ABSTRACT
This chapter deciphers female and male Israeli students’ choices of higher education offerings (HEOs), with a focus on business and finance – the main drivers of entrepreneurial capability acquisition. Each gender group’s perceived “gap” between the “ideal type” and their own entrepreneurial capabilities is assessed with respect to their HEO choices, among a sample of 686 university students and a specific sample of student-entrepreneurs, along with constructs representing motivation to start a business and entrepreneurial self-beliefs (ESBs). The premise lies in the dynamic capabilities framework and in the “fit” between HEO choices and the relevant capabilities that enable adapting to VUCA challenges, which can lead women to successful entrepreneurship. In both the student and student-entrepreneur samples, women’s HEO choices stemmed from their ESB, and not from a perceived “gap” or motivation. Moreover, female student-entrepreneurs ranked higher than female students in their choices of business and finance HEOs, with a higher similarity to male student-entrepreneurs, showing decreased gender differences in the student-entrepreneur sample. Implications related to the Israeli ecosystem and impacts on other entrepreneurial ecosystems are discussed.
