Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

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Journal of Family Business Strategy

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfbs

The dearth of daughter successors in family businesses:

Gendered norms, blindness to possibility, and invisibility
Kathyann Kessler Overbeke a,*, Diana Bilimoria b, Sheri Perelli a
a

Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead School of Management, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-7235, USA
Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead School of Management, Department of Organizational Behavior, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH
44106-7235, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Article history:
Received 5 December 2011
Received in revised form 4 July 2013
Accepted 8 July 2013

Statistics reveal a dearth of daughters among successors of family business owners. In one of very few
empirical studies on the subject of daughters who do not follow in the footsteps of their entrepreneurial
fathers, we examined factors that may contribute to daughters self-assessments of succession. Findings
reveal that daughters own blindness to the possibility of succession, often resulting from automatically
activated gender norms, impedes their ascendancy. Interviews with daughters who did not pursue
executive positions with decision making responsibilities in their family rms, as well as both sons and
daughters who did, indicate that daughters may not deliberately consider succession until a critical
event motivates them to do so. Additionally, parental support and mentoring for leadership are seen to
facilitate daughter succession.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Family business
Entrepreneurship
Succession
Gender
Women in family business
Daughters in family business

Introduction
Wives of family business owners have been described as Chief
Emotional Ofcers (Poza & Messer, 2001) and sons are commonly
perceived as heirs apparent. The literature is relatively silent,
however, about the role and function of daughters in the family
business. The dearth of daughters at the helm of U.S. family rms
(Vera & Dean, 2005) as well as research suggesting the importance
of family unity in the success of family businesses (Poza, Hanlon, &
Kishida, 2004), speak persuasively for a better understanding of the
relatively unexplored roles of daughters in these organizations.
In 1994, only two percent of CEOs in family businesses were
female including women who replaced their husbands due to
death or illness and women who started their own businesses.
While the number of daughters that head family businesses
increased in the last decade, reaching 9.5% in 2005 (Vera & Dean,
2005), it remains surprisingly low. Daughters, it has been argued,
are underutilized resources that may add to a business competitive advantage (Dumas, 1989, 1990, 1992). Increasingly,
organizations are discovering the value of diversity in leadership

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 216 346 2092/+1 216 292 3939 (home);
fax: +1 216 765 8057.
E-mail addresses: Overkess@aol.com, kathyann.overbeke@case.edu
(K.K. Overbeke), diana.bilimoria@case.edu (D. Bilimoria), sheriperelli@comcast.net
(S. Perelli).
1877-8585/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2013.07.002

ranks. Including daughters in upper management positions may

improve the notoriously low survival rate (Gersick, 1997) of
family businesses from generation to generation. Additionally,
the paucity of daughter successors may indicate a lack of
fulllment for daughters who are not realizing occupational
growth and the advantages of working in the family business.
Blondel (2011) also notes that the exclusion of daughters from
leadership roles may produce tensions within the family.
Much of the limited research on daughters and family
businesses examines the unique challenges of daughters who
have achieved successor or leadership status, but it sheds little
light on the many daughters who are unutilized or under-utilized
in their family rms. To further explore the roles of daughters in
family organizations, we examined how successor daughters, or
daughters who are included in the upper management of their
family rms, compare with non-successor daughters and successor
sons in their understandings of their roles and their framing of
succession outcomes.
Our inquiry was informed by Corrells (2001) use of supply and
demand dynamics to examine the gender wage gap in the general
U.S. population. While lack of demand for women in higher paying
occupations provides one explanation for the wage gap, a supply
side decit resulting from biased self-assessments provides
another. In this study, we consider to what extent implicit bias
on the part of both daughters and fathers might contribute to
the limited number of daughters succeeding their fathers in the
family rm. Our goal was to examine how implicit and explicit

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K.K. Overbeke et al. / Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

factors such as gendered cognitions, contextual factors, and

daughters deliberative thought processes contribute to their
decisions to seek family rm succession. We draw on the Theory of
Planned Behavior and Gender Theory to study daughters
succession decisions. Semi-structured interviews with successor
and non-successor daughters of family business owners as well
as successor sons shed light not only on reasons for malefemale
disparity in succession outcomes, but the unique effects of gender
norms in the context of family businesses-norms that impact all
members of both the family and the business.
Our approach to the study of daughters and succession in family
businesses also responds to Dumas call (2011) for more
understanding of why egalitarianism is not fully realized in the
practice of U.S. family businesses. Noting that gender norms shape
daughters realities differently than those of sons, resulting in
variant self-perceptions and cognitions relating to the family
business, Dumas advocates research based on gender as a socially
constructed phenomenon (Dumas, 2011). Our research focus and
sample allowed us to explore this aspect of gender dynamics. The
paper proceeds as follows. First, we review literature on daughter
succession, then we present the theoretical framework and
methodology used in our study. Thereafter, we report ndings,
discuss their implications and summarize the contributions and
limitations of our work.
1. Extant literature on daughter succession
In an overview of research on women in family rms, Jimenez
(2009) describes the sparse research as narrowly focused on
obstacles and positive aspects of female succession. Obstacles
center on invisibility and primogeniture. Women often contribute
to the family business but may not be recognized with title or
salary. Instead, their efforts may be considered minimal extensions
of their roles and responsibilities in the home where they are in
charge of domestic, emotional, and social issues. Women are,
rarely considered serious candidates to succeed to leadership
(Jimenez, 2009, p. 56) because of an implicit adherence to the
practice of primogeniture, where the rstborn male child is
expected to be the successor. The work of women in family
businesses is also often invisible to customers, suppliers, and a
variety of other business associates who may undervalue their
contributions.
Jimenez (2009) also notes that literature on the positive
aspects of women working in the family business is focused on
three issues: (1) the satisfaction women derive from developing
their own career potential and fortifying their familys efforts;
(2) advantages the family business offers including job security
and a more exible schedule that accommodates child care; and
(3) leadership styles of female family business executives. These
studies principally reect experiences of women who have
surpassed gender barriers within their family rms or have
started their own rms. Women who have overcome gender
barriers have usually replaced male family members who were
ill, uninterested, or lacked competence. However, women are
not always subjected to the glass ceiling (Songini & Gnan,
2009). A study conducted by Cole (1997) revealed the
experiences of women for whom gender had not been a barrier
to succession in family rms and had very positive views of their
careers. Studies of women successors reporting positive aspects
of succession, including Coles (1997), reveal that women
experience fulllment as leaders of family businesses and
demonstrate successful leadership in them. With respect to
gender differences in leadership styles, female family business
leaders are noted for their ability to multitask, overcome
contradictions, and be sensitive to the needs of employees
(Jimenez, 2009).

