Factors affecting women entrepreneurship in developing countries. How far are we from supporting women entrepreneurship?

Abstract

This study was conducted in the coastal region of Syria during 2022, shedding the spotlight on a group of female entrepreneurs domiciled in the Latakian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The study relied on a wide range of primary and secondary data to identify, ascertain, and define the factors embracing female entrepreneurship and the impact of the Syrian crisis on these factors. The purpose of the study is to examine the realistic status of women's entrepreneurial projects in Syria by focusing on their strengths and weaknesses of their energy utilization as an active force in achieving more economic growth. A qualitative research method was used to analyze the internal and external environment of entrepreneurship from the viewpoint of the participating female entrepreneurs. The primary results showed that the dissatisfaction and pressure factors are the main drivers towards women entrepreneurship in Syria, creating a space for creativity and stepping up out of the societal traditional norms. However, pressure economic factors such as poverty, lack of job opportunities and limited income possibilities are the most important reasons for incentivizing women to enter the leadership field and becoming entrepreneurs. The main challenges facing women entrepreneurs in Syria are the social traditions and norms, followed by the lack of management skills and the negative perception of society towards a working woman in addition to the absence of designed crafted training and entrepreneurial oriented education. Despite the Syrian government's adoption of entrepreneurial designed plans as one of the tools to empower women and enabling them to be financially productive therefore to reduce poverty, interest appears to be absent or generally weak on the practical level considering the lack of supporting means, funding lines or strategic planning views which all together made many of these projects and ideas to operate in an unstructured and an unofficial manner, carrying out their potential to an unknown path.