Volume 18, No. 6, 2021
Challenges And Prospects Of Women Entrepreneurship In Pakistan: A Qualitative Inquiry
Samia Shahbaz , Qamar Ali , Zubair Ahmad Chaudhry & Sahar Hafeez
Abstract
This study examines the current challenges and issues confronting female entrepreneurs in Pakistan. The study's objective is to dissect female entrepreneurs' professional decision-making and to uncover critical impediments women confront at the start-up stage or during the ups and downs of their firms. Additionally, the study identifies the entrepreneurial motives, compulsion factors, satisfactions, and disappointments of female microbusiness owners. Qualitative data were gathered through 28 in-depth interviews with female micro entrepreneurs and analyzed using the QDA Miner Lite program. Respondents were from a variety of different company kinds, including schools, academies, saloons, street hawkers, and tailors. The study's findings indicate that female entrepreneurs face numerous hardships and hurdles, particularly during the infancy stage of micro start-ups, owing largely to Pakistan's economic, social, cultural, political, and religious contexts. The study categorizes these obstacles into two categories: those encountered prior to establishing the business and those encountered throughout its operation. The findings are contextualized within the study setting's sociopolitical and economic environment. Future directions for research, the study's shortcomings, and policy consequences are highlighted.
Pages: 2964-2981
Keywords: Women entrepreneurship, Micro businesses, Poverty, Challenges, Cultural factors, Social factors, Pakistan