Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration

Major

<--Please Select Major-->

Date of Defense

11-21-2025

Graduate Advisor

Lei Xu, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Department

Committee

Lei Xu, PhD

Yiuman, Tse, PhD

Stephanie Merritt, PhD

Abstract

This dissertation examines how patriarchal logics shape the efficiency of funding for female entrepreneurs by comparing two U.S. entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) within the same state: Kansas City and St. Louis. Although these EEs are geographically proximate and structurally comparable, St. Louis has nearly twice as many women-led ventures as Kansas City receiving institutional capital. Drawing on 31 semi-structured interviews, the study includes 20 entrepreneurs, 11 from Kansas City (5 women, 6 men) and 9 from St. Louis (4 women, 5 men), of whom are CEOs of startups founded between 2014 and 2022 and recipients of institutional funding (e.g., grants, angel, pre-seed, seed, or later-stage). To provide a broader perspective, 11 venture capitalists were also interviewed (5 from Kansas City, 6 from St. Louis). Findings indicate that patriarchal logics are contextually contingent, manifesting differently across EEs. These localized expressions shape both the accessibility and efficiency of funding for female entrepreneurs, producing uneven gender outcomes. By highlighting how patriarchal logics interact with EE-level dynamics and competing institutional logics, this study extends Zhao and Wry’s (2016) conceptualization by showing the multiple manifestations of such logics. More importantly, the study advances understanding of how gendered institutional arrangements take form in EEs and shape the capital flows that sustain new ventures and how cultural entrepreneurship may also produce negative impacts.

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