"This article studies the gendered role of personal characteristics, perceptual variables and country-level culture linked to the choice of sector of activity by early-stage entrepreneurs, who are starting their own business and are thus the most likely to be making a conscientious and deliberate choice regarding the sector of activity in which they want to operate. The sectors of activity are classified into three groups according to the routine nature of the tasks they involve (high, medium and low). Total Early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor dataset is used, comprising 30 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and 46 non-OECD countries in 2005–2010. The results show how each factor considered influences the sector type choice, thus evidencing that entrepreneurship is an activity embedded in society. Finally, the article provides a framework under which to reconcile the experience of OECD and non-OECD countries and the diverse findings of previous entrepreneurship research."

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