Thus, married women entrepreneurs, having opened their businesses and taking the path of highly responsible and labor-intensive professional activities, are forced to adapt to the traditionally expected roles of the spouse, mother and housewife, without radically changing the distribution of power and responsibilities in the family, at best; at worst - continuing to obey her husband and carry all the household duties on her shoulders (Chirikova, 1998). In the author's opinion, such a combination of professional and family roles by a woman is paradoxical, and therefore temporary and transitional. Another, yet less widespread, but more promising model for combining the professional success of a businesswoman with family contribution is taking control of the house in her own hands and transferring executive functions to her husband and other family members or hiring a housekeeper, tutor, cook and other help.

The third, also non-contradictory model of family behavior, is the "disconnection" of a woman entrepreneur from marriage and children. This model is acceptable for young women and has long been mastered in the West, however, it is also quite promising for Russia.

The paradoxical fact that was obtained during the study of Moscow female entrepreneurs - successful women in business do not have a ruined personal life - was then confirmed in the regional sample. In fact, most female entrepreneurs feel happy in their family life. Moreover, the number of remarriages among female entrepreneurs is even slightly lower than in general according to Russian statistics.

2. Supporting female entrepreneurs: worldwide experience

In early September of 2017, Vladimir Putin called the development of female entrepreneurship "an important and right thing," at a press conference in Xiamen during the BRICS summit, adding that governments are trying to support this sphere practically all over the world (RIA News, 2017).

Now, since the government acknowledges the necessity of developing and encouraging female entrepreneurship, I would like to observe some of the world practices that have proven to be successful. Studying the initiatives that help boost entrepreneurship will help identify the best ways that can be implemented where it is needed.

1. WeGate - a platform that offers support for female entrepreneurship in helping them manage some of the challenges. The owners have a goal of making sure that women have all the necessary tools in order to set up and manage a business - the website provides access to business networks, finances, tips on where to help in various regions, training and learning opportunities, mentors, good practices, case examples, success stories and relevant news and events. The platform also allows women exchange and cooperate, connecting stakeholders and aspiring female entrepreneurs.

2. 37 Angels - is a community of female investors who specialize on comprehensive entrepreneurial support for women. The discerning center of attention of the organization is startup investment education - they teach female investors as much as eager female entrepreneurs. The community picks around eight companies every two months for their network to invest - around 50-150 thousand US dollars into each company. I suppose this type of networking may be of current interest to the public as women are proven to be less likely to get funded by investors. For instance, Harvard Business School conducted a study where respondents were asked to watch videos related to startup, the videos were randomly assigned a voice-over narration from the entrepreneurs - either male or female. Although the voices introduced identical pitches. 68.33% of respondents chose to invest in the ventures pitched by male voices (Brooks, Huang, Wood Kearney, Murray, 2014).

3. WomensNet.Net - established in 1998, the organization has been providing advice and small grants for female entrepreneurs. They nominate 1 startup every month, but every year they also choose one of the 12 recipients and invest additional $10,000. None of the nominees are asked to get anything back to the organization - the winners are simply asked to "pay it forward" someday to another struggling woman starting her own business. The small grants are meant to cover little expenses connected to starting a business - for instance, creating a website or buying necessary equipment. The nominees are supposed to be highly motivated women, passionate about their ventures. The applicants are supposed to give all the details of the structure of the startup.

4. The BOSS Network - “Bringing Out Successful Sisters” is a networking platform and membership community primarily focused on helping African American female entrepreneurs and specialists, reinforcing and advocating for small business, as well as professional development. The organization presents a community of female interested in growth and entrepreneurship, supporting each other through discussions, online chat and meeting each other at events. The founders work towards building a space where women feel supported in their comprehensive lives. They believe they are changing the way female enterprises are viewed among people and becoming a source for companies seeking influential women as their target audience. BOSS develops various lectures, charity and networking events that are targeted towards women who are interested in expanding their network and highlighting their enterprises.

5. EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women - is a competition and an educational program identifying and selecting a group of high-potential female entrepreneurs who show potential to grow - and the organization will assist them in development. It is worth noting that the Babson College Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership conducted an independent assessment and concluded that North America program participant enterprises' total 2014 revenue was 54% higher than their total revenues in the years before joining the program. The organization works with women who already started their for-profit business and reached $2m in sales. The winners will be provided with resources, support and a necessary network. The judges are looking for the entrepreneurial spark, drive, professionalism and awareness in the applicants.

