This important collection, first published in 1993, brings together the most comprehensive analyses of women's experience in business to date. The small business world - usually associated with men - is unpacked to display the multiple roles played by women. Links are made between lifestyles and business-styles, the interface between business and family life, paid and unpaid work and changing social and economic patterns. Throughout, the limitations of current theory, practice and policies in underestimating the significance of female entrepreneurship are shown. International in perspective, and drawing on the work of leading researchers in work and employment, this volume illuminates the hidden assumptions underlying approaches which concern themselves only with businessmen. It points the way to a better understanding of the meaning of self-employment and small business enterprise in market economies and to a more effective explanation of their role.

1. Women and Men Entrepreneurs: Life Strategies, Business Strategies Sheila Allen and Carole Truman 2. Female Petty Entrepreneurs and their Multiple Roles T. Scarlett Epstein 3. Rural Women Mary Jones 4. The Minerva Matrix Women Entrepreneurs: Their Perception of their Management Style Nadine Vokins 5. Women Entrepreneurs and the Granting of Business Credit Gerda Koper 6. Male and Female Entrepreneurs and the Businesses: A Comparative Study Steve Johnson and David Storey 7. Business Start-ip Training: The Gender Dimension Patricia Richardson and Christina Hartshorn 8. Not Just for Pin Money: A Case Study of the West Midlands Clothing Business Start-Up Project Davinder Kaur and Carol Hayden 9. Good Practice in Business Advice and Counselling Carole Truman 10. Women's Business in Europe: EEC Initiatives Caroline Turner 11. Female Business Ownership: Current Research and Possibilities for the Future Sara Carter

Sheila Allen was Professor of Sociology at University of Bradford.