Why do women found startups less often than men? A systematic literature analysis Open Access

While entrepreneurship in general has been recognized as a crucial factor for economic growth, renewal and innovation (de Bruin et al., 2006; Meyer and De Jongh, 2018; Meyer and Meyer, 2017), women are to a lesser extent than men part of self-employment and particularly startup activities (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2023; OECD/European Commission, 2023). Despite gradual progress in female entrepreneurship (OECD/European Commission, 2023), significant disparities between male and female founders remain. Moreover, low-income compared to high-income countries generally show higher rates of female entrepreneurship (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2023), suggesting that socioeconomic contexts may influence women’s participation in entrepreneurial activities. While women less often feel the need to choose between having a family or an entrepreneurial career (Martínez-Rodríguez et al., 2022), they continue to encounter unique challenges not faced by their male counterparts (Farroñán et al., 2023; Noor and Isa, 2020; Rahman et al., 2023). Insofar, there is still untapped potential to further increase entrepreneurial activity and its significant positive impact on the economy (Ferreira dos Santos et al., 2019; Roy, 2014).

Female entrepreneurship as a field of study has gained interest only in the past two decades (Poggesi et al., 2016) and particularly during the pandemic. This caused new developments in the workplace and allowed better combinations of work and private life. The development may lead to growth in female entrepreneurship, as understanding these challenges is an important step in supporting and improving female entrepreneurship (Meyer, 2018).

Recent literature focuses the difficulties female entrepreneurs encounter when starting their own business. A big concern frequently discussed is the prejudice and discrimination female entrepreneurs face when it comes to funding and supporting their businesses (Hassan and Zaharia, 2021; Rahman et al., 2023; Rudhumbu et al., 2020). The research findings on the challenges female entrepreneurs face, however, scatter considerably. A clearer picture of interrelations and structures in this growing research stream is missing and calls for a systematic literature review (SLR).

The goal of this SLR is to synthesize the findings and to contribute to a more profound understanding of the research question why women found fewer startups than men in the first place. This paper seeks to identify the difficulties and barriers that hinder women at the earliest stages of the founding process, shedding light on the worries and experiences that may dissuade them from pursuing entrepreneurship. By drawing attention to these gender-specific challenges and proposing strategies to address them, this study aims to reduce the gender gap in entrepreneurship and foster a more inclusive startup landscape where women can fully realize their potential.

Female entrepreneurship refers to women taking the initiative to launch or manage a business venture (Sharma, 2018). It relates to a woman or a collective of several women leading the founding of a new business or enterprise. This implies providing innovative ideas for venture foundation.

Literature identifies several features that apply solely to female entrepreneurship. Female entrepreneurs face unique challenges due to discrimination and other limiting factors that generally do not apply to their male counterparts (Ferreira dos Santos et al., 2019; Meyer, 2018). Additionally, female compared to male entrepreneurs seem to show a difference in entrepreneurial motivation. Kirkwood (2009) found that, while male and female entrepreneurs share several motivational factors, they are influenced by these factors to different degrees: women seem to be influenced more significantly by the motivational factors of children and family. Female entrepreneurs regard entrepreneurship as an opportunity to spend more time with their families, while men are more frequently affected by job dissatisfaction, choosing entrepreneurship after being repeatedly disappointed by the situation at their previous employment (Kirkwood, 2009). Naser et al. (2009) stressed the importance of self-fulfillment as a motivational factor for female entrepreneurs in Arab countries. Eversole (2004) mentioned financial motivational factors for female entrepreneurs in Bolivia, commenting on how many married women rely on their entrepreneurial activity and the additional family income it generates to earn a say in the financial decisions of the household. In general, women show a greater appreciation of the non-economic factors of their businesses, like the social impact of a business, including factors such as employee and customer satisfaction, as well as social responsiveness (Brush, 1992).

The SLR by Poggesi et al. (2016) tracked the development of research on female entrepreneurship over a 14-year period, categorizing the literature into four streams of research: entrepreneurial characteristics, financing, management and strategy and performance. Their work also highlighted disparities between female entrepreneurship in developed and developing countries, underscoring the influence of socioeconomic contexts. Similarly, Corrêa et al. (2022) analyzed research from 2010 to 2020, with a focus on developing and emerging countries, identifying key topics such as challenges (44% of papers), entrepreneurial performance (25%), fostering entrepreneurship (19%), entrepreneurial motivations (18%) and gender (17%).

These reviews underline the breadth and complexity of female entrepreneurship research and provide foundational insights. However, they primarily map broad themes but lack a detailed exploration of the early-stage barriers that disproportionately hinder women from entering entrepreneurship. This SLR addresses this gap by systematically examining the literature to understand why women found startups less often than men and identifying the challenges that precede the founding process. Building on previous findings, this SLR focuses on the pre-founding barriers, and thus contributes new perspectives to the field, complementing prior SLRs and paving the way for more targeted research in underexplored issues.