Research suggests that women who achieve successor status

often undergo a conversion that results in family members and
business associates previously familiar with them as invisible
partners (Jimenez, 2009) or daddys little girl (Dumas, 1989),
subsequently viewing them as capable managers (Curimbaba,
2002). The insights of psychologists and therapists who have
worked with family businesses (e.g., Hollander & Burkowitz, 1990;
Salganicoff, 1990) and empirical studies that examine the
experience of daughters actively working in their familys business
(Dumas, 1989, 1990, 1992; Curimbaba, 2002; Cole, 1997; Vera &
Dean, 2005; Haberman & Danes, 2007; Barrett & Moores, 2009)
have addressed the conversion process. These studies reference
family culture and structure that prevent daughters inclusion
(Barnes, 1988; Curimbaba, 2002; Dumas, 1989, 1990, 1992;
Hollander & Burkowitz, 1990), discriminatory attitudes of rm
stakeholders including customers and business associates (Cole,
1997; Vera & Dean, 2005), conicts balancing motherhood and
career (Cole, 1997; Vera & Dean, 2005), and daughters perceptions
of their opposing roles in the family and business (Barnes, 1988;
Dumas, 1989, 1990, 1992). As described below, these studies
explain contextual and psycho-social factors associated with
daughter succession, but do not clarify why so few daughters
self-nominate as successor candidates.
Contextual factors inuencing demand and supply dynamics of
daughter succession. Family culture and structure are frequently
cited as contextual factors impacting daughter succession. Family
culture consists of roles and rules embedded in family behavior
patterns (Dumas, 1989, 1992; Hollander & Burkowitz, 1990) and
structure refers to the distribution of power (Barnes, 1988;
Hollander & Burkowitz, 1990; Dumas, Dupuis, Richer, & St.-Cyr,
1995); and gender composition of the family (Barrett & Moores,
2009; Curimbaba, 2002). Principally, these factors inuence the
demand and supply of daughter successors. When family culture
and structure reect traditional gender roles, it functions against the
demand for daughter successors and reduces the supply of prepared
and proactive daughter successor candidates. For example, when
daughters are expected to be cooperative, subordinate, and needing
protection (Dumas, 1989, 1990, 1992), they are seen not as viable
successors but as lacking the competitive, authoritative, and tough
demeanor of a business executive. Such daughters are viewed as
caretakers bound to uphold their fathers authority and not to
challenge family roles. There is little demand for these daughters to
lead the family business.
Traditional family structures mitigate demand for daughter
successors because daughters typically rank lowest in power
(Barnes, 1988; Haberman & Danes, 2007; Hollander & Burkowitz,
1990) and male family members are considered preferable to
females as family rm successors. Powerlessness is often tied to
perceptions of daughters business acumen such that daughters
low rankings are seen as indicators of their inability to compete in
challenging business environments (Barnes, 1988; Haberman &
Danes, 2007). Daughters attempting succession may need to
establish new powerful identities that are perceived congruently
in both family and workplace environments, else tensions may
emerge from what Barnes (1988) labels incongruent hierarchies.
Daughters from families with few males are more likely to
become successors (Barrett & Moores, 2009; Curimbaba, 2002;
Haberman & Danes, 2007). However, even under such circumstances, demand for daughter successors is ambiguous. Although
initially welcomed into the business, over time, a daughters
authority may be threatened by the appearance of a male family
member such as a new brother-in-law who wishes to take control
(Curimbaba, 2002).
Families with more egalitarian cultures and structures are more
likely to display a demand for daughter successors. A study
conducted by Haberman and Danes (2007) demonstrated that

K.K. Overbeke et al. / Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

families with more inclusive attitudes toward women successfully

integrated them in the upper echelons of the business. However,
Barrett and Moores (2009) found that demand for daughters in
high ofces did not promise demand for daughters as CEOs. Thus,
current literature recognizes an equivocal demand for daughter
successors even as family culture becomes more egalitarian.
Current literature largely focuses on the demand for daughter
successors, explaining how successor daughters have managed
gender barriers (e.g., Songini & Gnan, 2009). Researchers have
mentioned the small supply of qualied daughter successors and
have advocated for daughters to take more initiative in
developing skills for leading the family business, but this has
not been the major focus of their work. Thus, a limitation of
extant literature is that it does not examine supply side factors or
the inuence of cognitions about the role of women in career
choices. Furthermore, current literature examines solely the
experiences of daughters who achieved positions of authority in
family businesses. Absent consideration of supply side factors,
including the experiences of daughters who did not attempt
succession, the literature fails to fully explain the dearth of
daughter successors, how this phenomenon may be improved, or
the general role and function of family business daughters.
2. Theoretical support
To understand supply-side dynamics in daughter succession,
we sought to reveal implicit and explicit factors that may explain
daughters perceptions about their role and function in the family
business. We drew on two bodies of literature, the Theory of
Planned Behavior and Gender Role Theory, to operationalize the
study of these factors.
The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). TPB (Ajzen, 1985, 1991)
provides a decision making model that is based on the assumption
that behaviors are results of rational judgments and attitudes
toward specic behaviors. It posits that intentions are the direct
antecedents to behavior and that intentions are informed by
salient psychological and sociological beliefs. Ajzen postulated that
salient beliefs about consequences from specic behaviors provide
the psychological underpinnings of attitude and salient beliefs
about social pressures regarding these behaviors lead to evaluations of social inuences, or the subjective norm. TPB also proposes
that behavioral intentions are a function of control beliefs, or the
presence or absence of requisite resources and opportunities,
(Ajzen & Driver, 1991, p. 188). Thus, TPB provides a blueprint to
investigate beliefs, attitudes, and norms that encourage or
discourage daughters intentions to become family business
successors. The three major components of TPB  behavior beliefs,
subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control  informed our
understanding of a deliberative decision making process and
guided the design of an interview protocol.
Behavior beliefs refer to an individuals perceptions of
consequences that might result from certain actions. How
individuals evaluate perceived consequences may impact their
attitudes and intentions to execute a behavior or action (Ajzen,
1991). Beliefs are construed from direct observation or information
received from outside sources or by way of various inference
processes (Ajzen, 1991). For example, daughters of family business
owners may evaluate succession based on its potential to affect
their assigned gender roles, such as the cooperative daughter or
caretaker of the family (Dumas, 1989). Gender roles may also
inuence daughters beliefs if they perceive that becoming a
successor may be unattractive to men (Hollander & Burkowitz,
1990). Contrastingly, daughters may believe that becoming a
successor will allow them to make important and rewarding
contributions to family business sustainability (Cole, 1997; Vera &
Dean, 2005).

