The aim of the study is to investigate performance barriers faced by women in India's traditionally female-led handloom microenterprise sector. It explores how entrenched gender norms and institutional voids dilute the impact of government policies.
Using a sequential mixed-methods design, this study first applies the Gioia Method to analyze interviews with women handloom micro-entrepreneurs and then constructs a data hierarchy of performance barriers. Next, the DEMATEL technique maps causal relationships among thirteen identified barriers, revealing their interdependencies and structural significance.
The analysis reveals five high-impact “cause” barriers, e.g. lack of government support, regressive tax policy and digital exclusion, which propagate downstream effects on critical outcomes like working capital, branding and supply chain complexity. Interpreting the results through Gendered Entrepreneurship and Institutional Theory reveals how formal policy gaps and informal socio-cultural norms structurally disadvantage women micro-entrepreneurs in this sector.
This study advances theory by demonstrating how the intersection of gendered structures and institutional failure amplifies performance barriers in microenterprises. It also shows how combining inductive coding (via the Gioia Method) with causal mapping (via DEMATEL) can uncover hidden systemic dynamics often overlooked in traditional MSME research.
The findings underscore the need for tailored interventions addressing both formal (e.g. tax, digital access) and informal (e.g. mobility norms, recognition) constraints to enhance women's participation and performance in the handloom sector. By systematically analyzing these interconnected challenges, the research offers insights to guide inclusive, gender-sensitive policies and promote sustainable development.
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to integrate the Gioia Method and DEMATEL within a gendered-institutional lens to uncover and prioritize systemic barriers in women-led microenterprises, offering novel insights for inclusive entrepreneurship and policy design in emerging economies.
