Women Entrepreneurship for Sustainability: Investigations on Status, Challenges, Drivers, and Potentials in Qatar

Abstract

Economic diversification is vital in achieving sustainable economic development. This diversification is chiefly important for countries relying on natural resources for their economy, such as Qatar. Private enterprises, mainly through small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), have been recognized as crucial and effective means for healthy economic diversification, stimulating economic development, and ensuring equal sharing and distribution of wealth. Recognizing the vulnerabilities within the current economic model has motivated Qatar to relentlessly diversify away from its heavy reliance on natural gas exports. Such diversified and sustainable development cannot be achieved without the contribution of women, who make up a significant percentage of the educated and talented population in this country. However, despite the conspicuous support the state has been providing them with in an aim to promote for their active economic participation as part of Qatar National Vision 2030, women’s full potential to contribute both socially and economically is either hindered or not fully acknowledged due to several socio-economic factors. There is a dearth of studies reporting on the perceived status, challenges, and access to needed resources by women entrepreneurs in Qatar. To address such scarcity, this study builds, in a first step, on a systematic literature review (SLR) to unlock themes related to women and entrepreneurship by analyzing 23 peer-reviewed articles concentrating on the cases of Qatar and the MENA region. Subsequently, a qualitative approach is followed to investigate and examine current successes and obstacles by interviewing 25 actual and aspiring women entrepreneurs in Qatar as well as 5 incubators and government representatives. In a final stage, and based on a design thinking approach and applying the gender-aware framework (known as the 5Ms framework), the paper proposes a preliminary conceptual framework to address the pertaining barriers and pave the way for more progressive policies to cater to the needs of women entrepreneurs and to further promote for sustainable development.

1. Introduction and Contextual Background

In most cultures—but even more so in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region—women usually prioritize their roles in the society as homemakers and caregivers of their families, their children, and even their immediate larger relative and friend circles. As states aim to establish sustainable development for their economies by investing heavily in women’s education, health, and well-being, women’s contribution to the economy, society, and policy-making is increasingly becoming more critical and needed than before [1]. As women have been historically struggling to find equally paid jobs and positions with stable revenues compared to their male counterparts, their financial situation was further exacerbated due to COVID-19′s disruptive effects in the workplace, the job market [2], and within their family circles. Thus, and referring to an article published by Forbes [2], one-way women who seek to enhance their financial and economic situation can support their lifestyles and society is to become entrepreneurs. It has been agreed that entrepreneurs are essential for the economy as their contributions yield various advantages in their respective societies, which include upward social mobility, increasing innovation levels, and—in the case of rentier states, i.e., states that rely on natural resources’ revenues for their economy—shifting this reliance from hydrocarbon-related industries to building a knowledge-based economy [3,4].

According to renowned economic development theorists, such as Paul M. Romer who championed the endogenous growth theory, knowledge accumulation and generation, coupled with increasing investments in research and development innovation, lead to economic growth through the invention of new ideas as nonrival commodities or goods [5]. It can be argued then that entrepreneurs who are the stewards of these ideas’ generation are essential assets in any given society due to the vast contribution they make through business venturing and opportunity creation. This, in turn, stimulates the economy and makes it more productive and developed. Given these entrepreneurial benefits and the role of knowledge in fostering sustainable economic growth, many countries today try to implement sustainable development mechanisms to establish a knowledge-based economy [6]. In essence, entrepreneurs create value for themselves and their local societies by generating income sources, involving close relations who can profit from the business, and creating jobs [7], leading to more sustainability for the broader community.

Like their male counterparts, female entrepreneurs can equally innovate new solutions for various problems in their society, venture into the national and international markets, and contribute to the well-being and economic gains of their family, society, and the overall competitiveness of their nations. As several studies have shown, women entrepreneurs tend to be highly aware of the impact of their ventures across the three dimensions of sustainability: environment, society, and economy [8,9]. Hence, in addition to launching businesses that preserve local resources, they equally contribute to creating diversity in various sectors within their communities; helping society and the economy to become more sustainable by involving local human power and increasing social capacity. Furthermore, as it has been recognized in the literature, women entrepreneurship “is viewed as one of the vehicles of economic and social development” [10]. Suffice to say, women’s contribution to this sustainable development in their respective societies leads to growth and development, economic advantages, and increases their own self-efficacy and self-sufficiency [8].

In the case of Qatar, this state has been relying on exporting natural resources, notably gas and oil, to boost its economy as it is the third-largest producer of natural gas worldwide [11]. This model has been proved to be unsustainable and unreliable in the long run, though, mainly due to fluctuations of prices of gas and oil [4,11] and the negative effects of certain political tensions in the region. For instance, the blockade in 2017 have caused numerous economic distablities to the local economy, especially among vital sectors such as trade and imports. (The blockade refers to the Qatar diplomatic crisis of 2017 when three Gulf states: Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia in addition to Egypt decided to cut diplomatic and economic ties with the state of Qatar. This crisis was resolved later on in 2020–2021 [12]). Consequently, this state realized the importance of shifting to a knowledge-based society and diversifying its economy [13,14,15]. Lately, because of the recent measures that were followed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, effectuating this shift was even more persistent. Qatar’s government has shown its commitment to diversify its economy and to continue its investments by spending on various programs [16]. It has also executed a significantly extensive infrastructure program costing USD 200 billion (equivalent to 121% of 2017 GDP) in preparation for the FIFA 2022 World Cup [17], which is also seen as an economic and social driver.

1.1. Entrepreneurship in Qatar

To strategically diversify its economy and to ensure development and prosperity in the country, the state of Qatar has instigated, at a first stage, a national vision plan entitled Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030) that outlines the pillars, procedures, and mechanisms this development will be based on [18]. Delving into the economic, social, and human development pillars of the QNV2030, it is clear that the state aims to establish a diversified economy where entrepreneurship is the backbone that supports innovation in the private sector. As the report states, the country is working diligently to promote “a knowledge-based economy characterized by innovation; entrepreneurship; excellence in education; a world-class infrastructural backbone; the efficient delivery of public services; and transparent and accountable government” [19]. Along with the QNV2030 other developmental plans and blueprints were issued to materialize this vision, such as the Qatar National Development Strategy (QNDS) [20]. In a second stage, and to cater to this need to establish different enterprises of small and medium-sized type (SMEs), the state has embarked on designing a comprehensive ecosystem to support these SMEs’ establishment, operation, and continuity. Among the main programs and initiatives that support both entrepreneurs and their enterprises is the Qatar Development Bank (QDB). This bank, founded in 1997, is known for its various activities and services that promote for developmental projects and tend to diversify the economy in the country. This bank has created an entrepreneurship leave program that allows employees paid leave to become full-time entrepreneurs, establish their start-ups, and develop their business ideas [21]. To further encourage entrepreneurial activities on the ground, in 2014, the QDB, in association with the Social Development Center in Qatar, launched one of the main incubating centers in the region known as the Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) [22]. As of 2019, the center had received 5000 applications, graduated 464 lean start-ups, incubated 171 companies, invested QAR 4.5 million, and generated QAR 60 million [22]. The state is also promoting entrepreneurship through the establishment of various other programs and agencies covered at length in other studies and reports [23,24]. Furthermore, in the education sector, there is an increasing number of innovation and entrepreneurship training programs where Qatar University (QU), Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU) [25], Carnegie Mellon University at Qatar (CMU-Q), among others, act as feeders to the overall innovation ecosystem [26,27]. Additional incubation, training, and funding is provided by the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) [28].