203

Subjective norm refers to an individuals perception of the

opinions of important social referent groups about a given
behavior and the extent to which those opinions are valued
(Ajzen, 1985, 1991; Ajzen & Driver, 1991; Armitage & Christian,
2003; Ajzen & Fishbein, 2005). For instance, daughters may
subscribe to norms shaped by important referent groups such as
parents, relatives and friends that signal the proper role for
daughters and succession in family businesses. When norms
reect gender egalitarian ideals, and daughters accept these
norms, they are more likely to pursue succession.
Perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 2002); refers to an
individuals beliefs about his/her ability to successfully engage
in a particular behavior. Performance may be constrained by nonmotivational factors such as opportunity and the cooperation of
others (Ajzen & Driver, 1991, p. 182). This is of particular
importance in family businesses since parents are gatekeepers
to succession. Parents perceptions of a daughters abilities or
suitability to lead their family business may be affected by gender
norms that distance daughters from succession. Daughters may
therefore believe that the opportunity to become a successor is not
available to them and that they do not have the power to persuade
their parents differently. Conversely, daughters who perceive
favorable opportunities within the family business and the
likelihood of support from parentgatekeepers, are more likely
to decide to become successors.
Gender role theory. In combination with TPB, gender role theory
may be used to understand both the deliberative and implicit
factors that inuence daughters decisions and behaviors. The
enduring paucity of daughter successors clearly indicates the
existence of a gendered system. The disproportionate number of
successor sons suggests a bias toward males in the selection and/or
self-selection of successors. Therefore gender role theory is used in
this study to contextualize daughters decisions and identify
psycho-social factors that impact beliefs about gender and their
effect on behaviors and/or decisions.
Widely held socially constructed beliefs about gender (gender
beliefs) powerfully affect individuals cognitions and treatment of
men and women (Correll, 2001; Ridgeway & Correll, 2004; Judge &
Livingston, 2008; Ely, Insead, & Kolb, 2011; Ridgeway, 2011).
Gender beliefs are inculcated in childhood when children
differentiate themselves on the basis of sex and learn to attach
attributes and values to each sex (Martin, Ruble, & Szkrybalo, 2002;
Correll, 2001). For example, at an early age, children recognize
physical features such as hair and clothes that identify boys and
girls and may categorize activities and toys according to what is
perceived to be appropriate for each sex (e.g., dolls are for girls,
trucks are for boys).
Two aspects of gender as a socially constructed concept are
central to our discussion: the assessment of men and womens
competencies (e.g., Correll, 2001; Ely et al., 2011; Ridgeway, 2011)
and hegemonic beliefs that rank men as more powerful than
women (e.g., Ridgeway & Correll, 2004; Ridgeway, 2011). Socially
constructed gender beliefs are embodied in stereotypes of men and
women that ascribe different characteristics and abilities to each
sex (Correll, 2001; Ely et al., 2011). Generally, stereotypes cast
women as communal, or nurturing, caring, and cooperative and
men are seen as agentic, or task oriented, competitive and decisive
(e.g., Eagly & Steffen, 1984). These stereotypic gender beliefs affect
how individuals assess themselves in certain contexts and how
they perceive others assessments of them. Evaluation of ones
competencies is a deciding factor in choosing career interests since
people tend to choose career paths in which they feel condent of
their skills (Ridgeway & Correll, 2004; Martin et al., 2002; Judge &
Livingston, 2008; Hackett & Betz, 1981). Gender beliefs may
therefore inuence daughters choices regarding family business
succession as their assessments of their skills are potentially

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K.K. Overbeke et al. / Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

inuenced by others gendered biases as well as their own

internalization of gender beliefs. Daughters may eschew interest in
succession because perceptions that others view them as underqualied bias their own judgments and behaviors (Dumas, 1990).
Socially derived beliefs about competencies are made even more
inuential by their unconscious nature. Gender acts as a
background identity guiding behavior and judgments in various
ways without an individuals awareness of its inuence (Ridgeway
& Correll, 2004; Ridgeway, 2011). That is, daughters may not
realize that their behaviors and judgments about becoming a
successor are implicitly triggered by gender biases.
Additionally, gender beliefs produce biases beyond perceptions
of competencies. The gendered system also assigns cultural rules
and roles to each gender category and these roles carry hegemonic
beliefs that grant more power to men than women (Ridgeway &
Correll, 2004; Eagly, Rose, Riger, & McHugh, 2012). Daughters may
not contest conventional gender role stereotypes held by their
fathers who are often the gatekeepers to succession. Daughters
perceptions of a differential power structure and expectations of
gender role behavior may preclude them from even imagining
themselves as successors. Based on these implications of gender
role theory as well as those of TPB discussed earlier, we examine
how gendered cognitions, contextual factors, and daughters
deliberative thought processes implicitly and explicitly contribute
to their decisions to seek family rm succession.
3. Research methods
We used an inductive qualitative approach to examine the
main research question: What factors explain daughter succession in family businesses? We dene succession as occupying
upper level management positions. To answer our research
question and shed light on why so few daughters succeed their
fathers at the helm of family rms we conducted comparative
analyses using samples of daughter successors, non-successor
daughters, and successor sons.
4. Sample
Principles of theoretical sampling (Glaser & Strauss, 1967)
determined the parameters of the population to be examined.
Three appropriate groups were identied to provide contrasting
points of view (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). These groups included
daughters who did not become successors in their familys
businesses, daughters who became successors, and sons who
became successors. Daughters constituted the core theoretical
group and represented a larger proportion of the sample than did
sons. Sons, however, were critical to the study, to permit
distinctions that might be attributable to gender. All eight nonsuccessor daughters had previously worked in the family business,
but usually on a short term basis, such as a summer or school
vacation, and in a clerical capacity. Since we were interested in the
dynamics leading up to the thought processes to lead or not to lead
the family business, the fact that some daughters had not worked
in the family business for an extended period of time was
immaterial.
A successor was dened as a daughter or son who entered the
family business for the purpose of pursuing a long term career path
leading to an executive position with decision making responsibilities. For this study we required that the successor should be
over the age of 30 because this allows sufcient time for them to
have established a specic direction in their careers. These criteria
for participant selection distinguish family members who entered
the business as a stop-gap measure or in a clerical or supportive
position absent an intention to assume sustained executive
responsibilities.

Only family businesses led by fathers were included in the

sample. Mother/daughter succession implies different dynamics
(Vera & Dean, 2005) and may distort the inuence of gender. The
landscape is changing but father-led family businesses prevail and
bias against daughter leadership persists. We argue that sustainable change can only be achieved if we understand the nature of
existing father/daughter dynamics.
Since no data or membership lists exist that identify daughters
of family business owners, it was necessary to use a convenience
sample (c.f., Maxwell, 2005). We relied on snowball sampling
(Babbie, 2007) to identify potential interview subjects. Accordingly, each person interviewed was asked to suggest other interview
candidates. Eight daughters who did not become successors and
seven daughters and six sons who did, were interviewed.
Respondents were geographically distributed across the United
States and worked in a wide variety of industries. Table 1 provides
demographic data about the sample.
Respondents ranged in age from 43 to 79. The average age of
females was 53 and the average age of males was 59. All
interviewees were college graduates and seven held postgraduate
degrees. A wide variety of businesses were operated by subjects
families, with industrial or commercial distribution and
manufacturing most frequently cited. Few retail and/or service
family businesses were represented. Most participants were the
youngest in their families and the number of siblings ranged from 1
to 6. Two male successors in the study were brothers. Most female
non-successors in the study were homemakers and mothers,
working part-time in traditional female careers. Two never
married. Among the successor daughters, most were the CEO or
president of their familys rm. One was taking a leave of absence
to care for an ill family member and one had recently sold the
company. Four of the successor sons were CEO or co-president of
their familys company and two had recently sold their businesses
and started another. The names and locations of the participants
have been changed to ensure condentiality.

Table 1
Sample demographics.

Age
40s
50s
60s
70s
Type of business
Retail
Service
Industrial distribution
Industrial manufacturing
Consumer manufacturing
Consumer wholesale
Real estate
Highest level of education
High school diploma
Undergrad degree
Graduate degree
Professional degree
Honorary doctorate
Position among siblings
Oldest
Youngest
Middle
Number of siblings
0
1
2
3
4 or more

Female non
successors

Female
successors

Male
successors

3
2
3

2
5

2
2
1
1

0
1
2
2
1
1
1

1
0
2
1
2
1
0

1
1
3
0
0
1
1

6
1
1

6
1
0

3
2
1
1

3
3
2

1
5
1

1
3
1

2
2
3
1

4
1

3
2

K.K. Overbeke et al. / Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

205

4.1. Data collection and analysis

5. Findings

Data were collected by conducting face-to-face interviews.

