ABSTRACT
Mateja Drnovšek and Miroslav Glas Introduction Slovenian women played an active role in the first entrepreneurial wave during the early 1990s. Two important factors played a significant role in employment decision-making: a) the economic crisis during transition threatened women with a greater psychological threat of unemployment; and b) the emergence of hidden discrimination in Slovenia, which frustrated women employed in large selfmanaged, or socially owned, companies, Such organizations represented a distinctive types of self management in the former Yugoslavia during the socialist period, although they were subject to political influence. A widespread belief among the population was that, as an independent entrepreneur, an individual would have a higher degree of control over their destiny. It may be argued that the participation of women in economic activities has not only resulted in the productive use of labour, but also may have improved the quality of business practices because of hypothesized differences in male and female entrepreneurs and managers in terms of women’s holistic approach to problem-solving and the special care they take with customers and employees.
