Gradually changing society: women entrepreneurs and institutional change in Saudi Arabia

In this article, we examine the emerging role of women entrepreneurs within changing socio-cultural institutions. The current literature presents limited insight on the processual dynamics of entrepreneurship among socio-cultural change, and so we adopt an inductive theory-building approach, drawing on the concept of institutional entrepreneurship. From this, we see the interaction of women’s entrepreneurial practices with complex social and cultural structures. Our qualitative data draw on 31 interviews with female entrepreneurs operating in Saudi Arabia, phenomenologically capturing their experiences as they engage with the institutions of their societal surroundings. We explore how entrepreneurial enactment takes place within patriarchal constraint and socialized expectations of women. Top-down regulatory change may open space for women’s entrepreneurship, but social change demands careful navigation, with only gradual cultural shifts. We characterize Saudi women entrepreneurs as institutional change agents in a recursive process between their entrepreneurial activities and the dominant social systems of family and societal expectations. Our findings contribute to the understanding of how entrepreneurial agency interacts with the forces of context. Importantly, we move beyond the celebration of emancipated activism and instead see Saudi women’s entrepreneurial activity as part of a multifaceted and gradual change process, evolving towards a progressive entrepreneurial culture.