However, despite all of these conspicuous and appraised efforts, since the public sector provides secure and good-paying jobs, particularly to the citizens, this provision seems to discourage the pursuit of the private sector and entrepreneurship jobs among many locals and citizens [29]. Hence, it is essential for the country to encourage engagement in entrepreneurial activities by providing additional, tailored, innovative incentives, and both push and pull mechanisms for the private sector and individuals. As it stands, the entrepreneurship atmosphere in the country is still facing numerous challenges, including the existence of stringent bureaucratic requirements, limited access to funding for SMEs, restrictive and biased legal conditions, and other social constraints [30].

1.2. Study Aims and Research Questions

According to the Secretary-General of the OECD, “Women are the most underutilized economic asset in the world’s economy.” [31]. Globally, a significant segment of women and about 64% of women in Qatar are unemployed and remain housewives with single-directional social and economic contributions [32]. Surprisingly, and referring to the Qatar labor force statistic report, most of these women are better educated than their male counterparts [32]. These women are well-equipped to generate and add multidimensional value to the society in various ways by becoming entrepreneurs on their terms and contexts. However, there needs to be a firm and broad understanding of the existing barriers and necessities of the right policies and mechanisms that should be developed to guide, promote, and encourage women to become entrepreneurs. This way, women’s untapped potential for sustainable economic and social development will be released. Economists and researchers agree that female entrepreneurs are essential for healthy and balanced economic, social, and environmental development while also stressing the need to tap the potential of this “underutilized” force [33]. According to a report titled “GCC Women-Entrepreneurs in a New Economy”, one-third of the women in Qatar are willing to set up and run businesses [34]. However, women still do not have access to vital resources to start and scale their businesses [35].

As there is a dearth of studies reporting on the status of women entrepreneurs in the country following the implementation of several policies that encourage both males and females to become entrepreneurs, this paper attempts to explore and analyze root causes, challenges, potentials and drivers of the women entrepreneurs in the country. The aims, hence the stages, of this study are multifaceted. First, a systematic literature review (SLR) using peer-reviewed articles addressing entrepreneurship in Qatar and the MENA region is provided. This review would also enable us to situate the current study within an appropriate theoretical framework. Second, relying on semi-structured interviews conducted with 25 current and aspiring female entrepreneurs in Qatar in addition to 5 representatives from government and incubator centers, a thematic analysis—informed chiefly by themes from the SLR—on the current status and challenges of female entrepreneurs in the country is postulated. In the final stage, based on the findings from both the literature review and the interviews, a preliminary conceptual framework to promote women entrepreneurship is developed, addressing the main questions of this study, and highlighting the necessary agents, roles, and expected contributions. Notably, this present study attempts to answer the following questions:

(1)

To what extent do gender and cultural barriers in Qatar—which is labeled as one of the patriarchal societies—affect women’s entrepreneurship activities? How do actual or aspiring female entrepreneurs perceive these aspects?

(2)

Do women (or female) entrepreneurs consider governmental support to be substantial or “ceremonial” throughout the different stages of their entrepreneurial activity?

(3)

Given the new financial reforms and regulations the country has embraced to help entrepreneurs with, what are the most prevailing challenges and barriers as perceived by the women participating in the study?

The rest of this paper is outlined as follows: Section 2 presents a comprehensive literature review to understand the theories, models, examples, and status of women entrepreneurship in the MENA region and Qatar. A theoretical framework to define key concepts of this study is covered in this section as well. Section 3 delineates the methodology used in this paper, primary data analysis approaches, and participants’ demographics. Section 4 provides the results and related discussions. Section 5, based on a design thinking approach, and the 5Ms model, develops a contextual framework that is proper, progressive, and unique to women’s entrepreneurship policies, strategies, and programs for Qatar’s local conditions, which will be ready for validation in the future. Section 6 concludes the paper.

2. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework

2.1. Systematic Literature Review

As mentioned in the previous section, Qatar—similar to many other countries in the GCC region and the MENA region more broadly—is realizing the significance of launching entrepreneurship initiatives and incentivizing local citizens and residents to venture and embrace this endeavor as key to its own sustainable development and progress. The topic of women entrepreneurship has gained relative momentum in recent years, given that on the one hand, it was classified as a new territory for research that has not been explored previously. Hence, with the ease to access data generated by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) reports [36], scholars gained the convenience to analyze extensive surveys and reports, and to draw understandings and conclusions on the nature of challenges, correlations, and preferences of women entrepreneurs in the region in a generalizable fashion. On the other hand, with the emergence of these governmental initiatives, it was lucrative for scholars to explore the congruency of newly launched agendas with the existing socio-economic barriers to women’s work in the MENA region and countries, thus localizing these challenges and barriers of these precedents within contextual intricacies and theoretical backgrounds. Still, though, each country of the MENA has its own unique socio-economic context that distinguishes it from the others, and that makes such generalization rather fallible. Additionally, given the prevalent quantitative nature of many studies, the lack of amplification of the female entrepreneurs’ voices and worries qualitatively is still critical to study women’s entrepreneurship in the region and to address its barriers and attainments case by case.

In light of this vitality, this present study looked at previous treatises and delved in particular in scholarship that addressed women entrepreneurship in Qatar and the MENA region following the systematic literature review (SLR) methodology. Praised by an influential group of scholars and academics, this meta-analytical method allows reviewing previous research and filtering through it in a systematic and replicable manner. This approach is mainly followed to represent a comprehensive report on what has been written on the subject matter and to highlight gaps within the literature [37,38]. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement used for reviews and meta-analyses [37,38], the authors looked at research articles in the Scopus database as a reliable and exhaustive citation database with many peer-reviewed articles and publications. The search was first established using the following keywords: Qatar entrepreneur*, Women entrepreneur* in Qatar, Women entrepreneur* in MENA, Women entrepreneur* in the Arab world, and Women entrepreneur* in GCC. The asterisk (*) was used to retrieve all papers that include different word endings of entrepreneur, such as entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs. Moreover, the authors looked at international and regional reviews that covered themes related to women entrepreneurship using keywords such as challenges of women entrepreneurs, successes of women entrepreneurship, and women entrepreneurship review and patterns.

