Factors of Women Entrepreneurship in Egypt: A Qualitative Perspective

Abstract

Extensive studies related to women’s entrepreneurial motivation are available in the western context, however, only a few studies are found focused on factors that motivate Egyptian women to engage in entrepreneurial activities. The study explores in-depth the motivations behind female entrepreneurs’ efforts to establish business ventures in Egypt. It analyses the influence of macrosocial realities and cultural values on the motivation for entrepreneurship. The finding demonstrates how post materialism factors motivate Egyptian women to embrace entrepreneurial activity as a way to maintaining “personal freedom”. The results demonstrate the impact of the Arab patriarchal culture on shaping the Egyptian women motivation. The qualitative research approach is adopted in this study to explore the entrepreneurial motivations of Egyptian women entrepreneurs. Through purposeful sampling, 20 women entrepreneurs were selected from five Egyptian governorates to administer a semi structured interview for the collection of primary data. The findings indicated that the motivation of Egyptian women entrepreneurs cover a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Intrinsic motivations include maintaining personal freedom, satisfying their creative impulses, utilizing their knowledge derived from education training courses and work experiences, exploiting business opportunities, achieving a sense of self -actualization, improving social motivation. On the other hand, extrinsic factors include the inability to find a suitable job, death or illness of a family member, the need to supplement the family income, unfavorable job routine. The research on female entrepreneurs in the context of Egypt is essential as this study responded to calls for a thorough understanding of women’s entrepreneurial motivations. By studying these factors, the study would be able to show that motivations are unique and differentiate from other contexts.