According to Paul et al. (2021), this SLR is domain-based, focusing on the causes for the lack of female entrepreneurs as well as the hardships and challenges they face. Structured as a theme-based review, it explores the development of the chosen topic, using a plethora of different methods to explain and illustrate the information (Paul et al., 2021; Paul and Criado, 2020).

The search rests on the databases Scopus and Web of Science, accompanied by a Google Scholar-based triangulation (Zhu and Liu, 2020; Baas et al., 2020; Birkle et al., 2020).  Appendix provides the string of keywords, structured around three categories, namely:

1. entrepreneurship;

2. female entrepreneurship; and

3. challenges or barriers for women in entrepreneurship.

Among the inclusion and exclusion criteria, to ensure higher quality and validity of the research and to allow reproducibility the SLR includes only peer-reviewed journal articles, written in English. The time frame of publishing was set broad enough to include a sufficient amount of literature to create a tangible review while avoiding the consideration of outdated research, ultimately limiting the period from 2012 to 2024, as in 2012, Coad and Tamvada (2012) published the frequently cited article “Firm growth and barriers to growth among small firms in India” with the high FWCI score of 6.37 (Scopus). It initially seemed reasonable to use a high-impact article as a reference point for setting the timeframe of the literature search. However, further investigation revealed that the earliest relevant article meeting the search criteria was published only slightly earlier, in 2008. Extending the timeframe by four years added just three additional articles. Therefore, it was decided not to limit the search by publication date, allowing for the inclusion of all potentially relevant literature published to date.

With this inclusion criteria in place, a total of 302 articles were identified on Scopus and Web of Science. Of those, 31 were excluded during the next step, the title sift, due to topical irrelevance. Another 114 articles with a focus on other areas of entrepreneurship were excluded during the abstract sift. The title and abstract sift revealed 157 relevant articles. Through the full paper sift, 60 relevant articles were identified for further analysis in the realm of the research question. A large part of the papers excluded in this step did not go far enough into detail regarding the challenges and barriers of female entrepreneurship and therefore revealed no meaningful response to the research question. Other papers excluded during the full text sift focused on challenges and barriers that were not unique to female entrepreneurs. The process of identifying relevant literature is further illustrated in the “PRISMA flow diagram” according to Booth (2016) in Figure 1.

To ensure a structured and transparent analysis, all included peer-reviewed articles were thoroughly read and analyzed. Key information, including publication details and identified challenges to female entrepreneurship, was systematically documented in an Excel table. This table served as the central tool for organizing and comparing data across studies. It enabled the identification of recurring patterns and themes by highlighting which barriers appeared most frequently and how they were described in different contexts. Thematic categories were developed based on these recurring elements and refined through repeated review of the extracted data. A visual overview was also created to illustrate the identified challenges and their interconnections, supporting the interpretation of findings.

The final set of papers – papers are marked with an asterisk (*) in the references – was published during the timeframe from 2014 to 2024. The peak of articles was in 2020, with a total of nine out of the final 60. As Figure 2 reveals, more than half of the articles were published in the past five years of this ten-year timespan, from 2019 to 2024. This indicates that this line of research is still relatively new and has recently gained traction.

The focus topics revealed several barriers and challenges to female entrepreneurship, some of which were prevalent in most of the articles. Financial barriers were most frequently mentioned (54 out of 60 papers). Other core topics mentioned in more than half of the papers were discrimination and gender inequality due to gender-based norms and stereotypes, time management conflicts between family and entrepreneurial activities, as well as a lack of important skills and training. Also frequently mentioned were the disapproval and lack of support from family members regarding the entrepreneurial activity of female entrepreneurs, as well as a lack of support from the government and other institutions intended to support entrepreneurs and young businesses. In a similar vein, many papers included mentions of the difficulty of navigating the legal and administrative aspects of founding and leading a startup.

Most of the barriers and challenges mentioned above were brought up in a significant number of articles, and not a single identified barrier appeared in less than two papers. Thus, there is a substantial common ground in the literature regarding the challenges and barriers to female entrepreneurship. This finding also further supports the legitimacy of the process of identifying the relevant literature, as there is a clear connection between the analyzed articles and the topic of the leading research question.

The overwhelming majority of the articles analyzed put their focus on developing countries. Only three articles included in this analysis did not specify a country focus. The distribution of the 60 included studies by country is provided in Table 1. While some studies covered more than one country, the overall distribution reflects a notable concentration of research on female entrepreneurship in predominantly developing and emerging economies, particularly in Asia and parts of Africa. Studies from Western or Latin American contexts were largely absent from the sample.

Emerging from the final set of articles as mentioned above, the 11 types of different challenges and barriers to female entrepreneurship fall into four categories:

1. environmental challenges;

2. challenges due to lack of resources;

3. family challenges; and

4. personal challenges.

