How family and institutional networks contribute to the empowerment of women-owned small businesses
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35319/bwtv3282Keywords:
Women-owned small business, Women networks, Women-empowerment, Netmap methodology, BoliviaAbstract
This study investigated how family and institutional networks may contribute to the empowerment of women-owned small businesses in rural and peri-urban contexts. The study adopted a qualitative methodology using 20 focal groups to build Net maps and conducted in-depth interviews with rural and peri-urban women-owned small businesses in Bolivia. The thematic analysis combined the participants’ narratives with the Net maps. Our findings showed that family networks are essential for rural and nascent peri-urban entrepreneurs. The self-perception of empowerment for rural entrepreneurs is based on the women´s meaning of network content given to work-life balance, which keeps them in the status quo at the poor entrepreneurial level. Female peri-urban entrepreneurs who achieve business growth exhibit affiliative and expansive network behavior motivated by themselves. For them, family support loses relative importance to business success in the overall network interplay.
Downloads
References
Abdul Latif Jameel (2021) Designing financial services and social protection programs to enhance women’s economic empowerment, The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Available at: https://www.povertyactionlab.org/policy-insight/designing-financial-services-and-social-protection-programs-enhance-womens-economic (Accessed: 7 September 2022).
Araar, A. et. al., (2019). Impact of Credit and Training on Enterprise Performance: Evidence from Urban Ethiopia. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3410577
Arancibia, M. L. A., and Valencia, S. (2022). Estudio del carácter emprendedor de las mujeres jóvenes bolivianas de 22 a 30 años en las ciudades de La Paz y El Alto. Perspectiva, Año 25, No 49, 59–96.
Awadzi, C. (2019). Case Study on African American Female Entrepreneur: The Role Social, Emotional, Financial and Physic Support. International Journal of Business and General Management (IJBGM), 8(1), 33–38.
Balasubramanian, P., et. al., (2019). Does female economic empowerment promote development? PEGNet Policy Brief, 4.
Bernat, L.F., Lambardi, G. and Palacios, P. (2017) ‘Determinants of the entrepreneurial gender gap in Latin America’, Small Business Economics, 48(3), pp. 727–752.
Bogan et. al. (2021). Self-employment and mental health. Rev Econ Household.
Bogren, M., et. al., (2013). Networking women entrepreneurs: Fruitful for business growth? International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 5(1), 60–77.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology’, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), pp. 77–101.
Campbell, S., et.al., (2020). Purposive sampling: Complex or simple? Research case examples. Journal of Research in Nursing.
Carr, J. C., and Sequeira, J. M. (2011). Family Influence and Performance: A Study of Portuguese Family Firms. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 2(2), 94-107.
Chaudat, P., et.al., (2016) ‘Reconciling entrepreneurship with motherhood in France’, Recherches en sciences de gestion, 117(6), pp. 87-106.
Clarke, V., and Braun, V. (2017). Thematic analysis. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(3), 297–298.
Constantinidis, C. (2021) ‘How female entrepreneurs build strong business relationships: the power of gender stereotypes’, International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 13(3), pp. 259–274.
Corrêa, V.S. et al. (2022) ‘Female entrepreneurship in emerging and developing countries: a systematic literature review’, International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 14(3), pp. 300–322.
Das, A. and Pal, B. (2022) ‘Status of Rural Entrepreneurs in Post Pandemic Situation: A Study in Selected Blocks in Nadia District of West Bengal, India’, South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics, 15, pp. 9–15.
Ekpe, Mat and Ekpe (2015) Social Networks and Women Micro-Enterprise Performance: A Conceptual Framework, ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282444399_Social_Networks_and_Women_Micro-Enterprise_Performance_A_Conceptual_Framework (Accessed: 8 November 2022).
Essers, C. et al. (2021) ‘Navigating belonging as a Muslim Moroccan female entrepreneur’, Journal of Small Business Management, 59(6), pp. 1250–1278.
Finnoff, K. (2012). Intimate partner violence, female employment, and male backlash in Rwanda. The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 7(2).
Foss, L. (2010) ‘Research on entrepreneur networks: The case for a constructionist feminist theory perspective’, International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship. Edited by H. Ahl, 2(1), pp. 83–102.
GEM Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2019). Available at: https://www.gemconsortium.org/report/gem-20182019-womens-entrepreneurship-report (Accessed: 14 September 2022).
Gohar, M., Basit, A. and Abrar, A. (2018) ‘Growth Aspirations of Pukhtoon Women Entrepreneurs in the Household Context.’, FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 12(1).
Guarnieri, E., and Rainer, H. (2018). Female empowerment and male backlash. ECONSTOR, CESifo Working Paper, No. 7009. April 2018
Hauck et al., J. (2015). Seeing the forest and the trees: Facilitating participatory network planning in environmental governance. Global Environmental Change, 35, pp.400-410
Idris, N. a. H., et.al., (2014) ‘Downstream Activities at the Felda Land Development Scheme: Analysis on Motivational Factors of Women’s Participation in Business Activities’, Asian Social Science, 10(15), p. 143.
Jadav et al. (2013) Women empowerment through training in dairy farming. Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research, 33(2), 147
Kerr, J., and Coviello, N. (2019). Formation and Constitution of Effectual Networks: A Systematic Review and Synthesis. International Journal of Management Reviews, 21, 370–397.
Khan, T., and Rusmiati, T. (2022). The Influence of Family Moral Support in the Creation of Small-Medium Enterprises for Female Entrepreneurs in Indonesia & Pakistan. Master´s Thesis. UPPSALA UNIVERSITET.
Laszlo, S. et al. (2020) ‘Grappling with the challenges of measuring women’s economic empowerment in intrahousehold settings’, World Development, 132, p. 104-959.
Lönnqvist, and Itkonen. (2016). Homogeneity of personal values and personality traits in Facebook social networks. Journal of Research in Personality, 60, 24–35.
McGregor, J. and Tweed, D. (2002) ‘Profiling a New Generation of Female Small Business Owners in New Zealand: Networking, Mentoring and Growth’, Gender, Work and Organization, 9(4), pp. 420–438.
Ogando, A.C., et.al., (2022) ‘Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and unpaid care work on informal workers’ livelihoods’, International Labour Review, 161(2), pp. 171–194.
Querejazu, V. (2015) GEM Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: reporte nacional Bolivia 2014. La Paz: Escuela de la Producción y la Competitividad de la Universidad Católica Boliviana ‘San Pablo’.
Querejazu, V. (2021) ‘Emprendimiento femenino en Bolivia y autoconfianza’, Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Económico, (36), pp. 43–78. Available at: https://doi.org/10.35319/lajed.202136452.
Ranganathan, M., et.al., (2022). Women’s economic status, male authority patterns and intimate partner violence: A qualitative study in rural North West Province, South Africa. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 24(5), 717–734.
Rondi (2015) (PDF) Process thinking and the family business, ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286946284_Process_thinking_and_the_family_business (Accessed: 8 November 2022).
Rusdianti, E., et.al., (2018) ‘Poverty Alleviation Studis through Women Empowement’, Economics and Business Solutions Journal, 2(2), pp. 59–71. Available at: https://doi.org/10.26623/ebsj.v2i2.1207.
Schiffer, E. and Hauck, J. (2010) ‘Net-Map: Collecting Social Network Data and Facilitating Network Learning through Participatory Influence Network Mapping’, Field Methods, 22(3), pp. 231–249.
Silva, T.D.D. et al., (2021) ‘Empowerment Through Women Entrepreneurship’, JWEE, (1–2), pp. 121–146.
Solesvik, M., et al., (2019) ‘Motivation of female entrepreneurs: a cross-national study’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 26(5), pp. 684–705.
Surangi, H. A. K. N. S. (2021). Women Entrepreneurial Networks and Small Business Development: A Study Based on Tourism Industry in Sri Lanka: Ongoing Research Project. Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, 6(5), 26–31.
Topic, M., et.al., (2021, September 7). Women and Networking: A Systematic Literature Review (1985-2021) [Monograph]. Leeds Beckett University. http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/
Uriona, P. (2022) Inclusión financiera de las mujeres. Available at: https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/bolivia/es/home/noticias/novedades.html/content/countries/bolivia/es/meta/news/2022/Agosto/inclusion_financiera_de_las_mujeres (Accessed: 14 October 2022).
Vinay Prasad, B., and Naveena, L. (2021). A Study on Problems and Challenges of Rural Entrepreneurs in India. Shanlax International Journal of Management, 8(S1-Feb), 13–20.
Wanderley, F. and Vera Cossio, H. (2017) ‘Las Dinámicas del Mercado de Trabajo en Bolivia 2005-2015’, Documentos de trabajo [Preprint]. Available at: https://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/iisecd/2017_001.html (Accessed: 8 November 2022).
Wang, X., Cai, L., Zhu, X., and Deng, S. (2022). Female entrepreneurs’ gender roles, social capital and willingness to choose external financing. Asian Business and Management, 21(3), 432–457.
Yañez and Echenique (2019) ‘Brechas de género en el empleo. Evidencia para las áreas urbanas de Bolivia’. Documento de Trabajo Abril-2019.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Revista Perspectivas
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
La Revista Perspectivas de la Universidad Católica Boliviana, es una revista de acceso abierto, por lo tanto, es de libre acceso en su integridad. Está permitida su lectura, búsqueda, descarga, distribución y reutilización legal en cualquier tipo de soporte únicamente para fines no comerciales, siempre y cuando la obra sea debidamente citada.
