Women's Knowledge Empowerment and Elimination of Implicit Gender Discrimination in Chinese Rural Tourism Entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT Women entrepreneurs in rural tourism often encounter society's implicit discrimination against their abilities. Using a longitudinal case study, we examine how Chinese women entrepreneurs “bottom‐up” eliminate implicit gender discrimination by developing a strategy of knowledge empowerment. We find that the basis for combating implicit gender discrimination is women's dedicated efforts to build on their advantages of practical knowledge based on women‐specific group learning. Furthermore, we empirically demonstrate that women can win power competitions with their male counterparts with support from third‐party stakeholders who appreciate their knowledge advantages. Finally, we summarize a process of knowledge empowerment by which women entrepreneurs can reduce implicit gender discrimination at the family, clan, and community levels, including building women's knowledge advantages, initiating knowledge‐based power negotiations, and reshaping women's social roles/images. Overall, our study contributes to the theory and practice of promoting gender equality in rural tourism development.