Prior to each interview participants were mailed a condentiality conrmation, a summary of the research topic, and one
question to consider prior to the interview (What are your
earliest memories of your familys business?). Interviews were
semi-structured and lasted between 60 and 120 min, conducted
in the participants home or ofce, tape recorded and transcribed
by a professional rm. An interview protocol informed by the
studys theoretical foundations was used to guide each interview. Questions were designed to elicit rich narratives
highlighting inuential factors driving the interviewees decision to enter or not enter his/her familys business. The specic
questions used in the interview protocol are available upon
request from the rst author.
Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method
introduced by Glaser and Strauss (1967) and elements of thematic
analysis recommended by Boyatzis (1998). These methods are
useful in the generation of theory that is grounded in qualitative
research data. Transcribed interviews, memos, and theoretical
literature were reviewed in an attempt to nd patterns and
explanations in over 800 pages of interview transcripts. Coding
was conducted following a rigorous iterative process. First, open
coding was conducted to identify codable moments (Boyatzis,
1998)fragments of text with potential meaning. These were
then sorted and categorized with similar text from other
transcripts to form descriptive categories, resulting in 360 initial
codes. Relationships between these categories were next explored
in a second phase of coding, reducing the codes which were then
dened using Boyatzis (1998, p. 98) analytic guidelines of
articulating (1) a label, (2) a denition, (3) a description of how
to know when a theme occurs, (4) a description of qualiers or
exclusions, and (5) examples. In two or more iterations, relationships between codes were evaluated, compared to the literature,
and grouped together accordingly. In this way, the list was further
condensed and the codes rened. Transcripts were reviewed to
quantify the number of incidences of each code according to subsample group. Two independent coders veried the reliability of
the nal codes with a 79% agreement between raters (which
exceeds the 70% threshold of acceptability according to Boyatzis,
1998).

Table 2 lists the nal themes in the data, and identies

similarities and differences among subsample groups on each
theme, as described below.
1 Condence in business skills. Successor sons and daughters
expressed more condence in their business skills than nonsuccessor daughters. A successor son stated, I remember in my
junior year of college I started writing down what I thought
my future would look like and it was very entrepreneurially
driven. A successor daughter said, Ive always found myself
quite comfortable working in typical mens environments. In
contrast, a non-successor daughter who had been a successful
student in high school and college described her attempt to use
equipment needed in the business. She stated, It would be
impressive if I could do it, but I cant. Ive been trying to learn
this, and my [post-college] professor has been helping, but he
thinks Im a total moron.
2 Invited into the business. Successor sons were either explicitly
invited to become a successor or were given non-verbal, but
clear, clues that they were expected to follow in their fathers
footsteps. One successor son explained, I was the oldest and I
was the maleand it was assumed that I was coming into the
business and my sister wasnt. Successor daughters were also
invited into the business by either their mother or father, but
unlike sons, daughters were invited at a later stage of life. One
successor daughter explained, A key manager in my fathers
company retired and my father called me and asked if I would
return and help. In contrast, none of the non-successor
daughters were invited into the business. Several daughters
noted, It just never came up.
3 Mother stayed home. In all three sample groups, most mothers
did not work outside the home, suggesting a role model
reecting traditional gender norms. For example, one successor
son observed, My mother was a golfer, an entertainer, a cook
a socially condent person, but not a businesswoman by any
stretch of the imagination.
4 Marriage is a career goal. No successor sons and only three
successor daughters viewed marriage as a career goal; yet,
almost all non-successor daughters voiced this perception. One
such daughter declared, I wanted to be a mother when I grew

Table 2
Distribution of codes across sub-samples.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Code/theme

SS (n = 6)

NSD (n = 8)

SD (n = 7)

Condence in business skills

Invited into the business
Mother stayed home
Marriage is career goal
Father is breadwinner and head of house
Gender beliefs are similar to parents (traditional) beliefs
Financially rewarding opportunity for self
Did not want to work in family business at some point in development years
When young, self-image included role of future successor
Succession expected or accepted by family
Early exposure to family business
Dismisses sister as likely successora
Dismisses brother as likely successorb
Fathers attitude toward participants succession (+,)
Being a man is helpful in a business environmentc
Unusual event precipitates change and leads to succession
Received mentoring to be an effective leader

6
6
5
0
4
6
6
6
5
6
6
3/3
1/4
+=6
3/3 agree
1
5

1
0
7
7
8
2
0
7
0
0
7
4/5
1/7
=8
5/5 disagree
0
0

5
7
5
3
7
5
4
6
0
4
6
3/3
2/5
+ = 4;  = 3
1/4 agree; 3/4 disagree
6
4

Notes: SS = successor sons, NSD = non-successor daughters, SD = successor daughters.

a
Includes female cousins whose parents are also owners of the family business, and is shown as a ratio since some participants do not have a sister or female cousin.
b
Includes male cousins whose parents are part owners of the family business, and is shown as a ratio since some participants do not have brothers or male cousins.
c
Not all participants commented on this. Responses are shown as a ratio.

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up. I mean, I really didnt think of anything else. A son,

however, described his aspirations saying,
Id sit on the sidewalk outside the company eating lunch and
talk about what we were going to do with the business
someday. You know, these are 14 year-old kids on the street
fantasizing about how many trucks and how big it could be
and the buildings that we could acquire in the neighborhood
to add to it and make it bigger and put the competitors in
their place.
5 Father is primary breadwinner and head of house. Non-successor
daughters and most successor sons assigned the role of primary
breadwinner and head of the family nances to fathers. Several
respondents indicated that this role includes protecting female
family members from the harsh realities of nances. For
example, a non-successor daughter explained, In my family
[being female] is more about being taken care of. My brothers
watch out for me. They say, Dont worry-youll be okay. But, I
dont know any of the specics. A successor son stated, I think
being a provider is more typically the mans role especially
after growing up where your mother was socially active but not
working outside the home.
Successor daughters also reported growing up in homes
where fathers were the primary breadwinner; however, some
daughters were encouraged to work toward nancial independence. One successor daughter relayed a story about her
fathers teachings:

My father always told me, Dont wait for someone to come

by and pick you up. If you fall down in the snow and ice, you
pick yourself up. He stated this several times and I nally
began to understandhis intention was, you need something xed; dont look for people to run to your aid, youll be
disappointed. You x it.
She explained that this outlook applied to nances as well as
everyday experiences and that while she did not understand
this concept in her youth, she grasped it post-college. Another
successor daughter responded that she used to view her
husband as the primary breadwinner just as her father was the
breadwinner in her family of origin; her perceptions changed
however when she divorced.
6 Gender beliefs are similar to parents beliefs. Non-successor
daughters differed from successor sons and daughters with
respect to the maintenance of parental attitudes toward gender.
Most non-successor daughters reported a shift in attitudes
toward gender norms. Initially, their attitudes were consistent
with their parents but changed as they grew older. For example,
one non-successor daughter explained, My ideas were similar
[to my parents] when I was younger, but they are not similar
now . . .. Its kind of interesting when I was in college, Betty
Friedan came to speak on campus and I could have cared less.
Ten years later when I went back for my Masters, I became a
womens history major!
In contrast, several successor daughters voiced gender
attitudes similar to their parents. However, these successor
daughters parents had more egalitarian views of gender. One
successor daughter stated that when she announced she was
changing her college major to business her father responded,
Thats a good choice. She explained, One thing my father
stressed to me and my brother was that you need to be able to
support yourself.
Shared attitudes toward gender were strongest among
successor sons and their parents. All sons expressed traditional
gender attitudes and indicated their parents had similar beliefs.
One son explained, I think the role of the father is to give
guidance (and) provide support. . .nancially (and) emotionally.