6. SoGal Ventures - initially founded as a community group at University of Southern California - when one of the founders noticed that very few speakers of the guest speakers in her entrepreneurship class were female. The community founders believe in embracing diversity for better future of the business landscape. The enterprise presents itself as the first female-led millennial venture capital company. They invest in startups established by women, as well as otherwise diverse founding teams. Most of the companies that received investments from SoGal are based across USA, but many of them are from other countries - Nigeria, China, Singapore and others.

7. Digital Undivided - is an organization that guides Black and Latinx female founders through the startup path, providing education and access to funding and networking sources. The organization operates as an incubator, dividing the process of assisting the startups into three stages. First is customer development which is about developing ideas into potential companies through working on business canvas, MVP and customer identification. Next is product development based on turning the MVP into an actual product focusing on building a team. Finally, company development is about company's needs - financial, technological, legal, marketing tools. The incubator program is 26 weeks and mostly focusing on tech startups.

8. Tory Burch Foundation - founded by a woman who started her business and learned all the struggles that women in business experience by herself. Tory especially distinguished work-life balance, financial security and lack of confidence and education as challenges. Through partnering up with Goldman Sachs's 10,000 Small Businesses, the foundation provides women small-business founders with business and leadership training. Tory Burch Fellows Program includes seminars, a year of assistance, a $10,000 grant, and a chance to win a $100,000 award. Training programs are based in New York and aimed at small business owners ($25k in revenue, at least one employee). The organization also provides opportunities for female leaders to network with business executives and other entrepreneurs searching for growth and developing their companies. Tory Burch Foundation accepts donations to use in their empowerment programs.

9. Women Who Startup - is a community of women entrepreneurs who are supported by accelerators and investors in Denver, USA. It is a learning platform for a global network of entrepreneurs and innovators. Organization provides support through live chats with experts, real-time learning on various topics and connecting like-minded female entrepreneurs. One of the founders also hosts the podcast Women Who Startup Radio - featuring sharp and aspiring interviews with female founders, women and tech and entrepreneurs. Women Who Startup operates systematic basecamp events in Denver and Boulder and has around 17 sponsors. Community membership costs around $100 per year.

10. The Founding Moms - is a combination of on-site meetups and online sources where mom entrepreneurs can exchange, communicate and learn from one each other. A small support group grew into a huge network of meetups across the country (Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Charleston, Seattle, Cape Cod, San Francisco and New York City) and then expanding to other countries (Australia, Canada, Singapore, The Netherlands, Croatia, Germany, Mexico and others). Women are welcome to bring their children to the meetups - and discuss work-life balance, business developments, tips and advice.

11. Goldman Sachs 10000 Women - is one of the biggest and most successful initiatives supporting women from over 56 countries. The network connects more than a 100 non-profit and educational centers to provide the necessary tools and training to female business executives. The organization claims that 70% of small businesses owned by women in developing countries are underserved by financial institutions. The Goldman Sachs program enabled to connect investors contributing around $600 million towards 100,000 entrepreneurial initiatives led by women. According to the organization, 58% of graduates (of the programs available) created new jobs with an average gain of over 3.5 employees. Just two years after starting the loan program, this public-private collaboration, sparked by private sector innovation, has mobilized new investments from both the public and private sectors and helped more than 30,000 women in 17 countries.

12. Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence - is a charity foundation providing mentoring and consulting services, along with financial support to woman-owned enterprises. The organization created three programs to support the community of female entrepreneurs. Make Mine a Million $ Business (M3) has provided thousands of female entrepreneurs to move towards growing their enterprises with substantiated tools, business mentors, network support and more. In 2010, M3 participants employed more than 1,200 people in various industries. The Urban Rebound program offers workshops, competitions and educational and coaching programs. The goal is helping 100 women-owned enterprises reach $250,000 in annual revenue within 12 to 18 months, potentially drawing $75 million into the economy and creating 600 to 900 new jobs. Women Veteran Entrepreneur Corps (WVEC) program created in collaboration with the Capital One Financial Corporation is a three-year business growth course tailored precisely for female business owners who are veterans or partners of veterans seeking to grow their companies quickly and viably.

13. Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act - is a public law amendment firstly introduced in the United States House of Representatives and signed by President D. Trump in February of 2017. It authorizes the National Science Foundation to maintain entrepreneurship programs meant for women. The act is primarily aimed to support women in STEM - science, technology, engineering and math. The legislation will help women get access to mentorship, communication and trainings. The president pointed out than only a quarter of females getting a STEM degree actually ends up working in the sphere; the bill is intended to support female inventors and enable commercialization of science through entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women beyond the laboratory.

14. European Commission for female entrepreneurship - the Commission encourages and assists women entrepreneurship through the Small Business Act and the Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan. To bring Europe back to growth and create new jobs, we need more entrepreneurs. The Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan is the Commission's response to issues brought by the economic crisis in the last 50 years - and the resolution is empowerment of small business to revolutionize the culture of entrepreneurship. The Action Plan promotes easing the establishment process of new enterprises and to design a supportive atmosphere for existing startups to prosper and grow. The Small Business Act is an overall guideline for the EU policy on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It targets to enhance the concept for entrepreneurship in Europe, simplify the regulatory and policy climate for enterprises, and clear away the remaining challenges slowing down their development. The EU Prize for Women Innovators is granted to women who have accepted EU research and innovation financing at some point in their career pathways, and recently took part in establishing a successful venture based on their innovative ideas. There are also a few networks supporting female entrepreneurship. The WES is an administration structure with representatives from 31 European countries (the EU nations, Iceland, Norway, and Turkey). The commissioners represent local governments and institutions. They are responsible for advocating and supporting female entrepreneurship at the public level. WES members provide guidance, assistance, resources, and contact details regarding current support measures for women entrepreneurship. The European network of female entrepreneurship ambassadors - has around 270 members - entrepreneurs from 22 European countries. The goal is acting as role models by sharing their stories to boost awareness and promote entrepreneurship as a job option for women. Many of the ambassadors also managed to help support the establishment of new businesses. Since the network was founded, over 650 national meetings have been organized, reaching more than 61 000 future female entrepreneurs. The ambassadors have participated in creating more than 250 new women-founded companies and established 22 networking and business support groups for women. The European Network of Mentors for Women Entrepreneurs - is a group of people who provide consultations and assistance to female entrepreneurs in establishing, managing and developing their enterprises in the early phases (from the second to the fourth year of the enterprise's life cycle).

15. Scholarships for university education - there are several scholarships around the world encouraging women in business and innovation. Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship - offers up to 32 scholarships of US$2,000 each at the local level and six international scholarships of US$8,000 each. Applicants are supposed to demonstrate potential in business. The scholarship may be used for any expenditures that encourage getting a degree in a business-related field. Forktip Women's Innovation Scholarship - is a grant provided by an Australian jewelry company and aimed to provide assistance for women all over the world to help their education and careers. The scholarship is awarded to two (2) female students and is offered to different women every year to ensure legitimacy. Ford Business Scholarship - created in collaboration with Golden Key International Honor Society, the scholarship awards two women funding them with $10,000 toward their studies pursuing an MBA diploma. Or the Little Family Foundation MBA Fellowship Award - this one awards women who were previously members of Junior Achievement community - a program where participating schools pledge to match the funds provided by the Foundation - the amount of the award is $5,000. All in all, there are many scholarships all over the world, targeted for women who show leadership potential and are interested in pursuing a career in business innovation. They are typically funded either by universities and their endowment funds or private companies demonstrating social responsibility.

3. Research on women's experiences in business in Russia

3.1 Methodology

When I approach the respondents telling their stories, I first of all look at the world with their eyes, trying to pull out the optics in which the respondent herself looks at the world. I tried to ensure the atmosphere was relaxed, close to an everyday conversation in order to support increased sincerity of the answers. The opportunity to observe the respondent's reactions allowed me to adjust the plan in the course of the conversation, modify the form or sequence of questions, and monitor the degree of sincerity in the responses.

The verbal nature of the contact made it possible to eliminate the unplanned perception of questions by clarifying when needed. I believe that personal contact with the respondents ensured maximum completeness of the questionnaire implementation.

I had a list of questions, but let myself change and adjust the order of the questions and their wording during the conversation. The content and depth of information collected was fuller due to the personal contact.