The aim of this section is to outline the challenges and barriers discussed in literature, as well as to highlight potential relationships and interdependencies among them. Figure 3 illustrates these categories and the connections between them.

This study takes the perspective that societal and institutional norms should not be seen as just one challenge among others, but rather as the underlying foundation of the challenges female entrepreneurs face. These norms shape how women are perceived – both by themselves and by others – and thereby contribute to the structural difficulties that make it more difficult for women to engage in entrepreneurial activity. The gray arrows in the figure indicate the interrelations between the different categories of challenges.

Understanding that societal and institutional norms form the foundation for the challenges and barriers women face when wanting to engage in entrepreneurial activity, several studies mention the importance of norms, traditions and cultural values, which regard the “man of the house” as the person to earn money and support the family financially while expecting women to stay at home (Amrita et al., 2022; Noor and Isa, 2020; Said and Enslin, 2020; Shah et al., 2024). These widespread notions not only impact how others view female entrepreneurs but also the way women perceive themselves and their abilities (Alhothali, 2020; Bui et al., 2018; Mahadeo et al., 2015; Noor and Isa, 2020). These preconceptions make it harder for women to be taken seriously as entrepreneurs, hindering their ability to establish themselves with business partners, employees and customers, even after founding their business (Alhothali, 2020; Bui et al., 2018; Naguib, 2024; Nambiar et al., 2020). The societal and institutional norms impact how the surrounding actors respond to a woman’s wish to partake in entrepreneurial activity, how much support she receives and how the female entrepreneur is treated and perceived during every step of her entrepreneurial journey (Alhothali, 2020; Jabeen et al., 2020; Naguib, 2024; Noor and Isa, 2020). Religion can play an important part as well, sometimes creating restricting rules and guidelines for women, which negatively impact their ability to partake in entrepreneurship or conducting business in general (Amrita et al., 2022; Faisal et al., 2017; Roomi et al., 2018; Shah et al., 2024). This lays the foundation for the gender-based barriers and challenges a female entrepreneur might encounter and, thus, stands at the center of the challenges and barriers analyzed in this study.

This study discusses four different aspects of environmental challenges in female entrepreneurship:

1. discriminatory behavior and practices;

2. lack of support from the government;

3. difficulty of navigating administrative and legal matters (regarding entrepreneurial activity); and

4. lack of female entrepreneur role models.

The by far most prevalent environmental challenge in literature is that of discriminatory behavior and practices directed at female entrepreneurs. Many studies report that female entrepreneurs are treated differently and taken less seriously as entrepreneurs due to their gender, resulting in a distinct form of gender-based disadvantage (Agrawal et al., 2023; Kim et al., 2020; Onyusheva and Meyer, 2020; Panda, 2018; Rahman et al., 2023). Such discriminatory behavior prevents female entrepreneurs from assessing critical resources, such as funding, education or physical space to set up their business (Ahmetaj et al., 2023; Amrita et al., 2022; Faisal et al., 2017; Mandipaka, 2014). In extreme cases, this may prevent them from launching a business altogether. Another consequence of discrimination is that employees or suppliers may be reluctant to work under a female entrepreneur, show less commitment or fail to respect her authority and expertise compared to male founders (Ahmetaj et al., 2023; Nambiar et al., 2020; Qureshi et al., 2021; Shastri et al., 2019). This may lead to female entrepreneurs having a harder time finding potential members for a founding team, employees or potential business partners necessary to start a business. In countries with strict gender norms or religious laws, women might even be restricted in their ability to leave the house and interact with males outside their family, which further complicates contact with employees, investors or potential customers (Alshareef, 2022; Anabestani et al., 2024; Roomi et al., 2018). Discrimination against female entrepreneurs also poses a challenge by complicating legal and administrative matters of founding and leading a business, as well as government interaction (Hassan and Zaharia, 2021; Karakire Guma, 2015; Nambiar et al., 2020). Consequently, aspiring female entrepreneurs might be prevented from getting the required government support, as well as important information on how to legally go for venture foundation. This also links the challenge of discriminatory behavior and practices to the difficulties female entrepreneurs face in navigating the legal and administrative aspects of starting a business.

Studies by Rudhumbu et al. (2020) and Ahmetaj et al. (2023) document how gender-based discrimination and related micro-aggressions harm the success of female entrepreneurs. In some cases, women rely on male family members to represent them in official dealings to circumvent such discriminatory treatment, though this support is not always available. Facing such discrimination in the first few steps of venture foundation can be deeply demoralizing and may discourage women from pursuing entrepreneurship altogether. Interestingly, some studies also describe entrepreneurship as a means of resistance against discrimination, as some women see business ownership as a way to reclaim agency and challenge systemic inequalities (Ali and Himel, 2019; Li et al., 2020).

