Entrepreneurial Networks and Women Entrepreneurship: A social feminist perspective of social capital

Abstract

This study utilizes a social feminist perspective of social capital to investigate how entrepreneurial networks influence women’s entrepreneurship in developing economies. To this purpose, we collected and analyzed rich data generated through in-depth interviews and artifacts of Nigerian women entrepreneurs and key stakeholders. The qualitative data were thematically analyzed using the phenomenological approach to data analysis. Our findings revealed that entrepreneurial networks are mediums through which women entrepreneurs gain access to financial and physical resources, human resource development, and social and external support opportunities for customer attraction and retention. Our analysis therefore suggests that in developing countries, characterised by a weak or non-existent entrepreneurship ecosystem, entrepreneurial networks represent a medium that could fill the voids created by a weak institutional environment. This article contributes to women entrepreneurship literature by revising a male-based perspective of entrepreneurial networks into a gender-sensitive field.