Emotions and Resilience in Saudi Women’s Digital Entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality and the growth in the number of women entrepreneurs in the MENA region is likely to change the rules of the game. A growing body of research is addressing this and the factors pertaining to this growth, including digital entrepreneurship. However, little remains known about the growth and resilience of women-owned digital microbusinesses during adverse social and economic disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, in Saudi Arabia. Hence, this study explores the impact of emotions on the resilience of women entrepreneurs in “Saudi Arabia in transformation”, to explore the impact this has on shaping the digital entrepreneurship journeys of women entrepreneurs. A qualitative longitudinal approach was utilized to capture the processual nature of entrepreneurship during crises, and the broaden-and-build theory offered the theoretical framing for the study. Of the eight women-owned digital microbusinesses participating in this study, six survived the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show that digital entrepreneurship contributed to sustaining microbusinesses during adversity, and entrepreneurs motivated by passion are also infused with positive emotions and positive thoughts and actions, empowering their resilience, despite the adversity.