Female Entrepreneurship in a Developing Context: Motivations, Challenges, and Drivers to Succeed in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: This study investigates the challenges of female entrepreneurs who started their ventures driven mainly by the need for survival and how they over-come their challenges. In seeking this, it appropriates the literature on motiva-tions, challenges, and drivers of female entrepreneurship to support the reflections. Method: This was a qualitative strategy. Seven women entrepreneurs who started ventures driven mainly by necessity in Brazil participated in this study. Results: Besides need for survival, other motivations influence business creation, including opportunities. The main challenges are reconciling work and family, access to re-sources, and a lack of human capital. The main driving factors are public and private entrepreneurial support programs and direct social relationships. Conclusion: The contributions are threefold. First, for the literature on entrepreneurial drivers, it ex-pands the understanding of the factors that positively impact female entrepreneur-ship. Second, it contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial motivations, broad-ening the current understanding of pull and push factors. Finally, by identifying new entrepreneurial challenges, this study extends the possibilities of understanding the female entrepreneurial phenomena in other developing contexts besides Brazil.