Push or pull motivation A study of migrant women entrepreneurs in UAE

Abstract

The study intends to find the motivational factors and personality characteristics of migrant women entrepreneurs in UAE. While a number of research argue that women have been pulled into entrepreneurship for economic independence, other studies consider that women have been pushed to entrepreneurship due to non-availability of employment opportunities in other areas. To date, existing research on 'push-pull' has not been considered in the context of migrant women entrepreneurs in UAE. Drawing on survey and interview with 29 'migrant' (also called 'expatriate') women entrepreneurs in UAE, this exploratory study examines the motivational factors and entrepreneurial traits of success for the expatriate women. Data are collected over a period of one year, and consists of a survey through a questionnaire and interviews with 13 of the entrepreneurs to understand the entrepreneurial journey. The findings suggest the importance of push as well as the pull factors, and the influence of the personal characteristics in the formation of a new business. By exploring the motivations and characteristics that impact the business performance of women migrant entrepreneurs, we aim to enrich understanding on migrant women entrepreneurship in UAE. 9 Biographical notes: Julie Vardhan is an Assistant Professor at School of Business, Manipal University, Dubai. For more than over a decade, she has been involved in facilitating learning in the areas of entrepreneurship and marketing. She is pursuing her DBA at SMC University Switzerland. Her research interests include entrepreneurship and higher education. She is particularly interested-and the orientation of her teaching-is in understanding entrepreneurial attitude both at the individual and firm level to build better productivity and growth. Supriya Bohra received her MBA from Manipal University, Dubai. During her MBA, she picked up interest in youth empowerment and co-founded a CSR initiative, SheDares, that caters to young women in the region. She is an ardent supporter of gender equality and intends to make a difference in the current plight of women in the society. Her research interests include migrant women entrepreneurship, women empowerment and feminism issues in the Middle East region. Aaminah Abdullah is an IT and MBA graduate from Manipal University, Dubai. She has a penchant for programming codes and published a research paper on animation in e-learning on behalf of Undergraduate Research Conference Dubai in 2010. A firm believer in gender equality and human rights globally, her research interest lies in coding, women empowerment, solutions for gender discrimination and bridging the gender gap globally. She draws her motivation from autobiographies and the women back home. Kavitha Thennarasu received her Electronics and Communication Engineering degree and MBA in Finance from Manipal University, Dubai. She is currently pursuing CIMA. She has a keen interest in numbers and keeps herself updated about the current market scenario. Her research interest lies in understanding the barriers for women to select finance as a business concentration and to bridge the gap between men and women in investment and banking. Sathya K. Jagannathan received her BE in Information Science and MBA from Manipal University, Dubai. Prior to beginning the MBA program, she has worked as a CRM Consultant for projects involving retail and airline loyalty program. Her main research interests are effective end-to-end marketing and psychological factors that drives customer decision-making. She has also developed interests towards how women should explore, innovate and bring changes in today's challenging environment that would turn into a unique professional model of practice.