The preliminary search once duplicates were removed yielded 135 records. The first round of filtering excluded records that were not of type peer-reviewed journal articles or records published earlier than 2008. This resulted in 70 records. The year 2008 was selected since it is the year of the establishment of QNV 2030. Thus, any article published prior to it would be irrelevant to this study. Screening through these articles by reading their abstracts, conclusions, and locations where the studies were conducted, the number was again shrunk to 40 records. Mainly, authors excluded articles that covered countries different than Qatar as stand alone case studies or countries that are not part of the MENA region; i.e., if the article is only and exclusively addressing women entrepreneurs in Lebanon or Iran, for instance, as an independent case study, then it would be excluded. However, if an article covered different MENA countries in an aggregated form including countries such as Lebanon, Tunisia, and others from this region for example then it would be included in the final synthesis. The final round of revision comprised of carefully reading all 40 articles and excluding articles that were not within the study’s scope or aims. Thus, the total number of studies included in the final qualitative synthesis is 23. Figure 1 below provides a descriptive illustration of the steps followed for the SLR. In Appendix A, a detailed table with the articles used for the analysis along with a summary for each article is provided.

These articles covered various themes ranging from challenges to the entrepreneurial activities of women entrepreneurs in the MENA region, to the roles of some entities and approaches in empowering women entrepreneurs, to suggesting new research areas to further the understanding of women entrepreneurship in this region. The resulting 23 studies were conducted between 2012 to 2021, as illustrated in Figure 2.

Regarding the journals where the resulting articles were published, these are from different backgrounds, but they mainly cover management, business, and social sciences fields. Figure 3 shows the percentage of the most recurring journals in the literature review. The journal with the highest number of articles included in this study is the Gender in Management journal with four articles. The journal entitled International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship comes in the second position with three articles, and in the third position is the Sustainability journal with two articles. Other articles come from a different journal each.

In total, only three studies that were relevant to this paper were conducted entirely in Qatar. Other articles were conducted in different MENA countries, where they either covered the Qatari case or came without it. In light of this scarcity, this shows that more scholarship related to women entrepreneurship in the case of Qatar is essential, especially since this state is trying to set an exemplary model to be emulated both in the region and worldwide. As for the methods used for the 18 articles that are not of a review type, the primary methods used were quantitative, while a small number of articles involved qualitative and descriptive analyses. Three articles used hybrid methods (i.e., a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methodology). This is shown in Figure 4. The vertical axis indicates the number of papers. This figure suggests that given the current status quo of research conducted on women entrepreneurship in the MENA region, there is a need for more papers with in-depth qualitative methodologies to be published.

The rest of this section analyzes the main themes and findings from the literature and presents the theoretical framework grounded in the literature.

2.2. Women Entrepreneurship in the MENA Region

To understand the characteristics pertaining to women entrepreneurs in the MENA region and the challenges they are facing, one should delve first into understanding the status of women entrepreneurs worldwide and how they perceive and regard attempting to own their businesses. In their review, Moreira et al. showed that women could be empowered significantly through entrepreneurship since they perceive more flexibility when being self-employed. Thus, many choose to be entrepreneurs, especially if they have both the financial and personal means to become so [39]. In this paper, the authors highlighted the importance of global networks and international markets as they can connect many individuals, help them share experiences, and learn from each other. Interestingly, when it comes to networking, which is one of the most essential pillars of entrepreneurship, women are more interested in closed and private networks than in open and mixed ones, unlike their male counterparts. Another seminal review by Cabrera and Mauricio delineated factors that women perceived are essential for their success as entrepreneurs [40]. These can be divided into internal and external factors. Examples of internal factors include self-realization, self-dependence, gaining more skills, and financial success. As for external factors, these are collaboration and networking, regulations, and market environment among others. These analyses are considered at the macro (cultural), meso (organizational), and micro (personal) levels. On the question of networking, a comparative study that analyzed data across several countries, including China and countries from the Persian Gulf as per the study [41], and referring to networking from a gender perspective, it has been found that male entrepreneurs network differently than female entrepreneurs. The study concludes that given the cultural characteristics of more conservative societies, more opportunities that meet and respect women’s need to network and conduct businesses must to be provided.

In the MENA region, where women’s employment is still lagging behind according to the International Labor Organization [42,43] despite recent initiatives by these countries to promote entrepreneurship, one interesting study that sheds light on the status of women entrepreneurship is the one redacted by Bastian et al. in 2018 [44]. The authors criticize existing literature on women entrepreneurship in MENA as they lack relavant theoretical framework. Furthermore, according to this study, while there is more emphasis on religious and cultural effects (macro level) on women entrepreneurship, there is less emphasis on organizational and institutional variables (meso level). Based on the gender-aware framework, this recent study attempted to provide a broader review of the challenges, obstacles, and motivations of women entrepreneurs in the MENA region from different levels: micro, macro, and meso. The review highlights the pull and pushes factors according to the condition of studied countries. The paper covers some of the challenges that women face, such as balancing between professional and personal and/or family life, which is prevalent among female entrepreneurs in the MENA region. Additionally, and in tandem with previous studies, this one explains how women prefer to consult closed and private circles and networks (i.e., either family or friends) in this region due to cultural customs. The study also highlights some gaps present in the literature, among which lack of theoretical framework in most studies, oblivion to meso issues through examining institutional and organizational levels and exploring how women negotiate their ventures while balancing between their personal and professional lives, and the interplay of social class in creating discrepancies between female entrepreneurs across different countries in the region.

The majority of studies tackled the questions of challenges and barriers to women entrepreneurship quantitatively using data from the GEM report. To begin with, one study conducted by Khan [45] inferred from a GEM dataset the importance of government and training in encouraging more women to become entrepreneurs. This study concluded that shedding light on female role models is essential and prompts many women to become entrepreneurs. According to this study, factors such as age and work position for women did not have a significant impact on these participants. In another study by Bastian et al., conducted in nine countries, including Qatar [42], the authors found out that more males than females perceive they have the adequate capabilities and intention to start a business. Using the data of a total of 46,190 respondents published by the GEM report from 2010 and 2014, the study estimated that the presence of role models did not receive a high value when the environment of operation was characterized by gender inequality, i.e., private networks like family and close friends, since there is a lack diversity in knowledge as per the authors in these circles. The study also stated that females tend to have less propensity for risk-taking in entrepreneurship in Qatar. Another interesting finding is that “small business self-employment is low ranking in many countries in the region, especially in the Gulf countries.” (p. 19). According to the study, this is due to the lack of social prizing lent to this type of employment compared to other types of employment associated with working in administrative, governmental and clerical positions.

Using the data of 1551 respondents and based on entrepreneurial behavior and motives from a gender perspective theoretical framework, another study by Bastian and Zali [46] demonstrated that there is a positive correlation between higher educational attainment and higher entrepreneurship motives that is higher amongst women than men. The authors noted that self-perception and confidence levels are more effective in influencing women’s choices. Thus, though they might have higher education levels and the right skills and knowledge set, women may be less prone to become entrepreneurs due to lower confidence levels and doubting their skills more than men. In a study that relies on the theory of planned behavior—which uses personal attitude, social norms, and perceived behavioral control to learn about intentions—and based on the premise that males have broader business experience due to training and networking events that allow them to expand their businesses more than females in this region, Ismail et al. concluded that there is more need for inclusion among women and youth. Given that the latter represent the most unemployed individuals in the MENA region, such inclusion is more than urgent. Additionally, another finding is that entrepreneurial activity in the MENA region is primarily dominated by men. The study was conducted through quantitative analyses on survey data of 112,555 participants coming from 17 MENA countries, including Qatar. The data were extracted from the GEM report between 2009 and 2016 [47].

