Reducing barriers to female entrepreneurship in Oman: does family matter?

Purpose

Previous research has found that family characteristics, including family income, entrepreneurship/business experience and family size, can influence offspring’s entrepreneurial potential and perception of the barriers to entrepreneurship. This paper aims to extend this proposition to women in Oman to determine whether family income, entrepreneurship/business experience and family size influence women’s perception of barriers to entrepreneurship

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on primary data that was collected through a structured questionnaire from 123 female respondents at an Omani private university. The data was analysed using PCA, correlation and regression analysis to determine the influence of the family characteristic on the perception of barriers to entrepreneurship.

Findings

The findings concluded that the three family characteristics being tested were not able to predict a change in the perception of barriers to entrepreneurship. This contradicts previous research conducted in Western contexts and highlights the potential weakness in family support for female entrepreneurship in Oman.

Originality/value

These results challenge some of the extant findings in the literature, thus enriching the current perspectives on female entrepreneurship and the impact of Omani family characteristics, in terms of income, economic background and family size, on the perception of barriers that hinder entrepreneurship among female students

Factors influencing women entrepreneurs’ performance in SMEs

Purpose

This paper aims at contributing to the entrepreneurship literature by identifying factors influencing women entrepreneurs’ performance and the corresponding challenges in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The study also examines the opportunity recognition as a mediator between influencing factors and performance of women entrepreneurs.

Design/methodology/approach

The study proposes a model that shows the effects of different internal and external factors on women entrepreneurs’ performance.

Findings

The paper demonstrates several challenges that are encountered by women entrepreneurs such as lack of access to financial resources, difficulty in finding qualified labors, work-home conflict and low profit. The results suggest that the most influencing factor is industry (SMEs) characteristics followed by entrepreneurial goals and motivations, and legal factors. Additionally, opportunity recognition is found to mediate entrepreneurial goals and motivations, and industry characteristics.

Research limitations/implications

As the study is conducted in Bahrain, it may lack generalization. In future research, it is advisable to expand study factors, use interviews as a research tool and make comparison between women and men entrepreneurial performances.

Practical implications

The paper can help increase women entrepreneurs’ performance and enable them to make use of the business environment in a more efficient and effective way.

Originality/value

Although several papers already exist that discuss issues on women entrepreneurs, there has been little research focusing on factors influencing and challenges facing women entrepreneurs, particularly in the Middle East. Our study explores important issues and calls for more research in this domain.