10

I rely on my wife to do a lot of the rearing, bringing the kids up and

that has turned out really well. This son also described growing
up in a family where the division of labor was consistent with
traditional gender roles.
Financially rewarding opportunity for self. All successor sons
understood and were motivated by the remunerative benets
of becoming a successor. One successor son explained, Well, I
didnt have very good luck getting a job. When I got back home I
fell into working here and I never considered leaving again.
Another son stated, My degree was in education but you dont
get paid a lot which was ultimately the compelling reason for
joining the company. Several, but not all, successor daughters
recognized the nancial advantages of succession. One
successor daughter said, I like the fact that you could call
your own shots, that you could set your own pace, you could
reap the rewards of how hard you work. Other successor
daughters were mobilized by a desire to help the family
business and salary was of secondary importance. Nonsuccessor daughters were not mindful of the privileges of
being a successor. When one non-successor daughter was
asked why she did not major in business she responded, It was
tedious and boring. I didnt know it was a way of making
money.
Did not want to work in family business at some point in
development years. Table 2 shows a near consensus among all
sample groups citing a lack of interest in working in the family
business at some point during their development years.
Describing himself one successor son said, Youre talking
about somebody who up until they were in their 30s said, Ill
never work for the family business. A successor daughter said,
I worked in the business during the summer and decided that I
didnt want to work in the business once I graduated college.
Similarly, a non-successor daughter said, The kind of business
they did was not appealing to me at all. While all sample
groups raised similar objections to working in the family
business, all but non-successor daughters became successors,
suggesting that lack of interest alone does not predict
succession outcome and that intervening factors fostered a
change in interest among successor sons and daughters.
When young, self-image included role of future successor. Table 2
indicates that almost all successor sons imagined themselves to
be potential future successors during their youth while all
daughters did not. Importantly, a few daughters expressed
interest in succession, but they did not perceive it as their
future role. For example, one daughter said that when she was 6
or 7 years old she wanted to work in the business but never
spoke of it to anyone for fear of being rebuked or teased for such
aspirations. Typically, daughters responded, When I was
young? I just never even thought about it. I just wanted to
get married. Contrastingly, sons perceptions were evidenced
by comments such as, By high school it was a done deal that I
was coming into the business.
Succession expected or accepted by family. This theme highlights
differences between non-successor daughters and successors,
both male and female. Sons were unanimously accepted as
successors and many were expected to assume this role. Most,
but not all, daughters were accepted once they acquired the
role. Non-successor daughters were not expected to be
successors and few attempted the role. One daughter lamented,
My brothers were drawn back home after college because of
opportunities in the business. I didnt have anything like that
keeping me here. Another daughter explained, I dont think
my parents ever wanted me to go into the family business.
Additionally, a daughter declared, My father founded the
business so everyone had a place to work. But not the girls.
Women were supposed to stay home and take care of children.

K.K. Overbeke et al. / Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

11 Early exposure to family business. Table 2 indicates that most

participants worked in the family business during their youth,
although jobs differed among sample subsets. All daughters
said they worked in the ofce and only one successor daughter
entered the sales force during her teens. In contrast, almost all
sons were assigned to various jobs in order to obtain a
comprehensive view of the business. This suggests that all
participants had some knowledge of the business, but sons may
have been better prepared for leadership.
12 Dismisses women as likely successor. Across all sub-groups,
respondents did not believe sisters or female cousins were
likely candidates for succession. A successor son illustrated this
theme saying, I had an older cousin who worked there [the
family business] more or less. She was in a sort of high-level
clerical position. She was married to a doctor and nobody saw
her as being in the business full-time and long-term. A
successor daughter suggested that her sister was interested in
owning the business, but not leading the business. She stated, I
think my sister wanted the business, but she wanted it for her
husband and, in the future, for her son. Another successor
daughter quickly dispatched the idea of her sisters becoming
successors saying, My sisters were never interested in the
business.
13 Brother is likely successor. Few respondents believed that their
brothers or male cousins were unsuitable successors. This is in
stark contrast to participants appraisals of sisters potential.
One sister commented, That was something the boys were
expected to do. Another daughter said, I always thought he
[my brother] would head the business. Similarly, a successor
son said, I tried very hard to recruit my brother to come into
the business. I really wanted him to.
14 Fathers attitude toward participants succession. All sons
perceived acceptance by their fathers. Nearly 60% of successor
daughters also perceived acceptance, but some struggled for
their fathers approval. A successor daughter explained that
while working in the family business in a clerical position she
experienced the tragic loss of a child and a subsequent divorce.
She asked her father for a promotion, emphasizing her
knowledge of the business and her achievements. Her father
ignored her and expressed hope that her brother would help
manage the business. The brother decided to work elsewhere
and when the father became too ill to work the daughter took
his place and successfully expanded the business. Similarly, a
daughter working in the family business was forced out by her
father but returned years later and brought the business back
from near collapse.
All non-successor daughters perceived that their fathers
would disapprove if they attempted succession and all
daughters who did not perceive support from their fathers
consistently described their fathers as having traditional
attitudes toward women. Conversely, daughters who perceived
acceptance from their fathers described their fathers as
mentors who signaled condence in their skills and encouraged
them when challenged. Daughters who perceived acceptance
adapted more easily to the business and produced positive
results more quickly.
15 Being male is helpful in business environment. All sons noted that
there was an advantage to being male in their family business.
For instance, one son stated, Its a very chauvinistic industry.
As a matter of fact, in the foreign markets they have bureaus
where women arent even allowed. It has improved, but there
are still restrictions. Among non-successor daughters, all who
commented on this topic agreed with the belief that being male
was an advantage in their family business. Only one successor
daughter reported an advantage to being female, explaining
that the company could gain more business by appealing to

207

purchasing departments with diversity requirements. Other

successor daughters noted the disadvantages of being female
and several said they were often mistaken for secretaries or
treated with condescension.
16 Unusual event precipitates change leading to a succession
opportunity. Sons recognized succession opportunities early
in life but vacillated between pursuing these opportunities and
pursuing careers elsewhere. One son explained, My father
always felt strongly about the benets of family business and
how family business could keep the family together. When I
was four years old he made me climb a tall ladder because he
wanted me to understand the business. But, when I was a
teenager I was a very good basketball player and I felt that
working in the business would interfere with my basketball
career.
Sons eventual decisions to become successors often
followed a critical event such as the retirement of senior
family executives. One son reported, My father and uncles
basically said, Weve reached a point where we think we might
like to sell the company, but if you or other members of the
second well, third generation are going to come into the
family business, were not going to sell it, but we need to know
what youre going to do. And if you want to come in the
business, this is the time.
Contrastingly, the vast majority of successor daughters
initial recognition of succession opportunities occurred later in
life and in response to critical events such as the illness of the
father, loss of job, or the company urgently needing her help.
For example, one successor daughter who had never thought
about succession stated, About the time that the company I
was working for closed, my father needed a salesman. He said to
come work for him. I said no. But he was persistent and I ended
up working for him. Non-successor daughters and their family
businesses also experienced critical events but daughters were
not called upon for help, nor did they seek jobs for themselves.
Rather, in some cases daughters husbands were brought into
the business.
The difference between sons and daughters consciousness
of succession opportunities demonstrates the inuence of
gender on decision processes. Sons were aware of opportunities
at a young age and made explicit decisions about becoming
successors. Even when sons awareness of opportunities were
not a result of parental guidance, they knew instinctively they
had access to executive positions in the family business. One
son said, There was a lot of parental pressure on me to be a
lawyer. But, I was interested in business and in spite of any
efforts there might have been to point me toward being a
lawyer I still came back to the fact that I liked the family
business.
TPB theory suggests that beliefs are construed from direct
observation or information received from outside sources or by
way of various inference processes (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975).
Gender theory asserts that beliefs about gender roles begin
with sex categories (malefemale) which carry implications
about ourselves in relation to others. Sex categorization occurs
during childhood and is one of the primal means of categorizing
ourselves in comparison to others and discovering likenesses
within certain categories (Ridgeway & Correll, 2004). Thus, sons
observed their fathers working in the family business and
learned from their family and society that men are expected to
be breadwinners. This provides sons with a comparative point
for a deliberate decision about working in the family business.
Knowing that their future roles include being breadwinners,
sons could consciously decide if they wanted to follow in their
fathers footsteps or change directions. Importantly, all sons in