Hattab [48] in an earlier study confirmed these challenges and barriers and illustrated that married women are entrepreneurially more active than single women in MENA by investigating the data of eight countries from this region, including Lebanon, Algeria, and Egypt. Qatar was not on this list. The study found that more women were pursuing the entrepreneurial path to embrace new opportunities rather than to fulfill needed or necessary obligations. The author claimed that the emergence of a relatively high number of entrepreneurs is due to new policies and social norms that invite more women in the MENA region to become active entrepreneurs. Mostly, women in the MENA region own SME enterprises. On the same topic of pull and push factors where push factors are the factors that make entrepreneurs join this activity out of necessity versus pull factors where an entrepreneur is more attracted to this venue to seek more opportunities [49,50,51], a study conducted by Nasiri and Hamelin in 17 countries of the MENA region [49] has shown that most entrepreneurs in the Arab world are motivated by pull factors, i.e., opportunity. This is, in particular, observable among those with higher education levels. The authors found no effect of gender on the level of motivation driven by opportunity. This is explained by the high level of education attained by women in the MENA region currently, which does not curb their motivation to be entrepreneurs for the sake of opportunity. Despite resources allocated by different governments in the MENA region, the limited number of women embracing this track is still noticeable. In one study using the fuzzy interpretive structural modeling to identify control and depending variables among barriers of women entrepreneurship [52], which was conducted in the GCC countries, the authors found that the literature covered numerous reasons attributed to the lack of engagement of women in entrepreneurship. Among these: a lack of funding due to limited access to capital, family commitments, lack of support on the macro and meso levels, socio-cultural motives, lack of critical skills, and limited networking opportunities. According to the model developed in this study, “the most important barriers that negatively affect the growth of women entrepreneurship in GCC countries are lack of supportive regulatory environment, cultural and religious beliefs, gender bias and lack of family support”. This study came to contradict the previous one where gender barriers are not a stiking problem for women to become entrepreneurs. Once more, this proves that there is a need for further case studies to dissect and diagnose existing barriers and hurdles.

On the question of financial support, women are still facing multiple barriers to receive adequate subsidies for their businesses, especially at the launching and operating stages. Different scholars argued that the inability to secure appropriate funds deter women from venturing. The authors of [53] called for an efficient mechanism to ensure women’s inclusion in the financial sphere. Although governments play vital roles in ensuring financial inclusion, “most women entrepreneurs of MENA countries still report access to finance as a major constraint” (International Finance Corporation and Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion, 2011, p. 58). The authors showed that women could not receive sufficient loans, which restricted their entrepreneurship activities. Hence there is a need to change lending policies to cater to women’s interests and boost their choice in their ventures. Based on systems thinking and the viable systems approach (vSa), the paper demonstrated a need to provide savings services with affordable prices so that more women are less fearful of being at risk when saving up for and launching their businesses.

Another study went even further to highlight the importance of establishing an efficient bankruptcy mechanism to help failing enterprises and start-ups during harsh economic times such as the COVID-19 pandemic to survive [54]. Instead of disciplinary procedures for failing enterprises, the study claims that it is more lucrative to undergo reformed bankruptcy procedures such as restructuring failed enterprises, mainly SMEs, to help creditors and debtors. The study, which presents data from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Bahrain, outlines procedures followed by these countries to address gaps in their firm bankruptcy laws, and juxtaposed them with legislation being inspired by the US Bankruptcy Code. The authors recommend rethinking bankruptcy legislations and laws to help more entrepreneurs, mainly women. A review presented another solution for this issue by covering at length the importance of microfinance (MFIs) to help low-income individuals start their businesses and pay low-interest loans [55]. The study covers examples where such an approach was successful, especially for women entrepreneurs in low-income countries. The study also covers some negative aspects of MFIs. These findings and discussion points could be relevant for the present study as a noticeable portion of women entrepreneurs in Qatar are housewives and might not be able to secure enough capital to fund and establish their businesses. The study mainly covers women entrepreneurs who seek a source of income out of necessity, not opportunity.

While MFIs can be considered as a legitimate solution to the debt and loan issues that women face to make their businesses thrive, one other review paper extrapolates this solution by shedding light on more policies and mechanisms that, if instigated by the state, then more women would be able to become entrepreneurs [56]. This review article proposes that more favorable policies towards women and mothers, such as easier loans and childcare policies to help with flexibility issues, are needed for more females to be active entrepreneurs. According to this paper, some policies currently favor males over females, such as easy access to loans for example. Hence, there is a need to address such policies and make them more gender-based. The study also spoke about the importance of education and training.

To conclude this sub-section, the main challenges as stated in the literature for women entrepreneurs are mainly related to lack of proper training and exposure to role models, inability to network in thought stimulating networks given that in these relatively conservative societies women prefer to network in private circles or with families and friends, and the limited access to loans and funds. Regarding gender-related issues, these are inevitable in the current context, given the socio-demographic traits of these societies. Therefore, instead of radically revoking such social characteristics, it is more essential to cater to the need of women from their own stance. This is mostly because in many of these studies, it is proven that women are not seeking to disrupt social norms as much as seeking flexible policies that will allow them and empower them to navigate these realities. Using either human capital theory or planned behavior theory, other studies integrated similar challenges as discussed above where networking, more lenient policies, and accessibility are vital [57,58,59]. As it stands, however, a more in-depth and qualitative analysis of women entrepreneurs’ own perspectives and stances on their status in Qatar needs to be covered. In what follows, a focused discussion on the case of women entrepreneurs’ status in Qatar will be provided. Such discussion will pave the way for the analysis of this study and will highlight further literature gaps that this study aims to answer.

2.3. Women Entrepreneurship in Qatar

According to the 2018/2019 GEM Women Entrepreneurship Report [60], the rate of female business ownership in Qatar increased from 0.3% to 2.7% between 2016 and 2018. Likewise, the gender gap in business ownership establishment decreased from 83% to 42%, indicating that women in Qatar are successfully starting and managing businesses past the 42-month mark, which according to GEM is an established business stage. Moreover, the same report showed that women’s and men’s entrepreneurial activities in Qatar are very similar. The same report showed that even though most women entrepreneurs in Qatar venture out of seeking new opportunities, necessity motives increased from 5.6% to 16.3%. Furthermore, according to the latest gathered data, the report stated that women are 5% more likely than men to be undeterred by fear of failure. Despite these findings, there is still a gap in the investments made by males and females in Qatar, as the median investment is USD 5,493 dollars for women compared to USD 27,468 dollars for men [60]. Out of GCC countries, Qatar has the highest rate of participants in the female labor force [61]. However, “GCC Women-Entrepreneurs in a New Economy” reports [34] that out of the 32% of women in Qatar who have an intention to start a business, only 6% have established their own businesses. Albeit it is clear that women have the knowledge and drive to own businesses, what is unclear are factors and circmstances stopping them from fulfilling their venturing goals.

