The role of gender equality in Iranian female tourism entrepreneurs’ success

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gender (in)equality in entrepreneurship has been getting more attention in recent decades. The number of female entrepreneurs repeatedly reported less than males due to cultural issues, education, and lack of support. Moreover, launching start-up apiaries is more challenging for Asian women in tourism, and the likelihood of unsuccessful experiences is higher among them. Accordingly, the lack of empirical material on female entrepreneurs in tourism and gender equality issues, especially in middle east countries, are the two main gaps. Therefore, this paper tries to reveal the Iranian female entrepreneurship experience to fulfil these gaps. This research applied a qualitative research design leading with social constructivism and critical theory. 12 Iranian female tourism entrepreneurs participated in semi-structured online interviews. The snowball sampling technique was applied to collect data that was analysed thematically. The findings of this study highlighted that family responsibility, legal disparities, credit constraints, and the social construction of gender roles and norms are among the hurdles restricting females from engaging in social and economic opportunities. Moreover, the participants mentioned that the lack of social, government, and sponsors’ support and a platform for training and sharing peers’ experiences impact their businesses.