I prepared the list of questions that I later modified with my academic advisor - based on the problem and questions of the study:

1. Which are the three important qualities of an entrepreneur?

2. Which stereotypes have you come across managing your enterprise?

3. Would you please share your experience communicating with government?

4. Have you come across any prejudice as a female leader?

5. How do you react to discriminatory practices?

6. Have you felt any mistrust or condescension from male colleagues or partners?

7. Do you think that you would have less issues in your career if you were a man?

8. Where do you see your company in 5 years?

9. Do you think it is easier for you to work with women or men?

10. When did you realize that you wanted to be a business leader?

I would like to describe the respondents I interviewed for better understanding of their backgrounds:

· Respondent A was a test subject who helped me shape the design of the interview. Respondent A is a successful businesswoman who started her entrepreneurial career after gaining experience working for big companies in the financial sphere;

· Respondent B established a coffee shop as franchisee of the `Surf Coffee' chain (a small Russian chain mostly targeted at young people, with its relatively low prices and a friendly atmosphere based on company's standards. There are no franchise fees, however, the owners are supposed to “create a unique atmosphere of comfort through the highest quality and friendly care of the guest in any district where they are situated and developing”). Respondent B is 26 years old, started her own business at 25.

· Respondent C started her coffee shop chain in 2012 after gaining experience as a manager in another Russian coffee shop chain - now there 77 locations, including cafes across Russia and abroad - Prague, Riga, Minsk, Barcelona, Tbilisi.

· Respondent D - is a young woman working in technologies and biomedicine. Although right now she is an employee in an IT company, she co-founded an educational project for young scientists - helping them commercialize their activities and form a network of like-minded people. Graduated from HSE (Faculty of Management), Respondent D collaborated with graduates of Faculty of Biology of MSU - her colleagues had 5 to 10 years of experience in biomedicine. After four years within the enterprise, the respondent left the company.

· Respondent E - is a head of a private clinic specializing in hormonal health and active longevity - which is also named after the respondent. It is the first specialized clinic of andrology in Moscow, engaged in a comprehensive solution to the problems of men's health. The respondent is an international expert in andrology, composed of several international medical societies.

· Respondent F - is a head of the family business. He and her sister inherited the enterprise from their father who privatized a summer camp and a part of the local seaport in Vladivostok (which means working in international trade, helping foreign companies import goods).

The following table is used to structure the background information provided abound the respondents, except for the test subject.

Table 1. Study participants

3.2 Results

The path into entrepreneurship. I would like to arrange the reasons designated by the respondents behind establishing an enterprise and becoming a leader into the following groups:

1. Personal interest. Those are the women who were interested in either having the liberty the entrepreneurship provides, along with creating their own project and being their own boss; or simply seeing entrepreneurship as a coherent step in their careers. The first thing Respondent B said after hearing the question “Why did you want to start your own business” was “my parents are entrepreneurs” - emphasizing the importance of family upbringing and its impact on one's career choice. Her parents always told her - “You must not depend on anyone, you have provide for yourself” - so, in this case, a career example set by the parents working within the business field was combined with the values that they considered important to tach their child. The respondent also had an experience engaging in other projects, however, sometimes disliked the rules - “I always felt another's rules that I did not like. I also wanted some freedom, and all this eventually grew into an understanding that I want something of my own”.

Respondent D always worked within IT, but desired further development: “I was tired of doing the same projects - 20 identical mobile applications and so on. I wanted to go into something more sophisticated technologically.” Always eager about science and technologies, she was interest to help solve the problem existent in Russian science that was pointed out by her partners (They were worried that young scientists fell behind the wester colleagues - the project was aimed at recent graduates and older undergraduates. The events would educate them about the promising directions in biomedicine at the moment, how to build your work, where to look for grants, how to write articles for English-language journals, and some information the biotechnical business). The respondent was doing the organizational work.

Also, the test subject also saw entrepreneurship as a new stage of the career - “I felt the need to move forward and develop”.

2. Entrepreneur by chance (the term from Orhan and Scott classification described in the first chapter) - these women pointed out they never wanted to lead a business, but had to become an entrepreneur influenced by certain circumstances. For instance, responded C replies “I did not want to, it just happened. I think I would not do this until the last because I do not need laurels”. The situation that, in opinion of the respondent, forced her into establishing an enterprise is worth noting - the investors of her previous work of place decided to reduce the quality of coffee beans, which Respondent C as the general director categorically disagreed with. Then she proposed to open up a few locations, where only coffee will be sold, but of very good quality. However, investors felt that such coffee houses would not survive, and respondent C left the company, as well as her colleague who became her business partner. It is obvious that the fact that the respondent sees the situation as something a circumstance forcing her into entrepreneurship characterizes her as a principled professional, truly passionate about what she does.