In an attempt to answer this question, a quantitative analysis using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for the year 2014, was conducted in 2020 by Costa and Pita [62]. With a sample of 4,272 respondents and an empirical analysis including correlation, description, and three logistic regressions, the study observed that the state is moving towards a shrinking gender gap in entrepreneurship, and Qatari women are found to be the most entrepreneurial in the region. The study concludes that “Qatari women are less prone to start a business than their male counterparts by 6.23 percentage points”. Another observation was that fear of failure is higher among women than men (however, recent data from the GEM 2019 report indicate that women are more prone to be undeterred by fear of failure than men). The study highlighted the need to allocate more research in the aim to investigate female motivations to becoming entrepreneurs. According to this study, age is a critical explanatory variable along with self-perceptions of skills. Compared to other countries in the region, it was found that the gender effect is weak in Qatar.

Another comparative study of Oman and Qatar [63] on gendered complexities related to promoting entrepreneurship in the GCC determined that there were tensions and contradictions between rhetoric and policy implementation on the ground, which reinforces patriarchal sentiment within these societies despite some noticeable achievements to boost women’s entrepreneurship. Additionally, the study highlighted that some women found that policy constraints can be more significant than gender-related ones. Participants in this study expressed the cultural pressures they face, primarily when operating in mixed environments where they might not be comfortable. As a resolution to this mentioned challenge, another recent study conducted in Qatar [64] stated that although women in Qatar have equal access to education and economic opportunities, their participation in the economy still lags. Therefore, policies should ensure positive discrimination towards women entrepreneurs. For instance, and based on findings from semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 experts, there is a need to allocate private spaces for women, such as techno-parks, for them to be able to conduct their entrepreneurial activities more freely. As will be shown in Section 3, the state has attempted to allocate and mobilize different programs and initiatives to cater to the needs of female entrepreneurs. Still though, as this study suggests, more efforts are required to ensure a higher women participation in entrepreneurship.

Finally, one crucial paper that was considered in the review is a study that covered challenges faced by aspiring male entrepreneurs. Though it is obviously excluding women data from its findings and analyses, this paper nonetheless is essential for this current study since it sheds light on the challenges faced by males in this country and draws more solid conclusions vis-à-vis the type of interventions that need to be championed and the gender perspectives to be considered. The study was conducted in 2017 and is based on quantitative analysis of a survey distributed to 155 Qatari male participants where the analysis was conducted using confirmatory factor analysis and reliability tests. Authors found out that, similar to findings on challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in this country, male entrepreneurs in Qatar also face similar barriers to venturing. The authors divide these into institutional barriers (such as financial and market) and psychological barriers (such as fear of failure and stress avoidance). The most significant barriers that hinder males from starting an enterprise in Qatar are mainly financial barriers, knowledge barriers, fear of failure, and stress avoidance [65]. More gender-based comparative studies need to be developed to explain better the discrepancies between the two genders when it comes to becoming an entrepreneur in the state of Qatar.

2.4. Section Summary

To summarize the literature review section, research on women entrepreneurship in the MENA region generally and Qatar more specifically has gained momentum recently. As was shown from the SLR findings, the majority of these studies started to emerge in the past six years. Many of these treatises concentrated on barriers such as cultural, organizational, and personal barriers (i.e., macro, meso, and micro levels respectively) that women are still facing to venture in this region. One investigated barrier is the lack of funding and the inability to finance businesses either through loans or through personal capital, which results in deterring several women from venturing. Additionally, while some studies highlighted the issue of networking as an area to be addressed from an institutional and policy-based perspective, other studies called to explore the cultural intricacies of these societies and concluded with the need to establish more flexible policies that work in favor of these women instead of representing an impediment to them. The socio-economic status of women entrepreneurs mostly determines whether they join this venue out of necessity or to seek new opportunities (i.e., push or pull factors). In general, pull factors inform the decision of financially well-off women to join entrepreneurship such as those in Qatar. In the case of this country, although there is a noticeable increase among women who joined the business world more recently, and despite the shrinking rates in the gender gap, other factors such as age, self-perceptions, educational attainments, and existing governmental regulations and policies are still impeding many women from establishing their businesses. Another observation from the review is the lack of qualitative and in-depth analyses of data emerging particularly from the case of Qatar. As a response, this present study aspires to tackle this gap from a design thinking perspective.

3. Theoretical Framework

From the literature, many theories and frameworks have informed studies and conclusions on women’s entrepreneurship notably on how to better leverage resources and policies to ameliorate the status of female entrepreneurs in different regions. For this present study, perhaps an intertwining of three main theoretical frameworks can be most relevant: the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the QNV2030, the planned behavior theory, and the gender-aware framework (5Ms model).

To begin with, as mentioned in previous sections, QNV2030 was established to employ precise and applicable mechanisms and a set of indicators to bring sustainable prosperity on four levels: human, social, economic, and environmental. As a translation of these goals, the state launched initiatives, programs, and entities. For women entrepreneurship, in addition to the QDB bank, the QBIC, and other incubating and training centers, the state has also lent sustantive attention to programs and initiatives directed to women and females mainly. Among these are the Women and Entrepreneurship project piloted by Qatar University and funded by the National Priority Research Program (NPRP) [66], and Roudha Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a non-profit that promotes entrepreneurship specifically among women, to name a few. Female role models also play an imperative role in disseminating ideals to embrace entrepreneurship and in conforming a narrative that the state facilitates procedures to be an entrepreneur instead of impeding them. In line with QNV2030, the SDGs are another universal framework that calls for UN members states to achieve 17 goals by 2030. These goals are embedded with a sustainability model covering the social, economic, and environmental aspects of development. The goals relevant to this study are goal five on gender inequality, goal eight on decent work and economic growth, and goal nine on the industry, innovation, and infrastructure [67].

The second theoretical framework is the theory of planned behavior (TPB) [68]. Perceived by many scholars and researchers as a powerful tool to understand the intentions, especially of aspiring entrepreneurs, and to predict performed behavior, this framework enables an in-depth recognition of motivational factors that lead entrepreneurs to plan to enter the business arena and venture. In the realm of entrepreneurship, the TPB is used to evaluate to what extent societal factors and social perception can frame the decision-making and subsequently the behavior and intention of aspiring entrepreneurs to start their businesses [69]. Many studies showed that gender plays a critical role in determining attitudes and behavior as accounted by the framework [69].

The last framework used to situate this present study is the gender-aware framework known as the 5Ms model [70]. Based on the 3M model of entrepreneurship framework, which encompasses money, management, and market, this framework considers the characteristics of female entrepreneurs by including two more aspects: motherhood or family and meso-macro environments. The former is related to delving deeply into the household and relations by including family dimensions as they hold an imperative position for women in general. As for the latter, the meso deals with the networks, professional associations, and services provided for these businesses to thrive, while the macro is related to the policies on the national level and the culture and laws regulating economy and societies. The interplay of the 5Ms—instead of simply the 3Ms—gives a scrupulous account of factors and structures that can significantly impact women entrepreneurs. Hence, given the nature of the Qatari society as a conservative society and where family plays an important role, especially that women prioritize their expected role as children bearers and caregivers, the 5Ms frame serves to develop a conceptual framework issued from the primary findings of this study.