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K.K. Overbeke et al. / Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

our sample mentioned their fathers inuence in their career

decisions and did not discuss patterning their behaviors after
their mothers, signaling an awareness of fundamental distinctions between the roles of men and women. Therefore, sons
made explicit decisions about becoming successors by basing
their evaluations of consequences, the subjective norm, and
behavior control on comparisons with their fathers and
understanding their gendered roles in their families and in
society.
As discussed earlier in codes 2, 7, and 8, daughters expressed
lack of awareness of succession opportunities and benets,
citing lack of interest and roles that were inconsistent with
being primary wage earners or leaders of their family
businesses. Their responses indicated an unconscious adherence to gender roles and expectations. Since sex categorization
is one of the earliest organizing principles of social relations,
beliefs associated with gender implicitly shape judgments and
behaviors (Martin et al., 2002; Ridgeway & Correll, 2004).
Successor daughters changed when a critical incident elicited
an invitation into the business, confronting them with a
deliberate decision. With one exception, non-successor daughters beliefs were not confronted with an alternative viewpoint
about succession and they were not urged to make decisions
about succession. The exception again illustrates the impact of
gender beliefs on decision processes. In this instance, the
daughter sought a position in the family business but her father
denied access, saying, If you go into that business, the boys will
eat you alive. Her decision not to pursue this position reects
TPB as her fathers comments, which revealed a gender biased
attitude, inuenced her beliefs about consequences, the
subjective norm, and behavior control.
17 Received mentoring to be an effective leader. Almost all sons
believed that a mentor was essential to their executive
development. One son described his experience saying, I
was entrusted to a production manager who had been with the
company since the early 40s. My father said to him, take him
under your wing. Ill tell you straight out, if he hadnt been
there, there were many times when I was totally frustrated and
I would have left. While most successor daughters were not
mentored, those who were encouraged to join the business
found their fathers to be strong and sometimes exemplary
mentors. One daughter expounded, He [father] did the
succession plan, believed in me, and once I was here, he made
sure it worked. He could have placed me here, not given me
support, or decided that it was too tough. So he had three
components that really contributed to our successa succession
plan, support, and believing in me. Another successor daughter
explained that she entered the business having no training and
her father provided her with private tutoring and other forms of
support.
Not all successor daughters were mentored, however. One
successor daughter reported that she was largely ignored by her
father when she entered the business. She was given menial tasks
but no training or encouragement to learn more, despite her
attempts to demonstrate interest and ability in the business.
Another successor daughter had a similar experience. A third
successor daughter who was not mentored was praised for her
surplus efforts, but did not receive further encouragement or
training until a second critical incident occurred.
6. Overall insights
The themes reported above generate several overall insights
about daughter succession. A major insight emerging from this
study is that daughters decisions about succession prior to critical

events are automatic, not deliberative. The comparison between

sons and daughters thought processes leading to succession or
non-succession revealed stark differences. All sons reported
making a series of decisions about working in the family business.
Many started to evaluate this objective when they were young and
reassessed their beliefs and attitudes as they grew up. Sons
indicated that they were aware of expectations or possibilities of
becoming successors from an early age. Successor daughters also
engaged in rational decisions about becoming successors, but not
until they were prompted by a critical event. Prior to these
catalysts, in almost all cases, successor daughters, like nonsuccessor daughters, did not consciously evaluate beliefs, consequences, or control over becoming a successor. Instead most
daughters career choices were consistent with implicit gender
stereotypes, with daughters valuing marriage as their primary
goal. Some daughters considered the helping professions such as
teaching or nursing as secondary career goals if necessary or
desired, but thoughts about becoming successors were brief, if ever
contemplated.
Some daughters reported receiving cues about their roles
relative to the business from family members, teachers, friends,
and other associates when they were young. For instance,
daughters who suggested working in the business were quickly
discouraged with promises of intimidation from male relatives or
business associates, unpleasant environments, or difcult work.
Daughters also noticed that brothers or other male relatives were
expected to lead the business and were educated accordingly.
Additionally, all non-successor daughters and most successor
daughters perceived messages from family and society that
marriage and children were preferable to working in the family
business.
Daughters and sons comments suggest the activation of
gender schemas (Valian, 1998, 2005; Ridgeway & Correll, 2004).
Schemas are unconscious cognitive structures that consist of a
network of associations. Schemas help organize information by
attaching new information to pre-existing knowledge. Gender
schemas internalize cultural beliefs about gender (Bem, 1993).
These unconscious perceptions that send messages about appropriate roles for men and women deect daughters attention from
succession in the family business and avert the need for a
deliberate decision. In other words, daughters internalized and
automatic beliefs about gender often preclude conscious decision
making until a critical event occurs. For example, instead of
examining behavior control (i.e., having the resources and power
to act) as part of a deliberative decision making process as
described in TPB, automatically activated hegemonic gender
beliefs (c.f., Ridgeway & Correll, 2004) silently signal daughters
that they may encounter strong resistance from fathers, brothers,
or male business associates. The automatic recognition of
daughters lack of control in becoming a successor precludes
deliberative thought processes that encompass the behavior
control component of the TPB model; only a critical event forces
this decision process for daughters.
The themes also suggest that daughters are often blinded to
their own possibilities of succession in their family business
because of the automatic processes prescribed by gender roles.
Most daughters career paths reected role congruity theory
(Eagly, Wood, & Diekman, 2000) which posits that people are
motivated to align with gender roles which, in turn, predict
gender stereotypic career interests. With two exceptions, none of
the daughters in our sample considered the possibility of
becoming successors while growing up and into early adulthood.
Many of these daughters did not recognize the inuence of
gender norms on their self-image and career goals and some
insisted that these norms were irrelevant, attributing their lack
of involvement in their family business to lack of interest or

