Motivations and Barriers to Female Entrepreneurship: Insights from Morocco

ABSTRACT

Entrepreneurship is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon that is associated with value creation and considered a driver of economic development. While Africa exhibits a strong upsurge in the number of women entrepreneurs, the continent is still struggling in terms of gender equality and women’s empowerment. The region is entrepreneurially disadvantaged, with a low degree of female participation in this field and a large gender gap in favor of men. Therefore, this paper aims to present original insights into female entrepreneurship from the context of Morocco, exploring the motivations and barriers to women entrepreneurs in the service sector. It adopts a multi-level integrative framework and combines feminist and institutional theory to capture the agency and enabling factors along with institutional regulative and normative constraints associated with female entrepreneurship. The paper adopts an interpretative qualitative research approach capitalizing on in-depth interviews with twenty women entrepreneurs in the service sector. The data is analyzed using thematic coding and identified factors are classified into micro-meso-macro levels. The findings highlight the importance of integrating multiple lens and levels of analysis to capture the complexity of the phenomenon and illustrate the imbrication and interplay of enablers and constraints and contribute theoretically and empirically to knowledge on female entrepreneurship in the North African context and a factor-driven economy through the case of Morocco.

KEYWORDS:

• Female entrepreneurship
• women’s empowerment
• motivation
• barriers
• North Africa
• Morocco

Introduction

Female entrepreneurship is considered a strategic priority and catalyst regarding women’s empowerment in business and development in many countries. It is a field of interest to both academics and policy-makers and is promoted by national governments and international development organizations as “the pursuit of gender equality is considered a critical antecedent for human development beside economic development” (Wood, PohYen, & Bastian, 2021, p. 1). The achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment represents a top policy priority within both the global development agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2036 (Konte & Tirivayi, 2020). It has been set as one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG5), recognizing the importance of women’s access to economic resources and participation in economic, political and social aspects of life. In terms of economic growth, noticeable strides have been taken in Africa.

Yet, the development model on the continent needs to promote entrepreneurship further and foster gender equality policies to ensure sustainability and inclusiveness (Moreno-Gavara & Jiménez-Zarco, 2019). Furthermore, as highlighted by the International Labor Organization (ILO, 2018:5), “the issue of creating employment opportunities for women is particularly urgent for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region”, given the high rates of female unemployment and large gender gaps in labor force participation. MENA countries, including Morocco, have the lowest female participation rates in the world, at between 20% and 30%, compared with low and middle-income countries with a women’s labor force participation rate of 40% in Asia, 55% on average in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, and above 70% in Western countries (Bargain & M, 2021). More specifically, in Morocco, female participation in the labor market is 21.5% compared to 70.1% for men, ranking the kingdom 111th out of 162 countries on the Gender Inequality Index (GII) (UNDP, 2020).

Women in the region are clearly facing obstacles that are preventing them from fulfilling their potential. Given multiple socio-economic pressures, women tend to engage in the informal sector. Meanwhile, some women choose to enter the formal sector through entrepreneurship. Therefore, female entrepreneurship allows women to mitigate some structural forces and enact agency, defined as the “capacity to act” (Charrad, 2010). In the meantime, women continue to face institutional pressures and constraints to entrepreneurial activities (Bianco, Lombe, & Bolis, 2017; Brush, De Bruin, & Welter, 2009; Cabrera & Mauricio, 2017). Hence, it is important to investigate the enabling and constraining factors to female entrepreneurship by exploring the related motivations and barriers. As highlighted by Charrad (2010: 517) “the capacity to act can only be understood within the context of specific social structures in given times and places”. The women’s empowerment and female entrepreneurship nexus is embedded within specific contexts and needs to be approached and investigated accordingly (Foss, Henry, Ahl, & Mikalsen, 2019; Niethammer, 2013; Nieva, 2015; Siba, 2019; Wood et al., 2021). However, few studies have explored female entrepreneurship in the MENA context (Chamlou, 2007; Jamali (2009); (Belwal, Belwal, & Al Saidi, 2014); (Naguib & Jamali, 2015); (Bastian, 2017; Zouiten, 2007).