4. Methodology

4.1. Research Design

As presented in the literature, an essential and well-proven mechanism is to innovate and instate an environment, set of policies, and programs conducive for private enterprise and entrepreneurship to generate jobs and diverse sources of income. However, the appropriate policies, programs, and mechanisms for such an environment vary for different countries, although general guidelines and approaches can be learned.

To understand the context and develop the right policies and programs for Qatar for the specific goal of women entrepreneurship, the methodology in this study follows an integrated approach, learning from (1) the past and others’ examples (exploratory study through comparative literature review and analysis), and (2) the present and current stakeholders. It then follows a design thinking approach to develop a framework for supporting women’s entrepreneurship in Qatar and similar contexts. Figure 5 summarizes the steps used in the methodology.

4.2. Data Collection Methods and Participants’ Demographics

In addition to quantitative research, qualitative research is vital in explaining social phenomena and providing in-depth descriptions of the status quo of respondents by aggregating and analyzing their inputs [71,72]. In this study, the qualitative interviewing method is primarily used. In total, 30 interviews were conducted for the following target groups: females who own businesses, aspiring female entrepreneurs, supporting agencies, and government representatives from relevant ministries and agencies (e.g., finance and economy). Prior to contacting these individuals, institutional review board (IRB) approval was obtained to ensure the research followed the proper procedures and protected participants’ rights.

Table 1. Demographics of the interviewed female actual or aspiring entrepreneurs.

Age	21–29		30–39	40–49
	15		8	2
Educational Level	Bachelor’s			Masters’	Ph.D.
	16			8	1
Employment Status	Employed		Self-employment	Both (employed and self-employment)
	16		6	3
Marital Status	Married			Single
	9			16
Number of Children	0	1	2	3 or more
	1	4	1	3

provides demographic information on the 25 female participants.

4.3. Interview Process

The interviews aimed to identify the status of women entrepreneurs in Qatar and understand the challenges, barriers, and gaps as seen by the participants. An analysis was performed to identify the status of women entrepreneurs and create a tailored model for female entrepreneurship in Qatar. The themes tackled in the interviews are as follows:

• Intentions and motivation to be/become an entrepreneur
• Challenges perceived by actual and aspiring entrepreneurs
• Awareness on mitigation plans and strategies the country is using especially vis-à-vis women and female entrepreneurship
• Suggestions and recommendations for the government and support agencies to improve women’s entrepreneurship status in Qatar

4.4. Data Analysis

The data collected through interviews were analyzed using the thematic method, which Braun defines as “a method for identifying, analyzing, and reporting patterns within data” [73]. Patterns found in the data are set into themes to describe the phenomenon better. Thematic categories are created by classifying data and comparing and accounting for the indicators in each theme [71]. The interviews’ main aim is gaining insight into the existing issues and gathering stakeholder ideas to develop a preliminary model or framework, in conjunction with knowledge gained from the comparative literature review and document analysis. Thematic analysis followed a deductive approach where themes were determined a priori and were informed by the literature review. To code the interviews, two authors of this paper conducted thematic analysis separately and then discussed results. When there were differences in their analysis’s conclusions, a second round of analysis was conducted by these two authors to reach a consensus on the results.

5. Findings and Discussion

This section presents the main findings from the interviews after analyzing the data. In a first step, and drawing from the exogenous and endogenous models from the literature, which classify factors that motivate entrepreneurs into external and internal ones [62,74,75], and using thematic analysis, the authors organized the barriers perceived by participants as shown in

Table 2. Classification of barriers into internal and external challenges.

Internal/Personal Challenges	External Challenges
Fear of failure	Gender-related issues: the need for female role models, negative societal perception, lack of support for females, lack of space for women, policies deterring women from venturing
Issues of trusting others	Funding and regulations: lack of funds, high rents, demanding procedures (e.g., paperwork, bureaucratic process), inflexible and unstable regulations and laws, inability to access information, lack of information, absence of an up to date and centralized system
Unwillingness to take risks	Need for a business partner
Family commitment	Lack of proper educational programs and training tailored to venture-related knowledge
Lack of motivation	Unhealthy competition

and

Table 3. General findings from interviews with women actual or aspiring entrepreneurs.

Interviewee Number	Age	Education Level	Employment Status	Marital Status	Number of Children	Perceived Challenge(s)/Barriers	Motivation(s) to Be/Become Entrepreneur
P1	32	Master’s	Both employed and self-employed	Single	-	-Fear of failure/risk-taking -Inflexible/instable regulations -Demanding procedures	Opportunity
P2	29	Master’s	Employed	Single	-	-Inflexible/instable regulations -Fear of failure/risk-taking	Both opportunity and necessity
P3	28	Master’s	Employed	Married	2	-Family commitments	Both opportunity and necessity
P4	30	Bachelor’s	Employed	Single	-	-Need for a partner -Inflexible/instable regulations -Absence of a centralized system	Opportunity
P5	30	Bachelor’s	Self-Employed	Married	-	-Fear of failure/risk-taking -Lack of funding -Inflexible/instable regulations -Need for a partner	Necessity
P6	28	Bachelor’s	Employed	Single	-	-Demanding procedures -Absence of a centralized system -Unhealthy competition -Lack of innovation	Necessity
P7	29	Bachelor’s	Employed	Single	-	-Personal commitments -Lack of motivation -Trusting others/incubators	Necessity
P8	29	Bachelor’s	Both employed and self-employed	Single	-	-Demanding procedures -Lack of knowledge -Lack of funds -Absence of a centralized system -Inflexible/instable regulations	Opportunity
P9	29	Bachelor’s	Employed	Single	-	-Need for a partner -Demanding procedures	Opportunity
P10	26	Bachelor’s	Both employed and self-employed	Single	-	-Lack of funds -Demanding Procedures -Inflexible/Instable regulations -Need for female role models	Opportunity
P11	25	Senior	Self-Employed	Single	-	-Negative societal perception -Demanding procedures -Absence of a centralized system -Trusting others/incubators	Opportunity
P12	27	Master’s	Employed	Single		-Personal commitments -Lack of innovation -Lack of support for female entrepreneurs	Opportunity
P13	30	Master’s	Employed	Married	1	-Fear of failure/risk-taking -Need for a partner -Lack of knowledge -Limited access to information	Opportunity
P14	30	PhD	Employed	Single	-	-Limited access to information -Demanding procedures -Lack of information -Trusting others/incubators -Lack of support for females	Opportunity
P15	33	Master’s	Employed	Married	1	-Family commitments -Trusting others/incubators -Demanding procedures -Limited access to information -Policies deterring women from venturing	Necessity
P16	24	Senior	Self-Employed	Married	1	-Family/other commitments -Lack of funds -Need for female role models	Opportunity
P17	29	Bachelor’s	Employed	Single	-	-Negative societal perception -Limited access to information -Fear of failure/risk-taking	Both opportunity and necessity
P18	27	Master’s	Employed	Married	1	-Demanding procedures -Lack of support for females	Opportunity
P19	25	Bachelor’s	Self-Employed	Single	-	-Lack of knowledge -Trusting others/incubators -Unhealthy competition -Absence of a centralized system	Both opportunity and necessity
P20	31	Master’s	Self-Employed	Single	-	-Demanding procedures -Inflexible/instable regulations -Absence of a centralized system -Inflexible/instable regulations	Necessity
P21	23	Bachelor’s	Employed	Single	-	-Fear of failure/risk-taking -Lack of motivation	Opportunity
P22	32	Bachelor’s	Employed	Married	3	-Family commitments -Lack of information -Negative societal perception	Both opportunity and necessity
P23	46	Bachelor’s	Self-Employed	Married	3	-Demanding procedures -Absence of a centralized system	Opportunity
P24	25	Bachelor’s	Employed	Single	-	-Trusting others/incubators -Lack of funds	Both opportunity and necessity
P25	40	Bachelor’s	Employed	Married	6	-Demanding procedures -Trusting others/incubators -Absence of a centralized system	Both opportunity and necessity

