Abstract
"We contribute to the scarce but growing literature on female angel investors (Amatucci, 2016; Amatucci & Swartz, 2011; Becker-Blease & Sohl, 2007, 2011; Coleman & Robb, 2017, 2018; Gavara & Zarco, 2015; Harrison & Mason, 2007; Sohl & Hill, 2007). The latter points at the relatively weak overall involvement of women in the angel market. We study female angel investor behavior by comparing a sample of female BAs from a stereotype-pressure free environment to a sample of male angel investors. Our study works from an analytical perspective and yields interesting results on significant drivers of active women investor involvement in the BA market. Certain of those drivers are actually shown to be similar for women and men, provided that women join exclusively female networks. Experience in finance features most strongly among those drivers. We confirm first exploratory findings concerning the role of stereotype threat in female BA activity at the individual level (Bellier & Idi Cheffou, 2019; Harrison, Botelho & Mason, 2020). Findings suggest that the historically marginal contribution of women is more a result of the social construction of their role in the finance industry, where stereotype threat may be particularly prevalent, than supposedly innate features of gender."