Equalizing networking opportunities: How women can leverage incubators in entrepreneurship
研究孵化器能否缩小创业创新中的性别差距，发现女性比男性更善于战略性利用孵化器，从而提升创新成果。
Entrepreneurship remains a male-dominated field, with women facing persistent disparities in areas such as representation and innovation. This paper examines whether and how incubators contribute to reducing the gender gap in entrepreneurial innovation. Using a mixed-methods approach—combining large-scale quantitative data with qualitative interviews—we find that women-led ventures benefit more from incubator participation, which helps them close the innovation gap. Women tend to engage with incubators more strategically across three dimensions: strengthening individual resources (e.g., confidence and expertise), building relationships with key stakeholders, and accessing role models and mentors who help them navigate gendered expectations. In contrast, men are more likely to use incubators in a targeted, transactional way, primarily to acquire technical or business knowledge. These findings suggest that incubators can serve as equalizing spaces that offer women critical support to overcome barriers and enhance innovation outcomes.