Another recurring theme in the literature is the lack of sufficient support from government institutions. Women frequently report that governments are not doing enough to dismantle barriers or to provide meaningful assistance for female entrepreneurs (Anabestani et al., 2024; Islam et al., 2019; Naguib, 2024; Raghuvanshi et al., 2017; Sathiyabama and Velmurugan, 2019). Literature mentions a lack of support in funding (Karakire Guma, 2015; Sathiyabama and Velmurugan, 2019), as well as limited access to other resources like training and educational measures, information and networking platforms (Hassan and Zaharia, 2021; Raghuvanshi et al., 2017; Sathiyabama and Velmurugan, 2019). These gaps in support not only fail to counteract existing discrimination but may exacerbate it. In some cases, government institutions are seen as actively contributing to the problem through discriminating or non-cooperative behavior, high taxes and inconsistent rules and regulations (Hassan and Zaharia, 2021; Said and Enslin, 2020; Sathiyabama and Velmurugan, 2019). Rahman et al. (2023) also highlight the difficulty women face in rural areas when accessing government support. Consequently, the lack of support not only complicates the already challenging founding process but also signals to women that they cannot rely on governmental assistance. As a result, many are discouraged from even seeking help – a reluctance that, according to Hassan and Zaharia (2021), stems from experiences of discriminatory treatment and burdensome, time-consuming bureaucracy. This sentiment was mirrored by Said and Enslin (2020), who mention an inconsistency of rules and regulations, leading to mounting frustration among female entrepreneurs. Meyer and Keyser (2019) show a significant difference in the perceived government support between female entrepreneurs in Egypt who have children and those who have not. Unfortunately, the reasons for this circumstance are not further elaborated. However, this might indicate a connection between the family concerns female entrepreneurs might face and the lack of government support. The lack of government support also has the potential to dissuade women from the idea of entrepreneurship due to the frustration and demotivation it might cause (Meyer and Keyser, 2019; Said and Enslin, 2020).

Besides that, the perceived lack of support, regardless of its actual availability, might pose a psychological burden in itself. Not feeling supported enough might further amplify motivational or initiative-based challenges or negatively impact aspiring female entrepreneurs who struggle with confidence issues. By contrast, Abuhussein and Koburtay (2021) show that experiencing the support of the government serves as a powerful source of encouragement. A number of studies explicitly advocate for increased government support, even if they do not list its current absence as a major barrier (Agrawal et al., 2023; Ahmetaj et al., 2023; Elkafrawi and Refai, 2022; Rahman et al., 2023).

Another environmental challenge is the difficulty in managing the legal and administrative matters connected to entrepreneurial activities (Ahmed and Kar, 2019; Islam et al., 2019; Kalemci Tuzun and Araz Takay, 2017; Tanusia et al., 2016). In this regard, Ahmed and Kar (2019) compared how men and women perceive legal and administrative challenges and found that female entrepreneurs see these issues as significantly more difficult than their male counterparts do. This challenge may be intensified by the lack of skills and training that women entrepreneurs experience (Ahmed and Kar, 2019; Karakire Guma, 2015; Rani and Sundaram, 2023). It may also reflect that administrative challenges are bigger for female than for male entrepreneurs due to discrimination (Karakire Guma, 2015; Sathiyabama and Velmurugan, 2019). This links back to the discrimination-based challenges discussed earlier, triggering perceptions of not being taken seriously as an entrepreneur by the officials handling the administrative processes, who often act in an unwelcoming and uncooperative way.

Several studies reveal that female entrepreneurs express frustration with time-consuming and inconsistent bureaucratic processes and regulations involved in starting and running a business (Amrita et al., 2022; Bui et al., 2018; Hassan and Zaharia, 2021; Rizvi et al., 2023). Kalemci Tuzun and Araz Takay (2017) found that bureaucratic and legal challenges tend to be greater for women living in urban areas compared to rural ones, possibly due to stricter enforcement of rules in cities. In a study by Bui et al. (2018), female entrepreneurs admitted that bribes were often necessary to get past government officials. Female entrepreneurs interviewed as part of a study by Karakire Guma (2015) even described that customs officials in charge of clearing their business flat-out demanded bribes to do so. Nayak et al. (2024) found similar results. This puts a significant financial strain on female entrepreneurs that male entrepreneurs are not confronted with in the same way. In connection with the difficulties women face when trying to secure funding, this further increases the financial barriers to female entrepreneurship. Another potential implication of these administrative and legal challenges is a negative impact on women’s confidence and their own perceived ability to found a business. Experiencing such profound struggles in an area that male entrepreneurs seem to have significantly fewer difficulties with might make women doubt whether they are smart, skilled or simply persistent enough to found a business, negatively affecting their willingness to pursue entrepreneurship.