K.K. Overbeke et al. / Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

ability. Their career paths, however, were consistent with gender

stereotypic careers, providing evidence of implicit cognitions
that motivate behavior.
The career paths of daughters who followed non-traditional
interests while in college provide further evidence of blindness to
possibilities in the family business. A few daughters in our sample
studied disciplines such as accounting, architecture, and management, non-traditional subjects that related to their family
business. Yet, these daughters did not aspire to succession and
upon graduation worked outside the family business with no
intention of returning to the family business. While describing
their career path during our interviews, these daughters did not
link their college acquired skills to leadership in the family
business, indicating an automatic exclusion of possibilities of
succession.
The contradiction in these daughters thinking processes
illuminates the overlap of the family and business systems in
family businesses. Whereas daughters found it acceptable to
achieve higher education and pursue nontraditional professional
goals outside the family business, they did not see a role for
themselves inside it. That is, daughters simultaneously challenged restrictive gender roles in domains external to the family
but accepted restrictive gender roles relative to the family
business. This suggests that the effects of gender norms may be
magnied in family businesses, possibly because the actors in the
two systems (family and business) are the same, while they may
be contested and minimized in non-family business domains
(where the actors are different).
Another insight derived from the themes is that beliefs and
attitudes, as determined from the TPB model, differentiate
successor daughters from non-successor daughters. Table 2
suggests that successor daughters differ from non-successor
daughters in that successor daughters are condent of their
business skills and opportunities for nancial reward within the
family business and many perceive acceptance and support from
other family members, whereas non-successor daughters do not.
Over time beliefs and attitudes shared between successor
daughters and non-successor daughters may shift and successor
daughters beliefs and attitudes may become more similar to those
of successor sons. The studys data showed that both successor and
non-successor daughters early self-images did not include future
succession. However successor daughters and successor sons
believed that succession was accepted by their families and offered
a nancially rewarding opportunity, and they were condent of
their business skills. In other words, similarities in successor and
non-successor daughters beliefs about succession as children
diverged later in life.

The data themes also indicate that daughter succession usually

follows a critical event. All daughters in our sample ascended
because of a critical event. During childhood and young adulthood
daughters did not imagine themselves to be future successors.
Critical events acted as catalysts, providing a stimulus for
awakening to the possibility of succession. Critical incidents
included losing a job, a spouse or partner losing a job, a fathers
illness, a crisis in the company requiring the daughters help, or
recognition by the company that female ownership provided a
competitive advantage. In our sample, the family business served
as a safety net to several daughters after they or their spouse/
partners lost a job. Other successor daughters wakened to
possibilities of succession when their help was explicitly needed
during stressful times. These daughters discovered a deep interest
and competency that had not been previously recognized.
Importantly, in all but one case, successor daughters were invited
by a mother or father to join the rm.
Finally, the themes highlight the role of mentoring and daughter
succession. A fathers ultimate invitation to join the family business
was not always enthusiastically received. In almost all cases,
daughters reported needing strong support and encouragement to
take up the reins and persevere. For example, a successor daughter
explained that she entered the business having no training and her
father provided her with exemplary support. Persistent mentoring
helped daughters learn technical skills and provided emotional
support for their ultimate succession. In cases where mentoring was
not initially offered, daughters revealed difculty in acquiring
information to positively impact the business.
7. Discussion
The purpose of this study was to expand extant understanding
about the supply side dynamics associated with the dearth of
daughter successors in family businesses. The effects of beliefs,
norms, and attitudes were examined for their collective impact on
deliberative decision making and gender roles were studied to
determine their implicit inuence on the decision process.
Findings reveal that daughters do not engage in deliberative
decision making about succession but are guided instead by gender
beliefs and norms that activate automatic behaviors and goals
precluding succession. Daughters in our sample did not initially
identify as successors and were blind to the possibilities of
succession. Critical events provided a compelling impetus for some
daughters to consider succession later in life and mentoring
became salient in preparing daughters for effective succession.
These ndings are expressed in the model of daughter succession
in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 suggests that blindness to possibilities and
Mentoring

Deliberative
Decision Process

Succession

Disrupve Event

Gender Norms

209

Blindness to Possibilies

Non-Succession

Fig. 1. Daughters paths to succession/non-succession in family businesses.

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K.K. Overbeke et al. / Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

disinterest in succession result from traditional gender norms that

limit daughter participation in family businesses. However,
external inuences such as a critical event and mentoring may
counteract or modify the effects of these norms to positively
inuence daughter succession.
Our study expands current knowledge of family and business
entanglements in family rms (Astrachan, 2009; Chrisman, Chua,
& Steier, 2005; Dyer, 2006; Pieper & Klein, 2007), illuminates how
gender bias inuences the supply and demand of female family
business executives (Correll, 2001; Ridgeway & Correll, 2004;
Ridgeway, 2011), and identies the unique inuences of gender
bias in family rms (Dumas, 1989, 1992, 2011; Halkias, Thurman,
Smith, & Nason, 2011). The ndings amplify extant theories that
address daughter succession.
Our study demonstrates that gender norms are antecedents to
daughters own blindness to possibilities for succession. The
comparison between daughters and sons elucidates cognitions
that inuence motivation. These cognitions are largely informed by
contextual factors including family and societal cultures and
structures, including hierarchy and division of labor, which are
internalized and automatically activated. Gender beliefs prescribing roles and behaviors for the different sexes interfere with
daughters actively pursuing succession when the role of daughters
and executive leadership are perceived as incongruent. Countering
these beliefs usually requires an external impetus followed by a
focused intention to change.
Our ndings delineate a deterministic process that demonstrates supply side explanations for the dearth of daughter
succession in family businesses. The daughters in our sample
were substantially inuenced by traditional gender norms and did
not develop the drive to pursue succession in part because they
were not aware of the impediments created by these norms.
Daughters cognitions about who they are, what they expect from
themselves and what important social referents expect of them are
deeply norm embedded. These norms are implicit and blur career
options that might otherwise appeal to daughters. Only a
signicant event in their lives or in their family business spurred
a conscious rearrangement of their belief structures that, when
coupled with mentoring from their fathers or senior business
associates, motivated them toward succession. It is possible that as
gender norms evolve, daughters may perceive different options
regarding succession. Less gendered leadership visions may help
combat family or social gender barriers that impact daughters
paths to succession. Currently, however, our ndings indicate that
traditional gender norms are surprisingly strong, blinding, and a
deterrent to daughters proactive behaviors toward succession.
Lambrecht and Lievens (2008) have proposed that business
growth increases after thinning the family shareholder tree, (p.
299). Their qualitative study examines how and why some families
reduce the number of family members who own, govern, and/or
manage their businesses, suggesting that after generational
transition, simplicity in management and ownership leads to
sustainability primarily because of a streamlined decision making
process. We advise care in the application of the pruning
approach, however, because our study points to the strong
operation of gendered social norms that limit the likelihood of
daughter succession. As our ndings indicate, daughters may be
doubly disadvantaged as they do not see succession possibilities
for themselves and are simultaneously invisible to others as
contenders for succession (Barrett & Moores, 2009; Correll, 2001;
Dumas, 1989, 1990, 1992; Hollander & Burkowitz, 1990; Salganicoff, 1990) Furthermore, daughters may not consider the implications of succession on their future nancial security as they and
their families do not see daughters as future primary breadwinners. Consequently, daughters may not be appropriately educated
or prepared, may not assert an interest in succession, and may miss

a potentially fullling and well remunerating opportunity.