Respondent F was the only one to inherit the family business - this is purely an entrepreneur by chance.

Finally, responded E replies: “I got into the business by accident - I did not plan it, it was an accidental gift”. In this case, it seems like truly a result of circumstances - the respondent's talents in medicine were recognized by professional business individuals, who decided it would be a great investment.

Ambitions. All of the respondents were asked to tell about their plans and where they saw the enterprises in 5 years.

The most ambitious answer was received from respondent C, the head of the coffee house chain - she wants to turn a 77-location chain into challenging 3000 locations. However, it is not just about opening new cafes - it is also about selling franchises. The respondent set noticeably high standards for development in her enterprise - employing experts who travel all over the world to find the best distributors of products and putting a lot of effort into training programs for the workers. Thus, the focus of future development is expanding the network and keeping and embracing high quality standards.

Respondent E also believes in growing - in her case that would be an authoritative research center, in addition to the private clinic - “we will be known on a wider space, an unquestionable authority. I think that in 5 years we will not have to prove anything to anyone”. This idea exposes the huge interest of the respondent to scientific research and developing andrology theories she and her team already work on.

Moving on to the respondent B, her plans are mostly built around her own personal and professional development “It is most likely going to be further development, that is, my personal, and the opening of coffee shops, ideally several. Maybe another project. I want to develop this shop properly, and move on. For example, to develop a manager here, and establish a new coffee house, or another project.”

Respondent D sees her future career in continuing working for IT, possibly a new project “I prefer working in partnership, when I have a fairly large area of responsibility, but someone else is responsible for the finance. Therefore, I think I will end up doing something in a team of 2-3 people.”

It is interesting that while younger women focus on their own professional development and observing new areas, working on new projects, more experienced and established business women are focusing on developing their enterprise and its expenditure.

Their plans, of course, will most likely change over time. As explained in a 2007 study, as people interpret the past and design the future subjectively, their beliefs differ and their expectations stray (Chiles, Bluedorn, & Gupta, 2007). These disparities lead them to build unique plans, which interact over time to manage an ongoing process whose result is mostly indeterminate. This means that while some entrepreneurs' plans will succeed, but many will also fail, leading to the steady revision of plans based on recent data that the market processes create internally over time. Of course, every entrepreneur in different moments imagines different future economic situations and revises the plans as a consequence of the imaginative capacity.

Entrepreneurial qualities. Each of the respondents was asked to name the qualities they consider important for someone establishing and managing an enterprise.

· Honesty was something two of the respondents pointed out (both belonging to the group of more experienced business women). Respondent C believes: “for an entrepreneur honesty as a part of internal system of values that comes from the family - is important in the long run. In the short run one can earn a lot of money by deceiving everyone, using people in inappropriate ways. But in the long term, it will not be possible to build a good company with such an approach.” Honesty was also something respondent E replied to the question without hesitating “The first is honesty - it must be impeccable, in relation to everyone.”

· Another common quality across the interviews was adventurism, or something that the test subject called “spontaneity” and willingness to risk. Indeed, studies show that entrepreneurship is restrained by the individual's degree of risk aversion (Cramer, Hartog, Jonker & Van Praag, 2002). Thus, individuals with low risk aversions are more likely to choose entrepreneurship as their career.

· Thinking - some respondents talked about the intellectual abilities of an entrepreneur. For instance, respondent C replies: “for an entrepreneur, quick mind is important, because decisions often need to be made in the situations of absolute absence of information.” However, the response of respondent B was built around an idea of strategic thinking: “…strategic thinking is very important. You always need to plan for several moves ahead, be able to imagine all the possible scenarios and solution options - it is very difficult to work thinking "I do not know what will happen tomorrow." In the end, it still turns out like that, but at least you have a lot of plans and ideas - "in one case, I am going to do that, and if it turns out differently - I will do another thing". Every event, every action is constantly analyzed, and you draw some conclusions, develop the plans further.” One of the entrepreneurs emphasized the importance of lateral thinking. A 2017 work on lateral thinking describes later thinking as addressing managerial issues from new angles in order to generate radical and better solutions (Sloane, 2017). The responding entrepreneur associated lateral thinking with creating and managing an enterprise, especially in finding perfect and non-standard solutions to issues.