An environmental challenge mentioned less often is the lack of female role models. Since women have only relatively recently taken up leading or entrepreneurial positions, there are still few role models for today’s female entrepreneurs (Farroñán et al., 2023; Kim et al., 2020; Mandipaka, 2014). Farroñán et al. (2023) further explain that this lack of female role models may partly contribute to the limited support and trust female entrepreneurs experience, as few women in leading positions have yet set a precedent. In a study by Yadav et al. (2022), women even cited the absence of available role models as a reason for their lack of interest in pursuing entrepreneurship. Kim et al. (2020) highlight that the scarcity of female role models is a reason why many women are unaware of what entrepreneurship entails. They suggest increasing the visibility of today’s female entrepreneurs and creating opportunities for girls and young women to meet them as a way to address this issue. Greater visibility of female entrepreneurs could help normalize women in leadership roles and reduce the discrimination and lack of support women often face when entering the business world. Furthermore, exposing young girls to female entrepreneurs might inspire more women to consider entrepreneurship as a viable career path.

Literature identifies several challenges and barriers to female entrepreneurship that arise due to a lack of resources. This includes:

• financial barriers and the difficulties female entrepreneurs face when trying to obtain capital;

• a lack of skills and available training programs; and

• a lack of networks and connections in the business world.

Financial barriers are by far the most prevalent barrier in the analyzed literature. The overwhelming majority of the articles agree that acquiring finance is a major barrier to female entrepreneurship (Agrawal et al., 2023; Gashi et al., 2022; Onyusheva and Meyer, 2020; Parmar et al., 2022; Ramadani et al., 2015). Women often have difficulty securing financial loans (Elkafrawi and Refai, 2022; Rahman et al., 2023; Said and Enslin, 2020; Teixeira and Sharifu, 2017). This is often attributed to gender bias among banks and investors, who tend to favor male entrepreneurs and are more hesitant to invest in women-owned businesses (Amrita et al., 2022; Noor and Isa, 2020; Shastri et al., 2019; Tanusia et al., 2016). Some papers also mention banks being unreceptive to the idea of supporting small or young businesses in general (Karakire Guma, 2015; Mustapha and Subramaniam, 2016). Karakire Guma (2015) shows that this is particularly a problem for female entrepreneurs, as women are less likely to gain leadership of an existing business, which is established enough to qualify for loans, through inheritance. Additionally, some studies mention that women do not always possess adequate information about where and how to apply for financial support (Banu et al., 2024; Jaim, 2021; Muhumad, 2016). To start a business, women therefore usually rely on their savings or borrow money from friends and family (Banu et al., 2024; Karakire Guma, 2015; Mandipaka, 2014; Roomi et al., 2018; Shastri et al., 2019). Additionally, Rahman et al. (2023) mention that women who have been approved for loans are also sometimes pressured by their husbands to use that money for family expenses, instead of investing it into their business. The increased difficulty women experience when trying to secure funding via loans consequently excludes women from venturing who do not either have significant financial savings themselves or friends and family who are both willing and able to financially support them. Relying primarily on personal savings and loans from family and friends may also increase their fear of losing funds and therefore intensify their aversion to risk.

Another lack of resources that many articles identify as an obstacle to female entrepreneurship is the lack of available training and skills (Mubsira et al., 2022; Muhumad, 2016; Qureshi et al., 2021; Rizvi et al., 2023). Entrepreneurship training and educational opportunities are not always available to women (Kian et al., 2016; Panda, 2018; Raghuvanshi et al., 2017; Rani and Sundaram, 2023). Thus, women often lack important skills to pursue venturing, particularly marketing skills (Panda, 2018; Parmar et al., 2022; Rudhumbu et al., 2020; Sathiyabama and Velmurugan, 2019) and technological know-how (Amrita et al., 2022; Parmar et al., 2022; Sathiyabama and Velmurugan, 2019). The lack of basic business expertise, like bookkeeping or administrative and management skills, can also pose challenges (Kim et al., 2020; Panda, 2018). Teixeira and Sharifu (2017) mention that a lack of entrepreneurial skills can frequently be a reason why female entrepreneurs are denied access to loans, meaning that this deficiency may further complicate access to funding. Moreover, the absence of skills required in later stages of the founding process might discourage women from considering entrepreneurship if they are uncertain whether they will have the chance to develop these skills in time.

