In this article, we develop a gendered analysis of the expectations of venture growth by nascent entrepreneurs. Male entrepreneurs are notably overrepresented in the small cohort of firms that attain growth; to explore this phenomenon, we draw upon expectation theory during the nascency period to analyse the antecedents of growth outcomes. To refine this analysis, we factor in risk propensity, measuring the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on fundraising plans. Using UK data gathered between 2002 and 2020 from 5490 nascent entrepreneurs to test our hypotheses, we found that those with the greatest levels of start-up capital and high levels of risk tolerance had the highest expectations of growth and were likely to be male. This small cohort of growth-oriented entrepreneurs was termed ‘deviant men’ given their outlier status. Women became more cautious after the crisis, so even those with similar access to start-up capital as the deviant men had lower expectations of growth. We conclude by noting that at the nascency stage, expectations of growth are a critical influence upon future outcomes; a small cohort of deviant men has the highest expectations of growth, with women disadvantaged by gendered risk adversity.

在这篇文章中，我们对新生企业家对风险增长的期望进行了性别分析。在少数实现增长的公司中，男性企业家的比例明显过高；为探索这一现象，我们利用新生期的预期理论来分析增长结果的前因。为了完善这一分析，我们将风险倾向纳入考虑范围，衡量 2008 年金融危机对筹款计划的影响。我们使用 2002 年至 2020 年间从 5490 名新生企业家那里收集的英国数据来检验我们的假设，我们发现那些拥有最高启动资金和高风险承受能力的人对增长的期望最高，而且很可能是男性。鉴于他们的异类地位，这一小群以成长为导向的企业家被称为“越轨者”。危机过后，女性变得更加谨慎，因此，即使那些与离经叛道的男性一样能够获得类似启动资金的女性，对增长的预期也较低。我们最后指出，在初期阶段，增长预期对未来结果具有关键影响；一小群越轨的男性对成长的期望最高，而女性则因性别风险逆境而处于不利地位。