Pruning without regard to possible gender biases may also
result in unintended consequences as the successor selection
process may be awed. For example, gender biases may prevent
the most competent family member from leading the rm.
Consider the following individual data case from our study:
Carol Thayers family owns a small textile manufacturing
company. She earned a degree in business, worked for a bank,
married, and had children. Her husband worked with her father
and seemed to be the appointed successor. As Carols husband
assumed more responsibility, the company began to lose money
and a crisis emerged. Carol stepped in part-time to help with
clerical work, but soon detected that money was being mismanaged. She conveyed this to her father and husband who
disregarded her input. The business continued to deteriorate, as
did her marriage. Finally, Carol sought a divorce from her husband,
but upon announcing the divorce to her father, he booted her out
of the business and retained her husband. The business continued
its downward spiral until, two years later when the business was
on the brink of bankruptcy, Carol found some partners and bought
the business from her father and ex-husband. She revived the
business and it continues to ourish. Her father admitted that he
made a poor decision based on his perceptions of mens and
womens roles, and apologized to his daughter.
Carols father selected a successor based on predispositions
toward men and women, ignoring objective evidence that his sonin-law was a poor choice. Carols family might have avoided several
years of nancial loss and uncertainty and emotional upheaval had
her father not been inuenced by strong gender biases. Pruning
the family tree may result in similar misjudgments. If traditional
gender norms guide the pruning process, more objective criteria
may be ignored. Daughters leadership qualities, skills, and abilities
may be overlooked in favor of cultural expectations that promote
male leadership.
Simply choosing a qualied daughter to lead the family rm
may not result in desired outcomes, however. An understanding of
the articiality of these norms must extend through the family as
indicated by the following example from our sample (names have
been changed).
Cheryl Gabaldons family owns a farm machinery manufacturing company. When Cheryl lost her job at a retail establishment
her father invited her to work for him. He strongly encouraged her
to learn the business and provided mentors and learning
opportunities. Cheryl proved herself to be very competent and
her father eventually named her as his successor. Cheryls
brothers reacted contentiously, believing that as sons, it was
their role to succeed their father. The mother supported the
brothers and upon their fathers death, the brothers opened their
own company in competition with their sister. Customers and
suppliers were caught in the middle and many left both
companies. After a few years the brothers company failed and
the daughters company is currently struggling to avoid bankruptcy.
In this case, the father tried to override gender norms. He
provided his daughter with an opportunity to lead the company
after sufcient mentoring. However, the brothers and mother were
not prepared for a reversal of these norms and considered the
daughters leadership an intrusion on cultural rights. The family
may have been better served had they been more aware of the
supercial boundaries gender biases impose.
Pruning requires a careful analysis of the role of gender
norms and expectations within a family. Daughters abilities may
be undeveloped due to these norms causing daughters to be
rendered invisible to others and blind to their own possibilities.
Heads of family businesses attitudes toward these roles may be
barriers to merit-based decisions. Finally, if family members

K.K. Overbeke et al. / Journal of Family Business Strategy 4 (2013) 201212

attitudes toward gender roles are not aligned, and adhere to

traditional values, they may provoke reckless activity, such as
brothers trying to undermine their sisters leadership, if a
daughter is chosen to lead the company instead of a son. These
negative consequences may be avoided if families are cognizant
of gender norms and how they may mitigate chances for a
sustainable business.
In sum, unconscious gender biases may undermine interests of
all stakeholders in a family business. Daughters may suffer from a
discriminatory distribution of the familys assets and leadership
opportunities; sons may believe they are entitled to leadership
positions and resent challenges to this norm; and the business may
suffer because of limitations resulting from beliefs and attitudes
underlying the selection of successors or reactions to this selection.
Conversely, awareness of gendered norms regarding succession
may benet family businesses by providing a wider pool of talent
within the family and diverse perspectives among leaders.
7.1. Theoretical contributions of the study
Our study contributes to the theoretical literature by
providing insights about the integration of the Theory of Planned
Behavior and Gender Theory. Unlike the deliberative decision
making about succession forecasted by TPB, our study indicated
that daughters were guided instead by traditional gender beliefs
and norms that activated automatic behaviors and goals which
precluded succession. Our study thus provides preliminary
evidence of some of the boundary conditions under which
succession behavior may be planned and enacted by daughters
of family businesses. It appears that a critical event likely
precipitates the deliberative decision processes about succession
necessary for daughters to ascend to leadership in family
businesses; otherwise, traditional gender beliefs and norms
activate daughters own behaviors (and those of other family
members) that likely suppress their chances of succession. In
support of this theoretical advancement in the eld of family
business studies, recent research has found that gender beliefs
and norms held by daughters directly and indirectly impact their
succession outcomes (Overbeke, 2010). In this dyadic study of 50
daughters of family business owners and their fathers, gender
expectations and sexism acted as deterrents to daughters
forming a vision for the future of the family business, a factor
that positively mediated the relationship between daughters and
succession (Overbeke, 2010).
7.2. Implications for future research
Future research should test the generalizability of the ndings
using a larger sample, and additionally explore the impact of
culture and race/ethnicity on blindness to succession possibilities.
Also, a comparison between daughters currently in their twenties
and early thirties (both successor and non-successor) and
daughters in their forties and fties may reveal factors that are
helping daughters increase their numbers as successors. Newer
family business constructs such as socioemotional wealth
ez-Nickel, Jacobson, & Moyano(Gomez-Mejia, Haynes, Nun
Fuentes, 2007), which refers to the nonnancial (family control)
concerns that inuence organizational risk taking, may help to
further illuminate inuences on choices, and shifts in these
choices, about daughter succession. Additionally, future research
may be directed toward how to educate parents, teachers, and
other community leaders about daughters hidden potential as
family business successors. Finally, our model might also be
tested by expanding the sample to include non-successor sons so
that comparisons between all potential subsample groups may be
conducted.

211

8. Study limitations
Several limitations must be considered when evaluating results
from this study. The sample offered a rich, diverse representation
of different subgroups within a family business but the sample size
was small, drawn from a relatively homogeneous socio-economic
and cultural group, and subsamples varied in size with a relatively
small representation from successor sons. Although theoretical
saturation was achieved and strong themes emerged from the data,
caution is recommended regarding the generalizability of these
ndings. Additionally, data included recollections of past experiences which may have introduced bias due to the effects of time
and emotion. Probing questions were used to validate facts and
stories and explanations were sought to clarify descriptions of
experiences and practices in an attempt to mitigate these potential
biases.
Another limitation of the study is that the generally older age of
the sample (average of 53 years) may have inuenced the ndings.
New social mores may place more emphasis on career goals for
women and encourage a younger sample of daughters to
deliberately consider succession prior to a critical event. However,
second generation forms of gender bias, dened as the powerful
yet often invisible barriers to womens advancement that arise
from cultural beliefs about gender, as well as workplace structures,
practices, and patterns of interactions that inadvertently favor
men (Ely et al., 2011, p. 475), persist as barriers to womens
participation in the workforce and may continue to circumscribe
daughters visibility to others and awareness of opportunities in
the family business.
Other factors such as birth-order, gender composition of the
family, size and type of business may also contribute to succession
outcome. Most participants in our study were younger members of
their families but the impact of birth order is inconclusive. Gender
composition of the family may also impact succession, but again,
our sample did not supply conclusive evidence. Additionally, most
industries represented in this sample are traditionally male
dominated, which may affect results. The low percentage of
daughter successors (Vera & Dean, 2005) suggests that the key
variable predicting succession is gender. Thus, this study was
limited to understanding the role and function of daughters and
how gender expectations dene their roles. Future studies may
discover how other variables interact with gender expectations.
Finally, two of the researchers are daughters of family business
owners and may have carried certain biases to the study. Interrater reliability evaluations and collaboration with other researchers helped to offset this bias.
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