Barbara Orser (She/Her)

Professor Emeritus

B.A. (Hon.) (Waterloo), M.B.A. (Schulich, York), Ph.D. (Bradford)

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Biography

Professor Orser is a Full Professor and the Deloitte Professor in the Management of Growth Enterprises. Her research, teaching and advocacy focus on entrepreneurship and women’s economic empowerment. Advisory roles include Women20 Acting Head of Delegation Canada, UNWomen WE Empower Advisory Group Canada, board member of Women’s Economic Imperative, editorial board of the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, and Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Policy Research Group.

She is the former Chair of the Taskforce for Women's Enterprise Growth (2009 to 2011), a Canadian non-partisan consortium of prominent women business owners, service agencies, academics and industry associations. Prior to joining Telfer School of Management in 2005, she was an Associate Professor at Carleton and Ryerson University, and Program Manager of the Conference Board of Canada Centre of Excellence for Women's Advancement.

Research Interests

Dr. Barbara Orser conducts research about entrepreneurial feminism, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) growth, and public policy. She is the co-author of bestseller Feminine Capital. Unlocking the Power of Women Entrepreneurs (Stanford University Press, 2015), co-author of two books on small business finance, and has led numerous large-scale studies about women’s enterprise growth.

Her work has been published in over 125 academic and trade journals, including Small Business Economics, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship, Theory & Practice, Journal of Small Business Management, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences and International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship. The quality of her research has been recognized through numerous awards from organizations, such Emerald Publishing, Canadian Journal of the Administrative Sciences, Administrative Science Association of Canada, Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and the International Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. See Telfer Women Entrepreneurship Research Exchange.

Teaching Areas

Barbara Orser teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Entrepreneurship.

Research Areas

Entrepreneurial Feminism Small Business Finance Small Business Growth Women’s Economic Empowerment Women’s Enterprise Policy

Publications during the last 7 years

Papers in Refereed Journals

Orser, B. and Elliott, C. 2022. A conceptual model and assessment criteria to inform gender-smart entrepreneurship education and training plus. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 37(3): 360-387.
Orser, B. 2022. Building back better through feminist entrepreneurship policy. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship.
Henry, C., Coleman, S., Orser, B. and Foss, L. 2022. Women’s Entrepreneurship Policy and Access to Finance in Different Countries: An institutional perspective. Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 12(3).
Henry, C., Coleman, C., Foss, L., Orser, B. and Brush, C.G. 2021. Richness in Diversity: Towards more contemporary research conceptualisations of women’s entrepreneurship. International Small Business Journal, 39(7): 609–618.
Orser, B., Liao, X., Riding, A.L., Duong, Q. and Catimel, J. 2021. Gender-responsive public procurement: strategies to support women-owned enterprises. Journal of Public Procurement, 21(3): 260-284.
Nitani, M., Riding, A.L. and Orser, B. 2020. Self-employment, gender, financial knowledge, and high-cost borrowing. Journal of Small Business Management, 58(4): 669-706.
Orser, B.J., Riding, A.L. and Weeks, J. 2019. The Efficacy of Gender-Based Federal Procurement Policies in the United States. Small Business Economics, 53(2): 491-515.
Orser, B.J., Riding, A.L. and Li, Y. 2019. Technology adoption and gender-inclusive entrepreneurship education and training. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship.
Orser, B., Coleman, S. and Li, Y. 2019. Progress or pinkwashing: Who benefits from digital women-focused capital funds? Small Business Economics, 55: 363–387.
Orser, B.J. and Riding, A.L. 2018. The Influence of Gender on the Adoption of Technology among SMEs. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 33(4): 514-531.
Coleman, C., Henry, C., Orser, B.J., Foss, L. and Welter, F. 2018. Policy support for women entrepreneurs’ access to financial capital: A comparative analysis of Canada, Germany, Ireland, Norway and the U.S. Journal of Small Business Management.
Henry, C., Orser, B.J., Coleman, S., Foss, L. and Welter, F. 2017. Women's Entrepreneurship Policy: A 13 Nation Cross-Country Comparison. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 9(3): 206-228.

Books

OECD, Henry, C., Orser, B., Coleman, S., Potter, J. and Halabisky, D. Entrepreneurship Policies through a Gender Lens. Paris, France: OECD, 2021.

Chapters in Books

Orser, B. Strategies to Redress Entrepreneurship Gender Gaps in Canada Revisited. In Henry, C., Coleman, S., Lewis, K. and Foss, L.. Women’s Entrepreneurship Policy: A Global Perspective. London: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022, (Accepted).
Elliott, C. and Orser, B.J. Feminist entrepreneurial identity: Reproducing gender through strategic decision-making. In Brush, C.G. and Greene, P.. Research Agenda for Women and Entrepreneurship. The Construction of Social Identity: The Case of Women Entrepreneurs. London, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc., 2018.
Orser, B.J. Strategies to Redress Entrepreneurship Gender Gap in Canada. In Henry, C., Nelson, T. and Lewis, K.. Routledge Companion to Global Female Entrepreneurship. London and New York: Routledge, 2017.
Henry, C., Orser, B.J., Coleman, S., Foss, L. and Welter, F. Women's Entrepreneurship Policy: A 13 Nation Cross-Country Comparison. In Brush, C.G. and Manolova, T.. A Comparative Analysis of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Growth of Women’s Entrepreneurship. London, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc., 2017.

