Opportunity-Driven Female Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economy

Dear Colleagues,

The active participation of women in all aspects of life is central to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 (UN, 2021). Sustainable Development Goal 5 seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women (and girls). In this context, scholars widely acknowledge the vital role of women's entrepreneurial activities in sustainable economic development (Raman et al., 2022; Barrachina-Fernández, García-Centeno & Calderón-Patier, 2021; Brush et al., 2019; Cukier et al., 2022; Jennings & Brush, 2013; Welsh et al., 2016). Besides economic growth, women entrepreneurs contribute to the societal improvement of regional communities (Jennings & Brush, 2013; Kelley et al., 2017; Hechevarría et al., 2019). Consequently, research on female entrepreneurship has been the center of academic and managerial attention (Brush & Cooper, 2012; Cardella et al.,2020; Foss et al.,2019; Owalla & Al Ghafri, 2020).

Within that literature, attention to a new category of well-educated women entrepreneurs has developed (Sundin Holmquist, 2006). This does not come as a surprise given that the formal education levels of women, on average, tend to resemble or exceed those of men (OECD, 2017). For example, in the European Union member countries, women who attained tertiary education in 2018 were 39 percent compared to 31.3 percent of their male counterparts (OECD, 2018).

The link between education levels, gender and economic development is not only central to the achievement of the SDGs (Raman et al., 2022), but it is also at the core of attention in the entrepreneurship literature, for example in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) (Bosma & Harding, 2007; Bosma et al., 2008). Indeed, the most recent report from the GEM 2020/21 (Elam et. al., 2021) reported that total entrepreneurial activity (TEA) rates tend to increase with the level of education for both men and women. This is especially the case for ‘opportunity driven’ entrepreneurship where entrepreneurs engage in entrepreneurship out of free choice, which distinguishes them from ‘necessity entrepreneurs’ who consider entrepreneurship as the best or even only option available and not necessarily the preferred option, (Acs, 2006; Bosma et al, 2008; Hechaverria & Reynolds, 2009; Williams & Williams, 2014; Williams & Lansky, 2013). As such, women with higher education degrees might have access to new professional opportunities, but they are also more prone to identify and exploit opportunities for new business creation (Kelley et al., 2017). For this group of highly educated opportunity-driven female entrepreneurs to flourish, higher education plays an important role (Robichaud, LeBrasseur & Nagarajan, 2010; Elam et al., 2019; Chen, Lee, & Alymkulova, 2021). Indeed in 12 of the 15 countries analyzed by Elam et al. (2021) the proportion of women entrepreneurs with higher educational qualifications (graduate or postgraduate) is greater than that of their male counterparts. Specifically, the most striking differences are those reported in emerging economies like Brazil, Slovenia, and the United Arab Emirates, where women entrepreneurs are at least twice as likely as men entrepreneurs to have graduate education.

Despite such evidence, research on female entrepreneurship in emerging economies shows a common pattern, where female entrepreneurship is naturally associated with disadvantage, inequality or subsistence, presuming individual interests such as escaping from poverty, as well as national interests such as improving employability rate (e.g., Panda, 2018; Nguyen, Frederick, & Nguyen, 2014; Muhammad, McElwee, & Dana, 2017; Modarresi, Arasti, Talebi, & Farasatkhah, 2016; Mahmood, Hussain & Matlay, 2014; Lockyer & George, 2012; Lock & Smith, 2016; Heilbrunn, Asbeh & Nasra, 2014; Franck, 2012). These studies reinforce a strong association between female entrepreneurship and necessity-driven entrepreneurship, especially in emerging economies (Brush, Bruin, & Welter, 2009; Rashid & Ratten, 2020).

Nevertheless, (anecdotal) evidence from emerging economies shows that not all cases of female entrepreneurship fall into the category of necessity-driven entrepreneurship. There are increasing cases of opportunity-driven female entrepreneurship where the motivation to create a business does not come from necessity, inequality, or lack of opportunities. On the contrary, it comes from highly educated women with the idea of growing, innovating, and being able to expand locally and internationally; that is, from the motivation to seek opportunities for innovation and build impactful and successful ventures (Kuschel, 2019; Kuschel, Lepeley, Espinosa & Gutiérrez, 2017; Kuschel, Labra & Diaz, 2018; Huamán, Guede, Cancino & Cordova, 2022). Indeed, in regions like Africa, the number of women involved in founding start-ups is estimated to be 24%. Moreover, female entrepreneurs in Africa contributed between USD 250 billion and USD 300 billion to African economic growth in 2016 which is equivalent to about 13% of the continent’s GDP (Roland-Berger, 2018).

Given the growing evidence that women in emerging markets can be and often are opportunity-driven, this Special Issue will focus on developing knowledge and insight to explain how opportunity-driven female entrepreneurship can be fostered and achieved in those economies.

For this Special Issue, we seek conceptual and/or empirical research on how opportunity-driven entrepreneurship has been supported at the individual, organisational, regional, or national level, with special emphasis on entrepreneurial ecosystems and the role of higher education herein. Quantitative studies, conceptual and qualitative (e.g., narratives, multiple cases, experiments) papers are welcome. Papers should make an important theoretical contribution, combined with an appropriate methodological design and strong policy recommendations. We therefore, invite contributions from scholars in the field that examine female entrepreneurship, with a focus on opportunity-driven in the context of emerging economies.

Papers are welcome across, but not limited to, the following areas:

• Leadership and female entrepreneurship in emerging economies
• Motivations of opportunity-driven female entrepreneurs in emerging economies
• Socio-economic factors affecting opportunity-driven female entrepreneurship in

Emerging economies

• Gender and academic entrepreneurship in emerging economies
• Student/graduate female entrepreneurship in emerging economies
• Entrepreneurial universities supporting female entrepreneurship in emerging economies

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Ingrid Wakkee
Dr. Sue Rossano-Rivero
Guest Editors

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• opportunity-driven female entrepreneurship
• female entrepreneurship
• emerging economies
• sustainable entrepreneurship
• entrepreneurial ecosystems
• female entrepreneurship at universities