Why do women start their own firms?

That's the question Candida G. Brush, a professor at Babson College in Babson, Massachusetts, sought to answer in a recent study, "What do Women (and Men) Want? Entrepreneurial Expectancies of Women and Men Nascent Entrepreneurs." Brush co-authored the study with Tatiana S. Manolova and Linda F. Edelman, both professors at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Although women are majority owners in 30 percent of privately held firms in the U.S., not much is known about women's motivation for starting their own firms. The study indicates that men are driven by financial gain, self-realization and autonomy, while women are motivated by status.

The study used data from 214 men and 227 women compiled over a five-year period by the National Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics.

Brush conducted the first and largest study of women entrepreneurs in the early '80s. She has since co-authored and co-edited several books on the topic, including Growth-Oriented Women Entrepreneurs and their Businesses, A Global Research Perspective.