The under-representation of women in senior management positions in family businesses has traditionally been associated with gender barriers. Now, a study led by Anna Akhmedova, a researcher at the UIC Barcelona Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, has concluded that there is a link between the obstacles inherent to family businesses and the different types of professional motivation among daughters, which explains why some of them reach senior positions in these types of companies.

“We have analysed the profiles of women that occupy leadership positions in their family businesses and divided them into three different groups based on their motivations and the family obstacles they have encountered”, said Akhmedova. “We have also identified the major role played by ethical motivations andthe inclination to act in a business’ best interest that women in such positions possess”, she said. 

The study has been published in the international Journal of Family Business Strategy and, in addition to Akhmedova, UIC Barcelona researchers Rita Cavallotti and Frederic Marimon and Lancaster University researcher Giovanna Campopiano, have all participated. 

The authors have considered a range of diverse economic activities to divide the daughters into three categories: “No barriers”, “Challengers” and “Rational”. The first category includes daughters who have no perceived obstaclesand who adopt an ethical stance driven by the intent to act in the best interests of the company. In the case of “Challengers” daughters, they have an ethical and intrinsic motivation, because in addition to being willing to work for and with the family, they want to become successful professionals. Finally, the “Rational” daughters are those who are attracted to the business because of a desire to help the family and because of the attractivebenefits such as flexibility and ease of entry, leading to senior positions. In these cases, the motivation is ethical and extrinsic.

In summary, the main conclusion of the research is that an ethical motivation to help and work with one’s family is an essential quality for daughters to achieve a higher position within the company. The study also shows that there are specific female archetypes in the company that are strong enough to overcome a certain degree of resistance from the family.

Reference:

Anna Akhmedova, Rita Cavallotti, Frederic Marimon, Giovanna Campopiano (2020) “Daughters’ careers in family business: Motivation types and family-specific barriers”, Journal of Family Business Strategy.