Struggling with social capital: Pakistani women micro entrepreneurs’ challenges in acquiring resources

Abstract

A crucial aspect of successful venturing is social capital. In contrast to traditional Western-oriented research where social capital is construed positively, we found that in the traditional, patriarchal society of Pakistan, social capital puts high restrictions on women micro entrepreneurs – where social capital prevents or slows venturing efforts. Results also show that although women do get some selective access to resources from family members, they are restricted by limited access to social capital outside of family members. As women entrepreneurs have the potential to play an important role in the development of any society, and especially so in developing countries, based on the insights derived from this qualitative study, we propose suggestions for further research on women micro entrepreneurs in non-Western contexts.

Keywords:

• Women entrepreneurs
• social capital
• context
• resource acquisition
• developing countries
• Pakistan