· Respondent D talks about attentiveness to details “the desire to understand the details is crucial. It often happens that a person does not pay attention to what the employees tell him, and as a result, problems are ignored until they grow, or employees become frustrated at work because they do the job well, however the boss does not pay attention to what they say, and in the end they are still to blame. Attention to detail is very important, and for women it is more common than for men.” I often hear that attention to details is a characteristic mostly common among women rather than men, but unfortunately could not find any research regarding this question.

· An importance of building relationships was noted by several participants. Respondent D thinks that “when you create a startup and hire people with qualifications who show initiative - if you cannot build relationships, then you simply shut their initial motivation and initiative up, and people will either be ineffective or leave the company.” Respondent C believes that “the most difficult thing in business is growth, it is important to gather a team that supports and respects you”. The test subject also notices the importance of being able to communicate in both formal and informal types of situations. Talking about relationship, Respondent F says that it is important to build a system of relationships inside the company - so the employees and the managers understand each other; however, the participant notes that her communication with suppliers and partners and suppliers - “It is vital to be rigid”, - she says.

· The test subject described the importance of emotional maturity - she believes that one should open a business once the stability is reached in the family which makes an entrepreneur emotionally ready. Respondent B describes the same idea: “Self-reinforcing - it is important to be able to work with it - there will be many failures and problems, and you should not perceive them as problems, but as a work process. That is, any little things should not incapacitate you, but should make you stronger - maybe that can be called perseverance.” Indeed, researchers believe that as launching a new venture is a challenging task, it may require a high level of confidence in one's ability to resolve issues - which is referred to as perseverance (Markman, Baron & Balkin, 2005). Perseverance impacts one's courses of action, the amount of effort they put forth while chasing their goals, the duration of their endurance and their flexibility in the face of setbacks and ongoing failure; it also influences how much stress one can deal with while coping with difficulties. Respondent D also mentions stress resistance as a key characteristic of an entrepreneur - “Managing a company is a very stressful job, you must have a very high tolerance to stress, otherwise you will quickly experience emotional exhaustion.”

· Responsibility awareness - “the ability to take responsibility for everything and understand that if there are any problems in the company caused by the behavior of employees or partners, etc., then the root causes of the problems are you, and the poorly managed processes.” - said respondent D. Research shows that people insisting on taking personal responsibility actually very often have achievement type of motivation - they take action and project in need for achievement - the study was conducted specifically about entrepreneurs (McClelland, 1987). It is worth noting that the study also found - the people scoring high in Achievement were more likely to start a small business and become successful. Moreover, courses developed to increase achievement motivation through empirical learning proved to increase small business performance considerably.

· One of the participants emphasized the importance of setting high standards for yourself - and it seems that all of the women I interviewed are quite demanding with themselves - constantly searching for improvement and always keeping a high level of self-discipline. Self-discipline is considered to be the thoughtful, responsible, and effortful subset of self-regulation (Van Gelderen, Kautonen & Fink, 2015) that is pivotal to individuals' ability to get along with others, and accomplish goals that require sacrifices, as is the case with establishing a business. The study concludes that self-discipline helps bringing intentions to realization in entrepreneurial activities. For people with low levels of self-discipline, the entrepreneurial intention is more of a wish as it has no regulatory capacity over behavior.

It is interesting to look at the qualities that business women considered to be important and worth talking about - I believe all of them actually nurture all of the above in one way or another, however, the focus of each participant was individual.

Work-life balance. Each participant was asked if it was challenging to combine personal life with managing a business.

The test subject named the ability to successfully combine these two among the qualities that are necessary for an entrepreneur. She states that business and family can be viewed as separate projects that one has to work on. The respondent also believes that a woman can start a business when the situation in the family is stable enough - and the husband/partner is supportive of the decision.

Respondent C expressed the difficulties connected to maintaining a family life when you manage a venture: “When you have so much work related to business trips, it is difficult to get rid of the feeling of guilt - because you only spend a little time with your family and friends. I try to organize my work in a way that Saturday and Sunday are spent with my parents and daughter.”