, respectively.

Seven main barriers stand out as the most persistent barriers, as shown in Table 3. According to their number of occurrences, these are: (1) demanding procedures with the testimony of ten participants, (2) inflexible and unstable laws and regulations with eight testimonies. (3) These are three barriers which received testimonies by seven participants each: lack of a centralized system, the issue of trusting others, and the negative societal perception from female entrepreneurs. (4) Lack of information and fear of failure come fourth, with six occurrences each. Other barriers such as the need to have a partner, lack of funds, and more role models come at subsequent placements. To cluster these barriers within their own internal/external classification explained in Table 2, from the interviews, it is shown that external barriers are more critical and deterring for women in Qatar than internal/psychological ones. However, some psychological barriers such as fear of failure, remain significant.

Interestingly, these findings are similar to those of a study conducted on aspiring male entrepreneurs in Qatar [65], mentioned in Section 2.3, where males’ main barriers were financial barriers, knowledge barriers, fear of failure, and stress avoidance. In the case of females, the main barrier mentioned by the majority of participants appears to be related to the demanding procedures that entrepreneurs need to undergo; from paperwork to legalizing and attesting necessary certificates from a bureaucratic system that is regarded as rigid. On this point, few agency representatives agree that many aspiring entrepreneurs who receive proper training and succeed in these programs at an initial stage, especially females, end up giving up venturing altogether. The main reason for quitting according to these representatives was the lack of proper knowledge about how to navigate and be aware of the procedures to open a business or to closely follow business laws and regulations.

As one solution, many women resorted to using a service provided by some individuals in the aim to complete the mandatory official processing of documentation necessary for business start-ups. These individuals are known as delegates or mandoobs, who are individuals possessing the legal authority to finish any legal documentation of the entrepreneur they represent. In some cases, it was stated that the mandoobs had more diverse knowledge of the system than the governmental representatives in separate entities. However, it was also reported that the mandoobs take advantage of entrepreneurs themselves by overpricing their services. Although the formation of such informal intermediary businesses is based on anecdotal information, it may indicate that, in Qatar or elsewhere, there is a stifling problem of long and complicated procedures when starting a business in such a bureaucratic atmosphere. This would inevitably engender adversarial impact on entrepreneurial private enterprises and economic diversification.

On the issue of trusting others, many participants reported the lack of trust they have to either involve other partners or share their ideas at incubating centers out of the fear that others might steal these ideas. While some anecdotes can justify such fear, representatives from the ministry and incubating centers ensured that some ideas are either not original or that aspiring entrepreneurs did not have all the details of their ideas, which means that one idea cannot be copied exactly to another since the details might be different from an entrepreneur to another. However, it remains that instigating policies and regulations that protect patents and ideas more rigidly is vital at this stage.

Additionally, to explain the prevalence of the fear of failure, 21 participants named self-funding as the source of the initial capital raised and used by the woman or relative who started the business. Two participants took loans without interest from their families, and one mentioned that her male relative took a loan from the bank. Furthermore, 18 of the participants were against taking a bank loan to start their business; instead, they would either self-fund these ventures, accept help from family, or invest under a risk-sharing method. The participants mentioned fear of failure, being controlled by the bank, or creating stress that could limit innovation. These findings are congruent with the literature where it has been found that women avoid venturing in business mainly due to lack of funding and difficulty in securing capital for their ventures [53,54,76]. This is why the fear of failure is tied to taking loans from banks, which would incur more responsibility and accountability upon loan seekers. More empirical and quantitative analyses need to be developed to come to more definite conclusions in this regard.

Moreover, a handful of participants mentioned the lack of knowledge where they mostly complained about the inability to access a central system with all needed information to be stored and found. Finally, regarding barriers related to gender, a considerable number of respondents stressed the negative societal views that exist in this society on women entrepreneurs. These views are prevalent to some extent in the MENA region as shown in the literature where societal views might deter many females from pursuing their desire to fulfill a lucrative opportunity in entrepreneurship [59,70]. With more social awareness and further flexibility of existing laws and regulations, acceptance of this practice would occur in these societies.

6. Proposed Preliminary Qatari Women Entrepreneurship Framework (QWE-FW)

This section proposes a tailored framework (QWE-FW) for women’s entrepreneurship mechanisms, programs, and policies in Qatar based on the literature review, the theoretical framework (namely 5Ms model), and findings from interviews. Several factors have been identified as affecting women’s entry into the business world. These factors can be categorized into the female role in the family, their psychology, in addition to societal, and governmental factors.

As it stands, both citizens and residents complain about governmental employees having limited knowledge of the services provided for businesses from the start-up phase and beyond. The facilities and services involved in starting businesses have several significant issues, including that (a) helpdesk employees do not have the proper knowledge on procedures and processes to start a business rendering their role inefficient and obstructing in most cases, (b) online services do not work and are missing information, and (c) there is little—if not a lack of—communication between ministries and their sub-branches, forcing the businessperson to be the link between them and frequently causing a failure in communication or the accurate sharing of information. The communication issues between ministries can lead to a loss of time and effort for the businessperson, who may find this discouraging.

6.1. QWE-FW Objectives, Needs, and Goals

According to the Qatar Planning and Statistic Authority report, 64% of female college graduates ultimately become housewives with no or with limited opportunities and avenues to contribute to the economy and society [32]. Even though these women are highly educated, their skills and qualifications are not being utilized to help Qatar’s economy. Figure 6 illustrates the findings from the literature review and the interviews which helped informing the Qatar Women Entrepreneurship Framework (QWE-FW). The literature review found that women are influenced by their work, family, education, self-confidence, and knowledge in business. Next, we have societal views on women, including that women lack leadership skills and specialize in housework. Finally, from the interviews, Qatar’s government has three main influencing factors relating to women’s experiences: the employees working in the government, the facilities and services provided by the government, and the Qatari law for SMEs.

6.2. QWE-FW Recommended Actions, Policies, and Programs

Figure 7 shows the summary of the recommended QWE-FW, and Figure 8 provides detailed action items.

