Gendered digital entrepreneurship in gendered coworking spaces: Evidence from Shenzhen, China

Abstract

The rise of digital entrepreneurship possibly empowers women. Female entrepreneurial activities and places are mutually constitutive. However, feminist geography research on entrepreneurship is limited, especially at the workplace scale. The gender implications of new types of workplaces are underexplored. This study adopts a feminist geography perspective to explore how the gendering of digital entrepreneurship intertwines with gendered practices in coworking spaces. Data were collected from 40 in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, coworking managers, and relevant professionals in Shenzhen, China. This study suggests that the socialization of gender identity leads to a gendered digital entrepreneurial process in terms of the under-representation of female leadership, the reproduction of feminine fields, work–life imbalance, stress, and loneliness. The gendering of digital entrepreneurship further imbricates with spatial practices in coworking spaces and hinders the liberating potential of coworking in terms of openness, collaboration, and community.