Another important resource that is often out of reach for aspiring female entrepreneurs is networks and contacts in the business world (Farroñán et al., 2023; Li et al., 2020; Rudhumbu et al., 2020; Said and Enslin, 2020). Building new business networks is also often made harder for women due to sociocultural barriers (Amrita et al., 2022; Hassan and Zaharia, 2021; Li et al., 2020). A study by Bui et al. (2018) reveals that women need access to their husbands’ business networks. Yet, this is not a feasible solution for women who are not married or whose husbands do not approve of their wish to become an entrepreneur. Hassan and Zaharia (2021) identify female entrepreneurs who were able to use relations developed during their career before venturing. Some studies mention female entrepreneurs being provided with networking opportunities by friends and family (Alshareef, 2022; Banu et al., 2024; Jaim, 2021). This, however, is only possible if the entrepreneur receives the necessary support from her surroundings. The lack of access to business networks and contacts may result in women feeling more apprehensive about venturing, as they do not have contacts to ask for advice or to support them during the first stages of the founding process (Kim et al., 2020; Said and Enslin, 2020). It may also have further negative effects on women’s abilities to secure funding or other resources (Jaim, 2021; Said and Enslin, 2020). Interestingly, a study conducted by Khan and Rowlands (2018) in New Zealand found that the female entrepreneurs they interviewed did not experience any major difficulties in networking, as they were able to connect with their clients and other entrepreneurs via the internet. The implications of the rise of technology for this challenge might therefore be of interest for future research.

The family challenges frequently discussed in literature include:

• the difficulty female entrepreneurs face in managing their time between their family and their entrepreneurial activities; and

• the disapproval from their families regarding their involvement in entrepreneurship.

A large part of the literature agrees that the time conflict between the entrepreneurial activities and the family of an entrepreneur is a significant challenge for female entrepreneurship (Banu et al., 2024; Gashi et al., 2022; Kian et al., 2016; Meyer and Keyser, 2019; Mustapha and Subramaniam, 2016; Onyusheva and Meyer, 2020). A core reason why female entrepreneurs might experience greater difficulties trying to manage their time between their families and their businesses are established social and family-related structures. In many cases, the responsibility of raising the children and taking care of the housework or elderly family members still lies with the women of the household (Jabeen et al., 2020; Kim et al., 2020; Naguib, 2024; Newman et al., 2023; Rahman et al., 2023). This results in women having much less time to focus on founding a business. Another challenge is the guilt and pressure female entrepreneurs often experience when they feel unable to give their families an adequate amount of attention (Bui et al., 2018; Hatoum et al., 2023; Khan and Rowlands, 2018; Mahadeo et al., 2015; Shastri et al., 2019). Consequently, women feel uncomfortable entering entrepreneurship out of fear of neglecting their families. They might also be much more sensitive to other people dissuading them from the idea of founding their own business based on such perceptions. However, in several studies, entrepreneurship is also seen as a chance to reconcile family responsibilities with earning money, as it allows female entrepreneurs to work from home and affords them a certain flexibility, for example, regarding the time management of their working hours (Ahmetaj et al., 2023; Bui et al., 2018; Hatoum et al., 2023; Mustapha and Subramaniam, 2016). This implies that women are actively searching for ways to enter the business world while also taking care of their families. Moreover, making entrepreneurship more accessible this way might inspire more women to consider founding. This aspect may be worth investigating in future research, potentially providing a new direction in female entrepreneurship.

Another prevalent challenge in the analyzed articles is that female entrepreneurs often encounter a lack of support or even disapproval from their families regarding their occupation (Alhothali, 2020; Aravamudhan et al., 2024; Pareek and Bagrecha, 2017; Qureshi et al., 2021). Surrounding families often disapprove of women taking up entrepreneurial activities, sometimes stating that it would conflict with their role as a mother and housewife, or that the career path of an entrepreneur is not suitable for a woman (Alhothali, 2020; Islam et al., 2019; Naguib, 2024; Roomi et al., 2018; Shastri et al., 2019). Notably, according to Hassan and Zaharia (2021), female family members are often more critical than their male counterparts. The lack of support from family members may result in women not feeling comfortable pursuing entrepreneurship out of fear of disappointing their loved ones. Women also often face disapproval from their husbands, who are unhappy with the prospect of their wife working or contributing to the household financially and, in some cases, even feel threatened by the notion (Aravamudhan et al., 2024; Elkafrawi and Refai, 2022; Hassan and Zaharia, 2021; Rahman et al., 2023). Hassan and Zaharia (2021) mention husbands making their wives feel guilty for the time and resources spent on their businesses, demanding that they should be invested in the family instead. Female entrepreneurs in a study from Nayak et al. (2024) described their husbands pulling back from family responsibilities or demanding part of their earnings as their business increased, putting even further strain on them. Facing disapproval from their husbands can be a considerable challenge for female entrepreneurs, as in some cultures, men can still forbid their wives from working at all (Pareek and Bagrecha, 2017; Roomi et al., 2018; Said and Enslin, 2020). This implies that women might shy away from the idea of entrepreneurship out of fear of offending their husbands and creating difficulties in their marriage.

