Gendered institutional entrepreneurship and deviance neutralization

While existing studies highlight that a new institutional logic is grounded in pre-existing
norms and beliefs in society, few research examines how a society’s gendered
expectations can shape and constrain the development of a new logic. To address this
gap, I focus on the first American movement for saving wild birds from 1889 to 1920
and the movement participants’ responses to women’s institutional entrepreneurship.
Specifically, I investigate a mechanism that is responsible for the slow expansion of the
new logic and perpetuates gender inequality throughout the movement. The mechanism,
deviance neutralization, is an individual strategy to counteract perceived deviance from
gender norms by living up to society’s expectations for one’s gender. When female
participants introduce a new technology-based practice and hold leadership positions
that enable them to advance the movement, their entrepreneurial action is seen as
deviance from generally expected feminine qualities. To neutralize such deviance,
movement participants are less likely to promote what female entrepreneurs campaign
for, environmentalism. I test this mechanism using an event count analysis of individual
contribution for the movement’s bimonthly magazine that sharing the movement’s
vision with the public. I find that the more women implement a new practice and the
more women occupy official positions, the fewer contributions a participant is likely to
make for the magazine. The findings of this study extend current understanding of
institutional entrepreneurship using the lens of gender, and the mechanism of gender
inequality in even progressive movements, as well as carry practical implications for
addressing deviance neutralization today