Female entrepreneurship in Islamic contexts: state of research and perspectives
Research devoted to female entrepreneurship in Islamic contexts remains scarce, even if it has progressed over the past fifteen years.
Samira Jafari, a doctoral student at the School of Business at the University of Alberta, Canada, carried out an extensive analysis of the scientific literature to better understand what researchers have already established on this topic and to identify questions that merit further investigation.
Specializing in the fields of strategy, entrepreneurship and management, she conducts her research under the direction of Professor Jennifer Jennings. An engineer by training and former entrepreneur in Iran, Samira Jafari is particularly interested in how cultural, religious and institutional norms influence the journey, well-being and success of women entrepreneurs. She was notably recognized as “Woman Entrepreneur of the Year” in Iran in 2018.
His study, dedicated to work located at the intersection of gender, Islam and entrepreneurship, was published in the scientific journal Entrepreneurship & Regional Development.
Very different Islamic contexts
One of the first conclusions of this analysis is that there is no single model of Islamic society. The influence of Islam on economic life and on the place of women varies greatly depending on the country, their history, their political system and their legal organization.
In countries like Iran or Saudi Arabia, Islamic principles are directly integrated into laws and state institutions. They can therefore have a formal influence on business creation, access to financing, travel or the participation of women in economic life.
In other countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey or Tunisia, the influence of religion comes more through social habits, family networks, community expectations and cultural norms. Laws may be relatively open, while certain family or social pressures continue to limit women’s opportunities. It is therefore difficult to talk about female entrepreneurship “in the Islamic world” as if it were a homogeneous whole. Each context presents its own balances between religion, culture, law, family and economy.
A still underdeveloped area of research
To carry out her study, Samira Jafari analyzed the publications listed in the Scopus scientific database. An initial search identified 177 publications in English. After excluding texts that did not correspond precisely to the subject, 97 publications were retained for the final analysis. The first study devoted to women entrepreneurs in an Islamic context dates from 1996. For around ten years, the subject generated very little work. From 2009, publications became more regular, with at least one study per year. The year 2023 marked clear progress, with fifteen publications.
Despite this development, studies focusing on Islamic contexts represent less than 2% of all research devoted to gender and entrepreneurship.
Work is also concentrated in a few countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Iran. Many Muslim countries, although affected by significant female entrepreneurial activity, remain very little studied.
The weight of laws, social norms and the family
Existing research shows that women’s entrepreneurship depends on both formal and informal institutions. Formal institutions include laws, public policies, commercial regulations, banking systems and support systems. They can facilitate business creation, but also create obstacles when women have fewer rights, guarantees or economic autonomy than men.
Informal institutions concern social norms, family expectations, religious interpretations, roles assigned to women and the community’s outlook. In some cases, a woman may have the legal right to start a business while encountering resistance within her family or social environment.
The main obstacles noted in the studies are limited access to financing, lack of professional networks, mobility restrictions, unequal distribution of family responsibilities and difficulties in being recognized as a legitimate entrepreneur.
Women actors of their journey
However, studies do not present women entrepreneurs as simple victims of social constraints. On the contrary, they show that they are developing numerous strategies to gain acceptance for their activity. Some highlight the contribution of their business to the well-being of their family. Others insist on the ethical, useful or social nature of their activity.
They can also adapt their schedules, work from home, create businesses in sectors deemed socially acceptable or rely on female and family networks. In many cases, women seek to show that their professional activity remains compatible with modesty, piety, family responsibility and the values of their community. This way of presenting their project allows them to obtain more support and strengthen their legitimacy.
Entrepreneurship thus becomes a space for negotiation. Women do not necessarily reject religious or family norms, but they may interpret them differently and use them to defend their participation in economic life.
Islam can both facilitate and limit entrepreneurship
Another important lesson concerns the dual role of religion. Islam cannot be presented only as an obstacle, nor only as a source of emancipation. In some cases, patriarchal interpretations of religion can reinforce restrictions on women. They can limit their autonomy, their mobility, their access to resources or their presence in public spaces.
But several studies also show that Islamic values can support entrepreneurial activity. Principles such as amanah, which refers to trust and responsibility, itqan, which values excellence in work, or even social responsibility can serve as the moral foundation of a company. Religious networks can also provide trust, contacts, customers and social capital. For some women, entrepreneurship allows them to contribute to the needs of their family and their community while remaining true to their convictions.
The effect of Islam therefore depends above all on the way in which it is interpreted, institutionalized and applied in each society.
Limitations of current work
Samira Jafari identifies three main limitations in existing research. The first is the lack of comparisons between countries. The majority of studies focus on a single national context. They allow us to understand a particular situation, but they are not enough to explain why female entrepreneurship evolves differently from one country to another. The second limitation concerns the lack of studies on the relationships between laws and social norms. Some countries are adopting reforms favorable to female entrepreneurship, but mentalities, family practices and community expectations sometimes evolve more slowly.
The third limitation is the lack of balance in the analysis of the role of Islam. Some research mainly emphasizes religious obstacles, while others mainly highlight the positive aspects of Islamic ethics. We should further study these two dimensions at the same time.
Three avenues for future research
The first avenue consists of comparing several Islamic contexts. Researchers could study how differences between legal systems, public policies, family structures and religious interpretations influence the paths of women entrepreneurs. A comparison between Iran, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia or Turkey would, for example, allow us to better understand the effects of each institutional organization.
The second avenue would be to examine the gaps between formal and informal institutions. In particular, we need to understand why some legal reforms produce real changes, while others remain essentially symbolic. Research could also study the role of family, religious authorities, professional networks and social reputation in women’s access to financing and support systems.
It would also be useful to observe how women entrepreneurs themselves contribute to changing standards. By creating businesses, recruiting other women and developing networks, they can gradually make female entrepreneurship more visible and more acceptable.
Finally, the third avenue consists of adopting a more balanced vision of the influence of Islam. Future research should simultaneously analyze the possibilities and constraints related to religion. They could study the way in which women use Islamic values to defend their activity, but also the difficulties they encounter when they move away from dominant norms.
Existing research shows that female entrepreneurship in Islamic contexts cannot be explained by religion alone. It depends on a set of factors: laws, public policies, social norms, religious interpretations, family structures and economic conditions. Women entrepreneurs are not only faced with these institutions. They circumvent them, negotiate them and can sometimes help to transform them.
To better understand their situation, future research should avoid generalizations, increase comparisons between countries and study more precisely the interaction between religion, culture, law and entrepreneurship. This approach would also make it possible to develop public policies and support programs better adapted to the realities experienced by women entrepreneurs in different Islamic contexts.