The following provides a brief explanation of each action item:

• Government

• Identify sectors, businesses, and skills needed for food/water/energy security.

Qatar has many food/water/energy/security needs as a developing country. The country should identify related projects for local businesspeople to take on, helping the country in the long run.

• Support sectors and businesses related to the country’s needs and design incentives.

After identifying these projects, the country should guarantee that products will be bought before a foreign commodity would be. When the government shows its support by guaranteeing the entrepreneurs have a market, it will motivate and protect the entrepreneur.

• Establish and operate a single-window, one-stop service to start a business.

To establish a business, an entrepreneur must currently visit three ministries, which the interviewed women mentioned are not located near each other and lack communication. Establishing a single-window service would facilitate the business entry process.

• Offer periodical refresher courses and training to government employees to ensure they are knowledgeable about the services provided by their department.

The private mandoobs services are usually very costly, but entrepreneurs are forced to use one to save time. This shows a gap in the government workforce’s knowledge of the provided services. There is, therefore, a need for refresher courses and training for these employees.

• Audit all governmental and semi-governmental agencies to ensure their effective and efficient services to new and existing businesses.

Any system or service must be audited at times to validate its effectiveness. As many females in the interview process mentioned a belief, there is corruption in the system and a lack of services ensuring fairness in the process; this action item will detect any gaps or corruption in the system.

• Business-supporting agenciesand entities

• Protect entrepreneurs from legal consequences.

An entrepreneur who starts a business takes full financial responsibility in the current situation. If a business fails, they face legal consequences, including imprisonment if they fail to pay. Several people are currently listed on a Qatar charity page for those imprisoned due to failed business ideas: one retired woman, for example, faces jail time due to failure to pay business debts that have reached over QAR six million [77]. This woman’s predicament will make each person think twice before entering the business market.

• Allow for easy access to interest-free funds for starting businesses.

The GEM shows that men in Qatar receive five times the funding compared to women. Having an interest-free fund would motivate entrepreneurs to begin their business journeys.

• Establish a standard, easily accessible, and responsive office/website/portal in which entrepreneurs can raise concerns and complaints.

Several interviewed women entrepreneurs identified a lack of an office that could hear and document their complaints. Having such an office will help officials determine what is needed to better support entrepreneurs and reveal the current shortcomings in the system.

• Society/family/education system

• Arrange a periodic week-long entrepreneurship event for introduction, awareness, and information.

The interview process uncovered a lack of awareness of the entrepreneurship-supporting services and agencies. There is a need for a periodic event to inform and support interested individuals. This could also be a meeting space in which entrepreneurs could share their experiences and, in some cases, team up to start businesses.

• Educate society about the importance, necessity, and impact of entrepreneurship.

Qatari society has a conservative and traditional view of business and may not see the benefits of entrepreneurship. Currently, there are no programs to educate society and explain what entrepreneurship is and how it can benefit the economy and individuals.

• Educate families about the importance of women in society and their roles beyond being mothers, sisters, or wives.

As presented in the McKinsey [78] report, “The Core Challenges for GCC Women in Leadership,” and the neoclassical position on women [79,80], women are subjected to prejudgments on how to live their lives, viewed as dependent on male partners and best suited to household work. As the interviewed women highlighted, this is indeed the case in Qatar. Thus, there is a need to show that women’s roles can surpass household duties.

• Introduce and teach entrepreneurship as a course in all K–12 levels with local, real examples.

Currently, schools are teaching the traditional ways without much innovation. Introducing entrepreneurship at an early age could encourage young learners to investigate entrepreneurship early and develop a passion for it.

• Promote successful examples of women excelling in business and entrepreneurship while still holding traditional values.

Traditional society often fails to celebrate change. Entrepreneurship has been present in Qatar, but there is a fear that women entering the entrepreneurship field will stop following their traditional values or be taken away from their household duties. Presenting successful examples of female entrepreneurs who retained their values will encourage other women interested in the field and give society reasons to believe in and support female entrepreneurs.

• WomenEntrepreneurs

• Create a Majlis for women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial investors.

The Majlis, a place to network and share examples of female success for businesswomen, will facilitate communication around experiences and stories, developing into mentorship and support among women. The Majlis will serve as a networking and investment engine for females.

• Give courses to increase confidence and develop business traits, ethics, and best practices.

The courses will not only focus on business aspects. They would also teach confidence, work-life balance, and technical skills.

6.3. Expected Economic and Social Impacts and Benefits from the QWE-FW

The promotion of women entrepreneurs will create a diverse, dynamic, and inclusive business environment and society. The QWE-FW is yet to be validated; however, the Qatar Women Entrepreneurship Framework’s expected economic and social impact includes the effective activation of the current domestic capacity, as well-educated women are not currently present in the economic sector. Women tend to start businesses most suited to their interests, such as fashion or cooking. In addition, women often have capital not being utilized. Thus, the government should attract those women as private investors for new businesses. Attracting and enabling those women will help establish funding for businesses to create jobs and contribute to society at large, both economically and socially. Finally, it might aid the country in diversifying the economy sustainably and away from hydrocarbon resources.

7. Conclusions

About 64% of educated women in Qatar remain housewives with single-directional social and economic contributions, even though they have the potential and necessary preparation to generate and contribute to society. Since the literature discussing the Qatari women’s employment, social and economic contributions, and entrepreneurship programs are scarce, the main aim of this work is to understand the status, challenges, and requirements of female entrepreneurship in Qatar. The paper then moved to develop unique, progressive, and tailored solutions, policies, and support mechanisms to educate, promote, and facilitate women entrepreneurs to empower their increased social and economic contributions in Qatar, where economic diversification and private enterprise are considered as part of its sustainable development vision. In this mixed exploratory and qualitative research study, following a systematic literature review, twenty-five educated Qatari women are interviewed to understand their reasons, issues, or willingness to pursue entrepreneurship and the challenges they faced. In addition, five more individuals representing entrepreneurship programs and incubating centers were interviewed to obtain the complete picture of the case of women entrepreneurship in this state, as a case study. The interviews are analysed using the thematic method, and a preliminary Qatari Women Entrepreneurship Framework (QWE-FW) is proposed. The framework consists of four pillars: government, business-supporting agencies, society/family/education system, and women. The interview findings were in line with the findings from the literature when it comes to the internal and external influencers on the female. However, in the case of Qatar, as a novice entrepreneurs’ hub, more structured and stable policies and regulations where access is easy for both males and females are needed. More validation in the future for this framework is required by conducting a survey and focus group study, then analysing the level of agreement from the Qatari women and proposing a final framework.

This work, as it stands, has several limitations, mainly stemming from the fact that there was not widely available literature on women entrepreneurship in Qatar and similar countries. That access was limited to obtaining the current status and numbers in governmental and semi-governmental agencies about women-owned or led businesses and entrepreneurial activities. Furthermore, the number of interviews and the interviewees’ diversity would limit the generalized deductions and applications of findings at this stage. However, as discussed before, this study is a precursor and preliminary step towards a broader attempt to fully understand the issues around women’s entrepreneurship in Qatar and similar settings.