The lack of family support experienced by many female entrepreneurs is a concerning factor, given that those who do receive familial support frequently emphasize its critical importance for their personal and business development (Hatoum et al., 2023; Kim et al., 2020; Li et al., 2020; Mustapha and Subramaniam, 2016; Said and Enslin, 2020). Several studies found a significant correlation between family support (or lack thereof), and both the challenges women face in entrepreneurship and their success in business (Constantinidis et al., 2019; Faisal et al., 2017; Mubsira et al., 2022). This suggests that increased familial support for women in entrepreneurial contexts may significantly enhance female entrepreneurship overall. Families and spouses may support female entrepreneurs by providing connections and networking opportunities (Abuhussein and Koburtay, 2021; Alshareef, 2022; Jaim, 2021), financial aid (Abuhussein and Koburtay, 2021; Constantinidis et al., 2019; Roomi et al., 2018) or childcare (Constantinidis et al., 2019; Hatoum et al., 2023; Roomi et al., 2018), which are some of the other challenges identified in this thesis. A lack of family support therefore has the potential to increase other challenges female entrepreneurs face (Newman et al., 2023).

Extracting the set of articles reveals challenges that can be grouped into the following categories:

• lack of confidence in one’s own abilities to found a venture and aversion to risk; and

• lack of motivation and initiative.

The lack of confidence, fear of failure and an aversion to risk are often tightly connected in the analyzed literature, which is why they are grouped into on challenge for practical and clarity reasons.

Several analyzed articles reveal the lack of confidence as a barrier to female entrepreneurs (Amrita et al., 2022; Farroñán et al., 2023; Mehtap et al., 2017; Panda, 2018; Ramadani et al., 2015). Women are often faced with more pronounced personal doubts, questioning their own abilities and competence (Farroñán et al., 2023; Panda, 2018). This often makes women decide against founding a startup, even if they might have an idea they believe in, as well as the necessary motivation and skills needed for founding. This traces back to the challenge of lacking family support, as women who already lack confidence in their own abilities might be much more perceptive to family members advising them against entrepreneurship. Amrita et al. (2022) suggest that this problem might be mitigated by taking measures focusing on women’s empowerment, helping women to feel more confident and less unequal to their male counterparts. Sathiyabama and Velmurugan (2019) recommend training programs to improve women’s confidence in themselves. In a similar vein, the fear of failure often impacts female entrepreneurs (Alhothali, 2020; Ali and Himel, 2019; Soomro et al., 2022; Tanusia et al., 2016). Alhothali (2020) also mentions the fear of losing the invested financial resources in connection to that aspect. According to the analyzed articles, this fits well with the narrative that female entrepreneurs show an aversion to risk (Mehtap et al., 2017; Raghuvanshi et al., 2017; Sathiyabama and Velmurugan, 2019). This might be connected to the difficulties that women experience when trying to raise funds. The fear of failure and aversion to risk further results in women not opting to go for venturing even if they have the chance.

Table 2 summarizes the main findings of this review and highlights key insights into the barriers faced by female entrepreneurs.

This thesis offers three main contributions to the current debates in literature on female entrepreneurship: the first is the better understanding of the challenges and barriers women face before or during the initial steps of the founding process. By addressing the research question – why women found startups less often than men – this study shifts focus from challenges faced after foundation to those that prevent women from entering entrepreneurship. A core finding is the significant influence of societal and institutional norms and the prevalence of financial barriers, consistent with and deepening the insights of Corrêa et al. (2022). These insights underscore the need for future research on strategies to address financial obstacles and promote female entrepreneurship.

A second contribution is the understanding of relations between the different challenges women face in the business world. This draws attention to the way they might amplify each other. This leads to the insight that alleviating one barrier in female entrepreneurship can have (positive) effects on other challenges as well. It also raises awareness of the fact that issues in female entrepreneurship are often more complex and interconnected than might be visible at first glance, therefore requiring more in-depth investigation than what previous research might have suggested.

The third contribution is the identification of research gaps. Notably, the overwhelming focus on developing countries calls for more research on barriers to female entrepreneurship in developed countries. Furthermore, challenges such as difficulties with infrastructure (Amrita et al., 2022; Hassan and Zaharia, 2021) and acquiring human resources (Alhothali, 2020; Sathiyabama and Velmurugan, 2019) require deeper investigation to assess their specific relevance to female entrepreneurs. These insights provide valuable directions for future research and enhance the understanding of the challenges and support needs of female entrepreneurship, making a meaningful contribution to the field.

Among the practical implications, one recommendation is redefining the social contract (Weirich, 2011) to reduce societal and institutional bias and discrimination against women. Achieving gender equality in entrepreneurship requires broader efforts to reshape societal and institutional norms to support gender equality at all levels. These implications are directed toward practitioners and government entities, as both play a crucial role in driving change: practitioners through implementing inclusive policies and fostering supportive environments, and governments by enacting legislation and promoting initiatives that challenge discriminatory norms.

Far beyond symbolism, there is a need for visibility and accessibility of female entrepreneurship role models. This could be achieved by inviting female entrepreneurs to speak at schools or setting up workshops in which they talk about their experiences, the challenges they encountered and how they overcame them. This could be supported by providing networking platforms for female entrepreneurs. Such platforms would also be a chance for women to build their own business networks, which may support them in their ventures.

