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This research is a pioneering longitudinal study of Chinese women entrepreneurs that focuses specifically on the government economic reform period of 1980 to the present. The study makes a significant contribution to entrepreneurship studies and it contributes to our knowledge of women entrepreneurship in transitional economies. The study investigates the drivers that influence and factors associated with Chinese women's entrepreneurial success in China. The research also explores the motivations of Chinese women entrepreneurs in starting-up their business in the reform periods across the last three decades. A total of nine Chinese women entrepreneurs in three groups who set up their own business in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s were investigated for an in-depth interview, using narrative approaches, in a qualitative research methodology. How Chinese culture, government policy and massive domestic market demand have influenced Chinese women’s entrepreneurial identity and motivation are the main outcomes of the project. Additionally, the barriers, family issues and effects of relationships were uncovered during this research.

Women’s entrepreneurship is a much touted topic of research with researchers competing to contribute to the growing body of knowledge. Although literature is replete with articles and opinions on the various aspects concerning women’s entrepreneurship, still more needs to be done. Much of the research produced until now has focused on specific contexts like western countries and results obtained are either not conclusive or generalizable and in many cases incomplete. Research on women’s entrepreneurship conducted in the contexts of developing nations appears to be grossly inadequate, bordering almost on a neglected category. Specifically, research on women’s entrepreneurship conducted in the context of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries is almost nil except for a few sporadic articles here and there. How women entrepreneurs have fared in the GCC countries is not clear and there is a need to know what their current status is, how they have performed and what challenges contribute to their lack of progress. There is a huge gap in the literature in this area and this research has made some modest contributions to remove this gap partially. The literature review shows that a number of challenges affect women entrepreneurs’ success. Although the research output used in this research was derived from studies conducted largely in a western context, some of the factors grounded in theories like institutional theory were found to be applicable to the context of women entrepreneurs in the GCC. Five of these challenges, namely lack of adequate training and education; legal constraints; cultural constraints and a lack of social support; lack of access to financial resources; and work–family interface have been investigated in this research using a conceptual model and survey questionnaire. Women entrepreneurs in three GCC countries, namely Kingdom of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were chosen for studying the phenomenon of women’s entrepreneurial involvement in business activities. A random sampling method was used. Hypotheses were developed and verified and the five challenges were found through rigorous statistical tests to significantly affect the involvement of women entrepreneurs in business activity in GCC countries. The challenges selected were part of a larger set of challenges, not all of which could be investigated due to paucity of time, resources and the large territory comprising three nations in the GCC region. In addition, an exploratory study using interviews was conducted to identify specific challenges that affect women entrepreneurs in the GCC countries. Three additional challenges, namely intellectual property; patronage and connections; and lengthy regulatory procedures were revealed through this. Mixed method research was used which led to triangulation of the results obtained from analysing data gathered through questionnaire survey and interview. The challenges that emerged from the analysis of the questionnaire survey and interviews resulted in the development of a new and comprehensive model that combined the challenges tested through the empirical model and those derived from interviews. The findings from the analysis indicated that much needs to be done to enable women entrepreneurs involved in business activities in the GCC region to succeed. Many challenges need to be tackled. The findings clearly point out that the challenges are responsible for the low percentage (around 2%) of business activities attributable to women-owned enterprises in the GCC countries. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge in the area of women’s entrepreneurship in the specific context of the GCC region. The research outcomes clearly indicate that specific challenges can be tackled to improve the involvement of business activities of women entrepreneurs in the GCC region. Since the topic of involvement of women entrepreneurs in business activities in the context of GCC countries is not well investigated, the research outcomes of this research add to the current knowledge from a contextual point of view. In addition, the research has expanded the application of institutional theory to understand about the various challenges that affect involvement of women entrepreneurs in business activities in the context of GCC and contributed theoretically in terms of developing a new framework that could be used to examine how the challenges could be tackled. Methodologically, the research has shown how a mixed method research can be used to combine the outcome of survey research with interviews. Practical implications of the research outcomes show that the framework developed in this research could be adopted in practice by women entrepreneurs themselves, as well as various institutions and organizations that are concerned with women entrepreneurs, for improving the involvement of women entrepreneurs in business activities in the context of the GCC. Although the limitations of this research have been highlighted, how to overcome those limitations through future research has been explained. Thus, overall, this research effort is expected to stimulate further discussion and debate with regard to the involvement of women in business activities in the GCC and act as some kind of a basis for initiating steps to improve the position of women entrepreneurs involved in business activities in the GCC and perhaps in other regions surrounding the GCC countries.

