PurposeThis study offers a structured literature review (SLR) on female digital entrepreneurship (DE). This is done by providing insights into the recent developments of the topic, reviewing and ...critiquing previous studies in the literature, and pinpointing areas for future potential studies.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive SLR was conducted on 18 papers published between 2017 and 2022 by discipline, time, methodologies, context, topic, and theoretical emphasis. The authors employed the three phases of critical research – insight, critique, and transformative redefinition – to conduct the literature review.FindingsThe literature on female DE is inadequate, fragmented, and divergent in terms of less practice-based insights. Furthermore, most female DE research is published in nonspecialized journals. The examination of the impact of gender and cross-country comparative studies is scarce. Existing literature lacks epistemological and methodological diversity. The lack of theoretical connections across the various research areas on female entrepreneurship may be the reason why this area of study has proven difficult for scholars. Few authors exhibit high specialization in the topic, whereas most authors contribute to either DE or female entrepreneurship.Research limitations/implicationsThis SLR research aims to provide an overview of the female DE field by identifying the current trend of research and recognizing future research directions and to improve readers’ knowledge of this research branch.Practical implicationsThis review has classified the field's main topics and found that the influence of context (institutional and social) is the most investigated issue. Further, it presents a potential for practitioners' contribution to the field as coauthors and outlines needed studies.Originality/valueThis study provides a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary, updated review and research agenda that supplements rather than substitutes the existing literature reviews on female entrepreneurship. Moreover, this study makes a significant contribution by presenting the stages of development in female DE research within the context of the overall literature on female entrepreneurship.
This research study aims to explore the role of psychological empowerment of female entrepreneurs in the sociocultural context of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Psychological empowerment and ...well-being are considered under-researched from the perspective of a female entrepreneur. The study employs the qualitative methodology to generate an understanding of the phenomenon of female entrepreneurship leading to the psychological empowerment of women in Pakistan. Data were collected from Pakistani female entrepreneurs using in-depth interviews. A grounded theory framework was employed to generate the emergent findings. Emerging themes revolve around personality characteristics, gender development, sociocultural support and religion shaping the psychological empowerment of Pakistan female entrepreneurs. The females were also reported to have appreciable competence in managing their businesses. In addition, the findings showed that the females had a greater level of autonomy, independence and freedom to run their businesses. The findings present preliminary evidence that females engaged in entrepreneurial activities feel psychologically empowered. These outcomes provided valuable insight into using entrepreneurship as a strategic tool to empower Pakistani female entrepreneurs. This should contribute to a critical and more distinct understanding of the psychological empowerment of female entrepreneurship in developing economies.
In China, entrepreneurship remains a non-traditional career for women, but little is known about how young single women may opt for entrepreneurship against the social penalty. This study focuses on ...single female entrepreneurs and finds them being stigmatised as doing inappropriate jobs and (consequently) staying single. The interviewees responded differently, by (1) coordinating their career and family formation plans to make them compatible, (2) justifying their being single based on their entrepreneurial achievements and (3) compensating for their deviance and using their economic capability to fulfil other family roles. In contrast to the ‘androcentric’ business model based on carefree agents, female entrepreneurs illustrate different forms of agency to accommodate career aspirations and family duties. Given China’s market-oriented reforms, persisting gender beliefs and the socialist legacy, this study illustrates women’s fluid and interactive agency in response to the gendered penalty in non-traditional careers.
Purpose: This study explores the devastating effects of COVID-19 on Saudi Female entrepreneurs (SFEs) by focusing on financial and family challenges. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilizes ...qualitative method using interviews to have a clear and in-depth understanding of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), operating in business premises away from the female entrepreneurs’ homes in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. The transcripts obtained from questionnaires and interviews with 35 SFEs were analyzed using NVivo software. Findings: COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the personal and professional lives of Saudi women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs have implemented strategies to adapt to changing business dimensions and keep their businesses and personal lives afloat. Practical implications: The research suggests several ways in which the strategies Saudi Arab women entrepreneurs have adopted can help business enterprises in general dealing with short-term business problems and the long-term outcomes of COVID-19. Keywords: Female Entrepreneurs, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, COVID-19.
