Gender bias in IT entrepreneurship: the self-referential role of male overrepresentation in digital businesses

Drawing on optimal distinctiveness theory and Jellinek’s concept of the Normative Force of the Factual, we provide an alternative explanation for how the normality of gender imbalance in IT-driven start-ups (i.e., the fact that there are far more men than women) becomes normativity (what everyone expects to see), and eventually an imperative for those desiring to enter the field. We uncover the process used to pressure female founders of IT start-ups into being like the prototypical actor, usually male, and how failing to do so reduces audience support. This process is self-referential and self-enforcing and thus detached from efforts to reduce hurdles and obstacles for female founders. Our article provides recommendations on how to break this self-referential cycle.