Purpose

This paper aims to add to the theorization of the gender dynamic in rural areas by investigating the motives of women who join their family firm (or their spouse's family firm) and thereby defy the demographic trend of rural flight. The context of this study is the depopulation of rural areas with the closing of basic services and relocation of the younger population, and educated women in particular, to urban areas. Consequently, rural family businesses risk failing to find successors and suffering forced closure or relocation. The empirical site of the study is rural family firms in Sweden, a context characterized by a high level of gender equality in legislation and culture but gender-conservative business structures in rural regions.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical case in this paper builds on a qualitative study of nine (9) life course narratives of women entrepreneurs in a rural region of Southern Sweden who have returned to rural areas to join their family business. The authors follow the view established by gender scholars that women are active agents in navigating their lives, and their life story narratives offer insight into the considerations that inform their choice to stay or return to rural locations. In Sweden, the setting for the study, gender equality is widely supported by legislation, policy and institutional frameworks and popular understanding of gender relations. In contrast to the gender-progressive policies of Sweden at large, women's entrepreneurship in rural regions of Sweden tends to follow traditional gender hierarchies and face similar constraints as in rural areas of other countries. The juxtaposition of these competing sets of ideals makes Sweden an important and interesting place to study and draw insights from the experiences of women entrepreneurs.

Findings

The findings reveal that women who choose to join rural family firms view them primarily in a positive light and see this choice as aligned with their need for professional flexibility and assertiveness, rewarding relationships, and a calm, secure, well-balanced life. Theoretically, the study implies that women choosing to engage in rural family firms seek non-material benefits, such as work–life balance and social support, and may be driven in part by a sense of psychological ownership that extends to the rural community.

Originality/value

The findings provide novel insights on women as active agents in navigating their lives and the intrinsic (e.g. alignment of personal values) and extrinsic (e.g. community support) motives that inform their decisions. The study also raises questions regarding how women perceive themselves as “fitting in” to rural settings and to what extent the sense of security within these settings that the women describe may be contingent upon factors such as their families' embeddedness within the community as well as their conformity to the local social norms.

中文翻译：

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性别角色或性别目标？妇女重返农村家族企业

目的

本文旨在通过调查女性加入其家族企业（或配偶的家族企业）的动机来增加农村地区性别动态的理论化，从而对抗农村人口外逃的人口趋势。这项研究的背景是农村地区人口减少，基本服务关闭，年轻人口，尤其是受过教育的妇女迁移到城市地区。因此，农村家族企业面临找不到接班人和被迫关闭或搬迁的风险。该研究的实证地点是瑞典的农村家族企业，该背景的特点是立法和文化中的高度性别平等，但农村地区的企业结构性别保守。

设计/方法/途径

本文中的实证案例建立在对瑞典南部农村地区女性企业家的九 (9) 个生命历程叙述的定性研究的基础上，这些女性企业家返回农村地区加入其家族企业。作者遵循性别学者确立的观点，即女性是驾驭她们生活的积极因素，她们的人生故事叙述提供了洞察力，让她们深入了解影响她们选择留在或返回农村地区的考虑因素。在研究背景瑞典，性别平等得到立法、政策和体制框架以及对性别关系的普遍理解的广泛支持。与整个瑞典的性别进步政策相反，女性 瑞典农村地区的创业往往遵循传统的性别等级制度，并面临与其他国家农村地区类似的限制。这些相互矛盾的理想并存使瑞典成为研究女企业家的经验并从中汲取见解的重要而有趣的地方。

发现

调查结果表明，选择加入农村家族企业的女性主要以积极的眼光看待她们，认为这种选择符合她们对职业灵活性和自信、有益的关系以及平静、安全、平衡的生活的需求。从理论上讲，该研究表明，选择加入农村家庭企业的女性寻求非物质利益，例如工作与生活的平衡和社会支持，并且可能部分受到延伸到农村社区的心理主人翁感的驱动。

原创性/价值

研究结果提供了关于女性作为主导其生活的积极因素以及影响她们决策的内在（例如个人价值观的一致性）和外在（例如社区支持）动机的新颖见解。该研究还提出了以下问题：女性如何看待自己“适应”农村环境，以及女性所描述的这些环境中的安全感在多大程度上可能取决于家庭在社区中的融入度以及他们遵守当地的社会规范。