Towards understanding female entrepreneurship in Middle Eastern and North African countries

Abstract

PurposeOver the past 30 years there has been an increase in the number of women turning to self‐employment and business ownership. Middle Eastern women were no exception and increasingly are pursuing entrepreneurship and have become a phenomenon that requires in‐depth study and analysis. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on women entrepreneurs in terms of entrepreneurial activity rates, entrepreneurial orientations, demographics and their enterprise characteristics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries.Design/methodology/approachThe approach utilised is a combination of the literature pertinent to women's entrepreneurship in MENA with the findings of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's research for 2008‐2009.FindingsMore women are turning into entrepreneurship in Middle East; however, their percentage is still low compared to their male counterparts.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the main limitations was the lack of literature discussing women entrepreneurship in the Middle Eastern context and reliable statistics.Originality/valueThis paper is one of few papers discussing and comparing women entrepreneurs in eight Middle Eastern countries, along with their enterprises.