam et al., 2024), which in turn contributes to lower rates of venture founding among women entrepreneurs (Rietveld & Patel, 2022). Examining female entrepreneurship through a multilevel analysis is crucial to developing a comprehensive understanding of the varied and interacting factors affecting female entrepreneurs.

At a macro level (Essay 1), I drew upon gender role congruity theory to examine whether, how, and why women-led impact ventures experience disparity from their male counterparts in the ability to obtain early-stage equity investment and whether a country’s cultural masculinity deepens the hurdles for female entrepreneurs in the pursuit of equity funding. At the meso level (Essay 2), this research shifts the lens to investigate how stereotypes influence dynamics within new venture teams by investigating the effect of the team’s gender composition to funding success, and how female-founded new venture teams leverage human capital (diversity and average) in obtaining early-stage funding. This study draws from gender stereotype offering an understanding on how all-female founding teams navigate stereotypes within teams and information processing theory to understand the acquisition, exchange and application of information within teams (Deeter-Schmelz & Ramsey, 2003). At the micro level (Essay 3), I employed inductive qualitative approach (Gioia et al., 2013) to examine how women founders of technology-based ventures make sense of critical turning points that prompt their decision to found a venture and how these sensemaking processes evolve over time toward their commitment to venture founding. This study further analyzed within-group differences in sensemaking approaches of women founders in technology-based ventures.

By examining female entrepreneurship and associated entrepreneurial outcomes (financing and venture founding) at a multilevel approach, we are able to collectively understand the different gender-based barriers they face. This study efforts to reveal underlying and interacting causes of persistent discrimination and biases thereby enabling academics and decision makers to develop a comprehensive and holistic perspective. This perspective can help guide new research, inform policymakers, shape supportive ecosystems, and contribute to the advancement of female entrepreneurs, ultimately fostering a more supportive, inclusive and equitable entrepreneurial environment.

All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend.