Female entrepreneurship in the start-up ecosystem of Saudi Arabia

PurposeTo date, few studies have incorporated female entrepreneurship into the context of a country that relies heavily on natural resources and still has a wide gender gap due to historically established cultural norms. This study aims to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial ecosystem factors on women's ability and desire to become entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approachThe study applied a quantitative method using secondary data from the Adult Population Survey conducted by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and built upon the recently proposed "Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Approach," which has three levels: institutional, organisational and individual.FindingsThe findings demonstrate the significant roles that different entrepreneurial ecosystem dimensions can play in determining female entrepreneurial activity. Relationships were found among the variables of the three dimensions, indicating that broader institutional conditions can impact women becoming entrepreneurs.Research limitations/implicationsA multi-year analysis could not be performed because the country data from one year limited the research to conditions in that time frame.Originality/valueThe findings advance entrepreneurial research by empirically examining the influencers' factors on women becoming entrepreneurs in a fast-growing emerging economy, collectivist society and non-European and non-North American institutional environment. The research tested a framework that gives more insight into the diverse factors affecting women in entrepreneurship at different levels.