Additionally, more educational and training opportunities for developing entrepreneurial skills need to be available to women. Providing women with the means to learn the skills necessary to thrive in the field of entrepreneurship, such as workshops on marketing, technological know-how, but also on basic business expertise or administration and management, has the potential to increase the success rate of women-led ventures. Additionally, such initiatives also might give more women the confidence to consider entrepreneurship as an option and provide mentorship programs and peer-to-peer networking events. These training opportunities could be offered either free of charge or as affordable as possible, so as not to reinforce the financial barriers, which, according to the results of this study, severely impact female entrepreneurship. These financial barriers could be alleviated by taking measures to provide funds specifically dedicated for female entrepreneurs at the beginning of their journey. That way, women would not have to compete for funds with male entrepreneurs or more established businesses in potentially biased selection processes. Providing such financial means would also ensure that women are able to start venturing regardless of whether their surrounding family approves of that choice. Additionally, perceiving the need for such support from the government might have a positive effect on women’s motivation and initiative regarding entrepreneurship, as well as their confidence. A further step that such government support could take is the provision of childcare facilities to alleviate the stressful time conflict between caring for their family and their entrepreneurial activity that especially mothers face. Additionally, the government could provide support with the administrative and legal aspects of entrepreneurship and ensure that women do not receive gender-based unfair treatment from the responsible government officials. It should be taken into consideration to revise the administrative processes to improve efficiency and comprehensibility. Moreover, providing additional information explaining the different steps and necessary documents might also give women a chance to prepare for these aspects of entrepreneurship, making the task less daunting. It is also important to monitor the responsible government employees regarding biased and discriminative behavior toward female entrepreneurs to avoid such actions.

There is an evident bias in the analyzed literature toward developing countries. While these insights are valuable, they limit the generalizability of the findings to developed countries, where the socioeconomic and institutional contexts may differ substantially. Thus, there is no evidence that the findings of this study are similarly relevant or impactful to developed countries.

Some challenges frequently mentioned in the literature, such as difficulties with human resources and infrastructure, were excluded from this study due to a lack of clarity about their specific impact on female entrepreneurs compared to male entrepreneurs. Although these challenges are important, the absence of gender-specific evidence limited their inclusion in this analysis. Future studies could explore these areas further to provide a more nuanced understanding of how and why they affect female entrepreneurs differently.

Finally, while this study provides insights into the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs before and during the initial stages of the founding process, the conclusions drawn are based on the available literature, which may not fully capture the diversity of experiences or contexts in which female entrepreneurs operate. The SLR focused on identifying and synthesizing challenges that are commonly mentioned across various studies, but it does not account for the nuances and variations that may exist across different industries, regions or demographic groups. Consequently, the findings should be interpreted with caution, as they may not apply universally to all female entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial environments.

Besides already mentioned issues, there are several directions the research on female entrepreneurship could take in the future. Additionally, several aspects requiring further investigation were uncovered. A large part of the analyzed literature mentioned that female entrepreneurs struggle with infrastructural difficulties and acquiring human resources. Further research could examine how these two aspects impact female entrepreneurs and whether there are noteworthy differences in the severity of the impact compared to male entrepreneurs.

While literature almost unanimously agrees on the relevance of financial bottlenecks, there are still many open questions regarding their root causes. What prevents investors from putting money into female ventures? It is likely that other, less visible factors play a role, and it would be insightful to better understand the subtle relations among them. Among these “silent forces,” besides everyday discrimination in connection with micro-aggressions, research could focus aspects like ignorance or simply lacking awareness of female entrepreneurship.

Moreover, business networks are often weak, and access to gatekeepers, particularly through male relatives, seems to make a difference. The drivers behind building such network relations are still not sufficiently explored from a female entrepreneurship angle. Furthermore, the role of (information) technology, particularly AI, and social media in female entrepreneurship would benefit from a more comprehensive understanding.

Understanding the gendered nature of these obstacles could help in finding ways to remove the barriers that women face in entrepreneurship. Moreover, while challenges and barriers to female entrepreneurship have been widely documented, less attention has been paid to the effectiveness of measures aimed at overcoming them. A logical next step is to explore whether recommendations in existing literature have been implemented in practice and assess their outcomes. Research questions could include: what policies or programs have been most successful in addressing these barriers, and why? How do female entrepreneurs perceive the effectiveness of these initiatives? Investigating these aspects would help compare different strategies, identify effective approaches and improve those that have shown limited success.

Finally, this review revealed a strong geographic concentration in the literature. Of the 60 studies included, the majority focused on South Asian countries, particularly India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. This geographic distribution underscores the need for greater balance in future research to better understand the experiences of female entrepreneurs in underrepresented regions, including parts of Africa, Latin America and high-income economies.