Respondent D was a single woman and described her struggles in personal life as such: “Often, if a woman is interested in a career, then the man perceives her as too serious, so there is no point in going out with her - she is not fun, she always discusses the work. This is often said by people who have dull jobs - they do not understand how you can discuss work outside of working hours. But in fact, entrepreneurs are always discussing work, they live in it in fact, like people who love their jobs. That is often perceived as complete obsession with work, inability to have fun, relax, and so on…Women often differ at home and at the workplace. But men believe that she is as demanding, running actively at home, so it would be difficult. It seems to me that this is due to insecurity, unwillingness to build partnerships, and the desire to find someone who will be less intelligent or financially dependent on you.” The participant connects the challenges of dating with prejudice against women who are passionate about their career - these women are seen as less suitable for a romantic partnership. A recent study about men attractions and women's careers showed that men alienated themselves and displayed less interest in women who outsmarted them (Park, Young & Eastwick, 2015). When men evaluate women who are psychologically closer to themselves, men tend to rely more on lower level aspects of the case, such as how masculine they feel at the moment, to verify their attraction for their partner. The perception of threatened masculinity explained men's decreased attraction toward women who exceeded them in the live cooperation context (however, it is stated that further research is needed to confirm the validity of the findings).

Respondent B replies “I am a very responsible person, and often put operational issues above personal relationships hoping that close people will understand, but sometimes they do not - it happens. So far, we are coping with this, but misunderstandings happen.” The participant is an unmarried young woman, so `close people' are not husband and children - those are mostly friends, parents and a boyfriend. It is interesting as most people connect the work-life balance challenge with having children and a spouse, however the issue can be experienced in a completely different way.

Respondent E provided me with the most unique insight among the participants: “Your life's work gives you energy. The more successful you are in business, the more successful you are in your personal life, your family, and so on. My child traveled half the world in his early twenties. So, in the family of a female leader, it is much more interesting than a in a family of a housewife, for example.” In this case, the participant associates her work with her passion, something that provides her with energy which later can be applied to personal life as well. Success in career also helps have the resources for leisure activities, like travelling and so on. However, it is worth noting that the positive perception of work-life balance might be connected with the fact that the respondent does not have a big family - being separated with the husband, and having only one child.

It seems that the perception of work-life balance challenge depends highly on the experience women have had - most of them clearly are aware of the issue and deal with it in their own unique ways. The participants indicate that balancing work and family life is easier when the close people - especially their partners (spouses) are appreciative and understanding of one's love for work.

Challenges and stereotypes. The opinions regarding stereotypes against female leaders in Russia were divided.

For instance, Respondent C believes “Honestly, I think that this problem, especially in Russia - is very contrived, it does not exist. It may be very profitable to speculate on gender and the story how you are not taken seriously or are not invited to the negotiations. But this problem does not exist in Russia.”

Respondent E provides us with an interesting insight “When I was not a leader, my whole life, and in all the other spheres of my life activity [besides medicine] - I always encountered this [stereotypes against females], but as a leader I no longer come across this issue.”

Respondent F also stated that she used to deal with prejudice from men a lot - but only when she started her managerial career “…Men did not take me seriously in business.” She also believes that this problem is something that was topical in the 1990s - but she believes that it is easier now for young female entrepreneurs.

However, the situation is completely different for other participants - Respondent B says “Firstly, nobody perceives me as the owner of a coffee house. So, me as the manager is still fine, finding out that I am the owner - everyone looks a little shocked, because in Russia it is still unusual that young girls can do no worse than guys. Indeed, some still think that a girl should not be smart, should stay at home and cook. I do not feel it from male entrepreneurs of the franchise, because there are many girls who open coffee houses. For example, there is a girl who has three coffee houses, and she went through all this herself - with investors, etc. And so the guys here are very nice to the girls. But from strangers - yes, there are such moments, although not often. It is very complicated with construction, with the workers, because they also do not perceive as the person who manages. Trying to talk to them normally, politely, gently - does not work. Ideally, there should be a guy who will yell at them, I could not do that, so I would make mistakes. With uneducated people it's difficult often difficult.” The participant is conscious of the stereotypes against female managers, and attributes difficulties in communication that includes stereotypes, with lack of education. She also has her own strategy to overcome these “In general, serenity in such situations just puts people in their place.”

