scholarly journals From Brides to Business Owners: Microfinance and Women’s Entrepreneurship

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-272
Author(s):  
Paromita Sanyal
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Economic Distress ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
Nuclear Household

Women’s entrepreneurship through microfinance programs has been celebrated as a model for reducing poverty and empowering women. Yet, evidence of the incidence of women’s entrepreneurship has been disappointing, leading to much critique and controversy. This article presents case narratives of women enrolled in microfinance programs in rural India who took the leap onto entrepreneurship and used microcredit loans to expand or start their small-scale livelihoods enterprises. These narratives illustrate the particular economic and social conditions that are found in cases where women have transitioned from being dependent, gender-compliant housewives to sole-earners or main breadwinners. Marital failure, functional absence or retreat of husband, economic distress, living in a nuclear household, and absence of an adult son are consistently evident in all cases of women’s entrepreneurship. This qualitative analysis helps us understand why women’s entrepreneurship is not more widespread despite the availability of microcredit loans.

Broken Silence: A Commentary on Women's Entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nnamdi O. Madichie ◽  
Monica Gallant
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Women Business Owners ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
Depth Interviews

Drawing upon the scant literature on women's entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), this paper explores the motivations of women business owners in the country based on 10 in-depth interviews. Considering the patriarchal socio-cultural environmental context associated with the Middle East, a number of surprising dynamics are highlighted in the specific case of the UAE. Growing numbers of women graduates and businesses are observed, which suggests that the historical silence among this group is gradually being broken and that changes in government policies and the socio-cultural environment are the key drivers behind this evolution. The paper will benefit both scholars and government agencies interested in the dynamics of women's entrepreneurship in the UAE and, by extension, the Arab world.

A legacy of attention to embeddedness in gendered institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen D. Hughes ◽  
Jennifer E. Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
New Research

Purpose The purpose of in this study is to examine how scholarship on women’s entrepreneurship/gender and entrepreneurship has contributed to understandings of the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity. The authors review studies from the past four decades (1975-2018) to assess the extent to which research has examined the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity in two key institutions – the family and the labour market – that remain pervasively and persistently gendered. Design/methodology/approach The authors blend a systematic quantitative analysis of scholarly publications with qualitative analysis, identifying key themes and contributions. The corpus of material comprises over 1,300 scholarly publications, including both empirical and theoretical contributions. Findings This analysis shows that attention to the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity in gendered social institutions is a clear legacy of women’s entrepreneurship research. The systematic quantitative review found that over one-third (36.6 per cent) of scholarly publications examines questions of family and/or labour market embeddedness in some way. The qualitative analysis identifies a rich array of themes over the past four decades and a growing global reach of scholarship in recent years. Originality/value This paper contributes to knowledge about the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity. It offers a comprehensive review of how entrepreneurship is shaped by the embedding of such activity in two predominant (and gendered) social institutions – families and labour markets. It will be of use to scholars seeking an overview of this topic and considering new research questions to pursue.

scholarly journals Problems of political unrest: women in small businesses in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmine Jaim
Keyword(s):  
Small Businesses ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Feminist Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Women Business Owners ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Political Unrest ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Government

PurposeWhereas the extant literature on women's entrepreneurship is almost exclusively focused on developed nations, the effect of many context-specific issues of other countries on ventures of women has been overlooked. The study aims to reveal how political unrest, a common feature of the developing nation, can significantly affect the experiences of women in small businesses of that region.Design/methodology/approachThis feminist research is conducted on Bangladesh, which is one of the most politically unstable countries in the world. The study conducts interviews with women to explore the adverse effect of political unrest on their small firms.FindingsThe feminist research reveals some problems of women business-owners concerning political unrest in this highly patriarchal context. It also discloses how political chaos challenges the government initiative in financially supporting women business-owners.Practical implicationsPolicymakers of developing nations can be benefitted by taking into account the problems of women business-owners concerning political unrest, specifically the access to debt financing issues while designing policies for women's empowerment.Originality/valueThe article contributes to the women's entrepreneurship scholarship with reference to political unrest, a contextual issue of developing nations. Whereas the existing studies mostly concentrate on holding women individually liable for the limited scale of their business operation, this research potentially challenges the view by drawing upon political unrest as an external factor that negatively affects their ventures. The study further advances the prevailing knowledge by critically unveiling some gender-specific problems of women business-owners regarding political unrest.

Women and Entrepreneurship – Albanian Case

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
Anna Xheka
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Difference

Women’s entrepreneurship is a powerful source, regarding to the women’s economic independence and empowerment, as well as regarding employment generation, economic growth and innovation, development and the reduction of poverty as well as one of the terms of gender equality. This poster presents the situation of women's entrepreneurship in Europe in comparative terms, with special focus in Albania. The paper has a descriptive nature. Describes three different plans in comparative terms; the representation of men and women in entrepreneurship, the representation of women in entrepreneurship in different countries of Europe and of Europe as a whole, as well as compare to gender quota. Through the processing of secondary data from various reports and studies, this poster concludes that although that the gender equality goal is the equal participation of men and women in all sectors, including the entrepreneurship, in this sector, gender gap it is still deep. Another significant comparative aspect, it is the difference between full and part –time women entrepreneurship. While in full time entrepreneurship in a convince way, men are those that dominate, in part time entrepreneurship clearly it’s evident the opposite trend, women's representation is much higher. It’s very interesting the fact, that the women’s entrepreneurship in Albania, presented in a significant optimistic situation, ranking in the second place, after Greece in the European level

CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A REVIEW AND STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 67-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
LISA K. GUNDRY ◽  
BEN-YOSEPH MIRIAM ◽  
MARGARET POSIG
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Major Research ◽  
Enterprise Growth ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The World ◽  
Entrepreneurial Organization ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

The study of women's entrepreneurship has grown steadily during the last two decades, as the number of women-owned businesses worldwide has increased dramatically. This article presents an examination of major research questions and highlights the most recent scholarship on women's entrepreneurship within several key domains. The findings integrate broad areas of inquiry, including the emergence of women-owned firms in the global economy, entrepreneurial and firm characteristics, financing patterns, the greatest challenges to enterprise growth, and the influence of culture and family on the entrepreneurial organization. Recommendations are provided to contribute to an increased understanding of the dynamics of women-headed entrepreneurial enterprises around the world.

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