Invited Contributions and/or Technical Reports

Thomas, M., Gregson, G. and Orser, B. 2022. "Gender-smart Entrepreneurship Education & Training Plus (GEET+) Action Strategy", Access at: https://weiforward.org/wei-global-institute/women-entrepreneurship/.
Orser, B. and Elliott, C. 2020. "Gender-Smart Entrepreneurship Education & Training Plus (GEET+)", June, 37 Pages, Access at https://telfer.uottawa.ca/en/geet/.
Nefesh-Clarke, L., Orser, B.J. and Thomas, M. 2020. "COVID-19 Response Strategies, Addressing Digital Gender Divides", October, Access at https://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/covid-19-response-strategies-addressing-digital-gender-divides/.
Al-Dajani, H., Bennett, D., Orser, B., Rambo, K. and Thomas, M. 2020. "Advancing Enterprise Education for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics among MENA Countries", September, Access at https://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/advancing-enterprise-education-for-women-in-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem-among-mena-countries/.
Orser, B. and Riding, A.L. 2020. "Financial Knowledge & Financial Confidence — Closing Gender Gaps in Financing Canadian Small Businesses", March, Access at https://www.scotiabank.com/women-initiative/ca/en/posts.financials.articles.gender-research.html.
Orser, B., Elliott, C. and Cukier, W. 2019. "Strengthening Ecosystem Supports for Women Entrepreneurs", Telfer Centre for Executive Leadership in collaboration with Ryerson Diversity Institute. Access at telfer.uottawa.ca/i2-report.
Riding, A.L. and Orser, B. 2018. "Strengthening Financial Knowledge Among Canadian Entrepreneurs", in collaboration with The Business Development Bank of Canada.
Riding, A.L., Orser, B. and Liao, D. 2018. "Benchmarking Small and Medium Enterprises as Suppliers to the Government of Canada - Inclusion, Innovation and International Trade", Management in collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada. Access at telfer.uOttawa.ca/SMEprocurement2018-1.
Orser, B., Riding, A.L. and Liao, D. 2018. "Action strategy to increase diversity of SME suppliers, Ottawa: Telfer School of Management", conducted in collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada. Access at telfer.uOttawa.ca/SMEprocurement2018-1.
Liao, D., Orser, B.J. and Riding, A.L. 2017. "Canadian Federal Procurement As A Policy Lever to Support Innovation and SME Growth", May, 49 pages, In collaboration with Q. Duong and J. Catimel (Public Services Procurement Canada). English ISBN 978-0-88927-495-2, 49 pages. Access at telfer.uOttawa.ca/SMEprocurement French ISBN 978-0-88927-496-9, 55 pages. Access telfer.uOttawa.ca/approvisionnementPME.
Liao, D., Orser, B.J. and Riding, A.L. 2017. "Canadian Federal Procurement As A Policy Lever to Support Innovation and SME Growth. Executive Summary", May, 2 pages, In collaboration with Q. Duong and J. Catimel (Public Services Procurement Canada).

Other Scholarly Contributions

(Book review) Orser, B. 2020. "FEMINISM: A Key Idea for Business and Society". Access at https://www.liisbeth.com/2019/08/14/feminism-a-key-idea-for-business-and-society/

Funded Research during the last 7 years

Funded Research during the last 7 years
From-To	Source	Title	*	**	Role	Amount
2022-2024	CIHR	The Life-Threatening Illness National Group (LifTING) Research Training Platform	R	C	Co-A	$ 2,399,711
2020-2022	Enterprise Holdings Foundation	Entrepreneurial Feminism Project ($5,000 per annum for 3 years)	O	F	PI	$ 15,000
2020-2021	SSHRC	Gender-smart Entrepreneurship Education & Training Plus	R	C	PI	$ 99,659
2018-2020	SSHRC Partnership Grant	Financial literacy and Canadian business owners	R	C	Co-I	$ 24,900
2018-2019	Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship	Inclusive Innovation (I2) Action Strategy in collaboration with Ryerson Diversity Institute	C	G	PI	$ 224,900
2018-2019	SSHRC Insight Grant	Overconfidence in financial decisions among self-employed Canadian	R	C	Co-I	$ 34,000
2018-2019	SSHRC Partnership Grant	Federal SME Procurement, in collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada	R	C	PI	$ 24,900
2017-2020	Status of Women Canada	Empowering Women Leaders in Health: Health Care, Health Sciences & Indigenous Health	S	O	Co-I	$ 400,000
2017-2018	SSHRC Partnership Grant	Partnership Engage Grant, Financial literacy and Canadian Business Owners in collaboration with The Business Development Bank of Canada	R	C	Co-I	$ 24,900
2016-2017	CREWW (Centre for Research and Education on Women and Work)	The Impact of Female-focused SME Interventions in Advanced Technology Sectors (Renewed)	R	O	PI	$ 5,000
2016-2017	US Embassy & Consulates	Perspectives about Women’s Enterprise	E	G	PI	$ 18,000
2014-2018	SSHRC Insight Grant	Financing and the Growth of SMEs	R	C	Co-I	$ 82,070

LEGEND:

Role
PI = Principal Investigator | Co-I = Co-Investigator | Co-PI = Co-Principal Investigator

Pillars

Wealthier