Although traditional cultural norms have tended to impede Saudi women’s engagement in entrepreneurship, there are successful female business owners in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government, seeing ...female entrepreneurship as a way to strengthen both the family unit and the economy, has recently created programs to encourage more women to become business owners. However, few women have taken advantage of these programs to date. This study aimed to identify factors that enable female business owners to realize their entrepreneurial potential. Nine business-owning women were interviewed for this phenomenological study. Drawing on Kreuger and Brazeal’s Model of Entrepreneurial Potential (MEP), the study investigated Saudi female entrepreneurs’ perceived self-efficacy, perceived desirability, perceived feasibility and propensity to act on entrepreneurial opportunities. Currently, limited empirical research exists on women’s entrepreneurial activity in Saudi Arabia. This study sought to fill that gap. Results from this study revealed unique strategic approaches and business success factors from the perspective of Saudi women, including their ability to work within or around cultural norms and rules to operate their businesses. The study suggests ways in which Saudi society can support women in realizing their entrepreneurial potential and also makes policy recommendations for government and business support entities.
Mature female entrepreneurs represent a non-traditional model of self-employed workers in both ways: in terms of gender
age. The transition into self-employment for women aged 45 years and older ...represents a topic of aging research that still tends to be overlooked. Previous studies found ambivalent results for the issue regarding motives and entrepreneurial pathways between former employmen or unemployment-and starting one's own business and the ways in which these entrepreneurial activities are shaped by social differences (such as gender) and biographically accumulated resources and restrictions. This article studies biographical-related factors and motivations that determine what is variously referred to as mature entrepreneurship for men and women aged 45 and above. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), the descriptive analysis explains the main gender differences among people within the target age group who have taken the step into self-employment. The multivariate analysis interrogates the main determinants that govern any increase in the probability of becoming self-employed after the age of 45 and seeks to identify the main differences between women and men in relation to such determinants. The results show substantial gender-based occupational segregation in entrepreneurship patterns in this age group, with men working longer hours on average than women and enjoying higher average earnings. However, the multivariate analysis shows that the main drivers for mature entrepreneurship are similar for both men and women and that necessity represents an important factor for everyone for starting a business.
This study examines the role of responsible entrepreneurship among female entrepreneurs by examining how and when responsible entrepreneurship may exert a positive influence on female entrepreneurial ...success. Using the data collected from 337 Chinese female entrepreneurs, and by integrating responsible entrepreneurship research with a dynamic capability framework, our findings show, firstly, that responsible entrepreneurship is positively correlated to female entrepreneurial success; secondly, this relationship is mediated by female entrepreneurs’ opportunity recognition; and thirdly, the indirect effect of responsible entrepreneurship on female entrepreneurial success through opportunity recognition is weaker when women entrepreneurs perceive more gender discrimination. Furthermore, using a post hoc analysis, we find that responsible entrepreneurship has a positive impact on entrepreneurial success for both male and female entrepreneurs, but that this impact is more significant for female entrepreneurs than for their male counterparts. With the contextual factor of traditional female social stereotypes inadvertently contributing to greater gender discrimination in the field of entrepreneurship, our results underscore the importance of both responsible entrepreneurship and opportunity recognition in promoting female entrepreneurial success.
The authors investigated the importance of women’s economic empowerment and its impact on the rise of female entrepreneurship and human capital in Botswana. The research included a case study ...analysis with four in-depth expert interviews. Data triangulation ensured the study's validity, and the case was examined through pattern matching. The results demonstrate that female entrepreneurs face challenges such as access to resources and education, socio-cultural norms, a lack of social protection, and a large and unprotected informal sector. The government and institutions shall promote women's enablement through a direct labor market intervention, support for the informal sector, a gender-sensitive constitutional, legal, and institutional framework, the enforcement and oversight of gender-responsive laws and policies, and access to resources and education. Furthermore, women require digital inclusion, entrepreneur networks, social protection, and reformed socio-cultural norms. If female entrepreneurs are empowered adequately, they will contribute to nations' human capital, economic growth, and development.