This research explores two polarised occupations; entrepreneurs and PhD research students. It exposes similarities and differences between them which specifically defuse the species premise that all entrepreneurs are different and often portrayed as superior to the rest of society and that they, entrepreneurs, are diametrically opposed to PhD research students in the objectives of their work and ultimate intentions for that work. An explorative, interpretive approach is taken which helps illuminate how people understand, interpret and employ their self identity to qualify the practices of both entrepreneurship and PhDship. This methodology enabled exploration of perceptions of self and role in a small sample of people of different age, gender, class, ethnicity and economic standing of two externally polarised occupational groups. This approach permits a compare and contrast of both similarity and differences between these two roles. Qualitative interviews were conducted with six entrepreneurs and six current PhD students from two North West of England research-led universities in a multitude of disciplines and industrial sectors. Numerous existing studies have compared entrepreneurs to managers, to leaders and more recently to business students. Other studies have aimed to ascertain why some people become an entrepreneur as oppose to a salaried employee. To date, no previous research that I am aware of considers doctoral researchers in the same way, that is, as individuals making a contribution to society that is of social, economic and intellectual benefit by furthering knowledge and innovation. The findings from this research show that there are overwhelming similarities between these two occupations in both their practical processes and their sense of self. In fact, there are more differences within the two occupations than between them. It is suggested that identification of individual purpose may prove a valuable determinate of whether people select either of these occupations for socioeconomic reasons or for socioemotional ones. The contribution this research and its findings make is in the recognition of the different purposes individuals express as their primary reason for engaging in either PhD research work or venture formation. This recognition helps expand our understanding beyond the existing opportunity-necessity or push-pull hypothesis to demonstrate a more sophisticated intention based form of inquiry. Individuals in both occupations are subsequently sub categorised as conformists, alterpreneurs, changemakers or vocationalists. Conformists aim to meet perceived social expectations of them; Alterpreneurs are those who buy-a-job; Changemakers intend to improve or fix a self identified problem; Vocationalists intend to develop their skill and expertise in their chosen field.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the situation of female entrepreneurs in Sweden by exploring the Swedish governments adopted, targeted entrepreneurship policy on women entrepreneurs and evaluate the program "Support Women Entrepreneurs 2007-2009" implemented by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth. In the program evaluation process qualitative data analyses methods are used. The aim of the evaluation is to measure how planned program/component parts were implemented in practice and whether set goals were accomplished. Overall results from the program evaluation should be considered as positive. The original program plan consisted of six parts, 20 goals, and 34 component parts. Out of the 34 component parts, 18 were acknowledged to have been accomplished, information was not available for 14 component parts and 2 component parts were found not to be accomplished. Due to the program’s complexity in execution, involving different executive layers on national, regional and municipal levels, evaluation process was quite demanding and still it could not represent the highest level of preciseness in evaluating component parts. The most actively executed and successfully implemented part of the program could be considered part four: Attitudes and role-models.

Competencies play a vital role in achieving success in any endeavour. In the context of entrepreneurship, having the right set of competencies is crucial for attaining sustained success throughout the venturing process. This study adopts a qualitative approach to explore and compare the perspectives of entrepreneurs regarding the competencies they deem essential with the research findings of Kunene (2008) on the same subject. By incorporating diverse viewpoints, the aim is to enhance the accuracy and comprehension of this topic. The research methodology involves the application of grounded theory to analyse data collected through semi-structured interviews. A total of six interviews were conducted, involving participants from Sweden, and Iceland. The interviewees held various roles, including CEO, Founder, Entrepreneur, mentor, board member, and investor. By delving into the insights shared by these experienced professionals, the study seeks to uncover the competencies considered important at different stages of the venturing process. The findings obtained from this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the competencies required to navigate and achieve success in the dynamic landscape of entrepreneurship. / Kompetenser spelar en avgörande roll för att uppnå framgång inom vilket företag som helst. Inom entreprenörskapet är det avgörande att ha rätt uppsättning kompetenser för att uppnå långsiktig framgång under hela företagsprocessen. Denna studie antar en kvalitativ ansats för att utforska och jämföra entreprenörers perspektiv angående de kompetenser de anser vara väsentliga med forskningsresultaten från Kunene (2008) inom samma ämne. Genom att inkorporera olika synpunkter syftar studien till att förbättra noggrannheten och förståelsen av detta ämne. Forskningsmetodologin innefattar tillämpningen av förankrad teori för att analysera data som samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Totalt genomfördes sex intervjuer med deltagare från Sverige och Island. Intervjupersonerna hade olika roller, inklusive VD, grundare, entreprenör, mentor, styrelsemedlem och investerare. Genom att fördjupa sig i de insikter som delas av dessa erfarna yrkesverksamma syftar studien till att avslöja de kompetenser som anses vara viktiga vid olika stadier av företagsprocessen. Resultaten från denna studie bidrar till en djupare förståelse av de kompetenser som krävs för att navigera och uppnå framgång i den dynamiska entreprenörskapsmiljön.