• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.33-50
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• 2022

While the number of female entrepreneurs has been increasing, and female entrepreneurship has been increasingly perceived as a driving force of sustainable economic development, there is a lack of studies of female entrepreneurship, particularly in the non-Western regions. This study aims to explore current levels of entrepreneurial competences of female college students in four Asian countries (i.e., Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam), differences in the competences between countries, and factors affecting their entrepreneurial competences. Using online surveys, the present study collected data from 516 female Asian college students and examined their entrepreneurial competences in six dimensions-entrepreneurship, sensibility, business management, relationship management, strategic management, and multi-tasking. This study also investigated effects of four variables (i.e., entrepreneurship course taking experiences, on-campus entrepreneurship experiences, off-campus entrepreneurship experiences, and entrepreneurial intentions) on the six aspects of entrepreneurial competences. Data analysis reveals that female Asian college students as a whole group possess quite high levels of entrepreneurial competences while the Filipino students show the biggest competence in all the six dimensions measured. As regards affecting factors, this study finds that, in the total sample, regression equations are significant in all the six dimensions of entrepreneurial competences. On-campus experiences have significantly positive effects on those six dimensions while course taking experiences and entrepreneurial intentions positively affect three different dimensions each. However, out-of-campus experiences turn out to be negative though their effects are insignificant. Meanwhile, in individual samples, different factors affect different dimensions of entrepreneurial competences. Based on these findings, the present study suggests some actions for promoting female entrepreneurship and for conducting future studies.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.133-150
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to develop a female entrepreneurial competency model. For the purpose, two Focus Group Interviews (FGI) were conducted with seven outstanding female entrepreneurs, and three expert reviews were conducted. In addition, in order to verify the validity of the provisional female entrepreneur competency model derived from the FGI and competency modeling expert review, the female entrepreneur competency model was finally confirmed through a survey of 442 female entrepreneurs. The results were as follows. First, a female entrepreneur competency model consisting of 6 competency groups and 25 competencies of entrepreneurship, emotion, business management, relationship management, strategic management, and multitasking, and 75 behavioral indicators describing each competency was developed. Second, sensibility and multitasking are competencies that reflect the characteristics of female entrepreneurs. In particular, 'social sense', which is the ability to be considerate of others in the emotional competency group and the ability to respond well to subtle nuances, and the multitasking competency group's unique strengths are women's ability to perform various tasks at the same time. The 'work-family control ability' of a female entrepreneur who maintains a balance between 'multi-tasking' and work and family is a representative competency of only female entrepreneurs. Third, the developed female entrepreneurship competency model is meaningful in that it not only increases female entrepreneurial competency so that prospective female entrepreneurs can successfully run a business through entrepreneurship education, but it also makes it easy for existing female entrepreneurs to reflect and improve their competencies. If we provide appropriate training programs to female entrepreneurs based on their competency, it will be possible to effectively enhance the entrepreneurial competency, which is the key to strengthening the competitiveness of female entrepreneurs. The female entrepreneur competency model developed through this study can provide a basis for future research on competency diagnosis and education needs analysis.