Respondent D is also concerned about the issue and had an experience dealing with it. Her partners were asked if the respondent had a romantic relationship with anyone from the enterprise - suggesting she got into business through intimate relationships. She thinks people “realize your gender, age and the fact that you are cute, or not cute, and you are immediately put into the box in which you exist for a long time.” Also, working in IT, the participant notes that some of the colleges had prejudice against female managers in the sphere: “…the stereotype that a woman cannot assign a task and control its fulfillment to a programmer. Which sometimes is true, but often it is not. It's not always necessary to understand the technical details in order to assign a task.” However, she notes that stereotypes can be overcome after some time working in collaboration - “People work with me, see the quality, and after that there are no more controversial issues.”

Overall, it seems that younger women are more willing to share the negative experience regarding stereotypes in business. I suppose that there are two reasons for that. First - women who have already gained enough experience, who have a well-established enterprise and a big team of respectful employees - do not come across stereotypes, at least not as much as younger entrepreneurs. Secondly, after years of being in this status of a respected business woman, they already forgot the negative experience they had when they just started. It looks like prejudice is something depending on two factors - age and gender, and I am not sure which one is more significant. I also believe that the expression of stereotypes usually comes from people who are not that relevant to entrepreneur's life - someone who does not work with her - because after collaboration with a female entrepreneur, people tend to forget the stereotypes they had - if the interaction was positive, of course (I suggest that stereotypes might even strengthen or blamed for the negative experiences). Despite the fact that most of respondents have come across some kind of prejudice, most of them do not believe they would have less problems in communicating for work if they were men.

For instance, Respondent E says “I would probably have even more issues - the kicks from the men would be stronger. Firstly, I think when a woman starts doing something - in business or science - men at first do not see her as a serious competitor. And while they look at her as a woman, not a competitor - she manages to do something quickly. But when a man appears, he has no time to do anything yet, and he is already knocked to the ground.” Thus, women have a competitive advantage - because in male-dominated spheres, they are not seen as competition.

Also, Respondent C notes some kind of an advantage women gain in business “Women are trusted more - this has its advantages. Women have charm. In addition, women can be forgiven for things that men will not be, because of rivalry. Even during the negotiations they have a very strong competitive aspect - for whom the conditions will be better. And in sales it is easier for women. Therefore, the situation is reversed - women are in a better position.”

The test subject, however, reveals that in a male-dominated sphere, it might be hard to deal with some aspects - for instance, you cannot negotiate in certain informal contexts - for instance, some Russian businessmen can invite each other to negotiate in sauna.

Communicating with other women. Respondents were asked whether it was easier for them to work with men or women. For instance, respondent E says “In fact, it is easier with men, because they are honest. Women have too many intrigues, mood swings. Women are unpredictable, men can be calculated. There are certainly exceptions though.”

The test subject also touches upon the topic saying that she prefers to employ adults, people with families - because they will not go away for a maternity leave. She also says it may be easier with men as they do not justify themselves with emotionality - “the excuse `I am a woman' is not appropriate for professional environment.” The participant also believes that men are more rational and “rationality is very important in business.”

Subject F also believes it is often easier with men - because it is easier to negotiate.

Subject D replies “The problems with a woman start (for me) when she has no career ambitions. Of course, this is her business, but inside I am judging that, because it is extreme carelessness, and unwillingness to work with the brain.” The subject does not care who to work with - a male or a female, however has a problem with women who get a job, and then quit for 2 or 3 maternity leaves: “the company supports these women 6-7 years at their own expense - that is hard for me. Many have the illusion that she will now give birth once, then the second one, and will return, and her career will continue from the same moment - but that is not the point. The industry is moving forward, and nobody in the company remembers you - somebody left, somebody got a promotion. I do not like this not quite honest attitude to yourself and others.”

It is interesting how replying to the question, the participants mostly talked whether it was hard to work with women like they do not associate themselves with one. It almost looks like working in a male-dominated profession of an entrepreneur, women tend to assimilate to this community, adopting a specific kind of masculinity. Respondent E even says “you have to be a man in a way.”

Conclusion and discussion

It is apparent that stereotypes against certain groups in business still exist - people still believe that there are certain kinds of people that can establish and manage a business - while others cannot. However, the research showed that the stereotypes are not only connected with gender, but also age and experience.

Moreover, younger participants were more open about their negative experience connected with stereotypes and discriminatory practices in business. Regardless, all the women noted that the best way to deal with discrimination and prejudice is composure and equanimity.

The conditions for entrepreneurship has not been developed correctly yet in Russia, however there are even more challenges for women in the field.