Therefore, this paper seeks to identify the fostering and inhibiting factors affecting women entrepreneurs in the context of Morocco. The main research questions being addressed are: “Given the low rate of female entrepreneurship in Morocco, what are the barriers?” As well as, “given the existence of female entrepreneurs in Morocco, what are their motives and enabling factors?” Concurrently, the underlying question in this study is: “How do women enact agency under constraining institutional factors?” The scant literature review reveals a multitude and panoply of factors emphasizing one or two levels of analysis offering a partial and fragmented conception of the topic. This paper addresses this gap by using an integrative framework considering micro, meso and macro levels of analysis simultaneously. Meanwhile, in order to capture both the motivations and barriers related to female entrepreneurship, we adopt a framework combining feminist and institutional theory allowing to capture the picture from different angles and in a holistic way. This approach is well adapted to context specific research. In order to explore the motivation and perceived barriers to female’s entrepreneurship empirically, we adopt in this study an interpretative qualitative research approach capitalizing on in-depth interviews with twenty women entrepreneurs in the service sector. The data is analyzed using thematic coding, and identified factors are classified into micro-meso-macro levels. The study offers a situational analysis and presents original insights into female entrepreneurship in the service sector in Morocco. It highlights the complexity of the topic and the importance of public policies in this matter.

Therefore, given the importance of the context, we start with a background of Morocco to understand the socio-economic factors and institutional environment surrounding female entrepreneurship and its peculiarities. We follow with a succinct seminal review and a presentation of the multi-level integrative framework and theories used to capture and analyze the multiple enabling and constraining factors affecting women entrepreneurs. Then, we present the methods section, which describes the research methodology, followed by the study’s findings and discussion. The paper concludes with policy implications and future research avenues.

I- Context in perspective

To identify the barriers women entrepreneurs face, we need context-based and sector-specific research. Entrepreneurship is not an isolated economic entity but, rather, a socially embedded activity (Brush et al., 2009; De Bruin, Brush, & Welter, 2007). The singularity of female entrepreneurship cannot be understood without contextualization (Henry, Foss, & Ahl, 2015). Hence, it is important to understand the entrepreneurial ecosystem where different economic, socio-cultural, legal and institutional components co-exist (Foss et al., 2019). Every entrepreneurial ecosystem is “embedded in an institutional context which includes formal regulatory influences as well as informal institutions such as networks” (Elam et al., 2019, p. 56). Cultural context can differentially influence women’s entrepreneurship through family responsibilities including housework, as well as gender stereotyping of roles, which may lead to occupational segregation (Brush & Greene, 2016). Entrepreneurial activity also depends on the social structures and social relations that are rooted in every society’s norms, beliefs, ideologies, and conventions (Welter, 2011). Accordingly, we will provide in this section a background about Morocco to highlight salient factors related to the country’s history, its formal and informal institutions, and current socio-economic indicators reflecting the situation of women’s entrepreneurship in this context.

I.1- Background: history and cultural dimensions

As highlighted by Charrad (2010, p. 518), “structural forces are embedded in historical processes affecting the form of the state”. The Kingdom of Morocco is the most westerly of the North African countries known as Al Maghreb, meaning “The West”,¹ while it is considered as part of the East. As Joffe (1988, p. 201) stated, “in the context of North Africa and the Middle East, modern Morocco is, in many respects, a unique state”. It is the oldest monarchy in the Arab world and the only surviving one in North Africa. Geographically, Morocco lies at the crossroads between several continents, making it conducive to a multicultural exchange. Moroccan culture is highly heterogeneous, composed of an unusual alchemy of cultures. It has been gradually forged through the occupations that the country has known throughout its history (Allali, 2008). Also, given its history and legacy, Morocco is permanently striking a delicate balance between tradition and modernity whether in the political, economic or social systems (Naguib, 2021b). The country is marked by an ingrained structural and institutional dualism. It remains caught between the driving forces of the modern changes and the pervasive power of the traditional rules (Naguib, 2017). As stated by Naguib (2020, p. 416), Morocco “offers a good illustration of institutional dualism where coexist change and persistence in institutions”. In this context, women play a key role in traditional businesses while their participation in modern economic development and value creation remains extremely limited. Intriguingly, Moroccan women’s participation in the labor force has remained one of the lowest in the world and is even lower than it was two decades ago, which represents a persistent challenge for Morocco (Lopez-Acevedo, Devoto, Morales Cerda, & Roche Rodriquez, 2021). This low presence of women in the modern economic sector may be explained by a variety of factors, including the traditional paradigm still prevailing in Moroccan society, which places greater emphasis on the family role² of women compared to men.³ Indeed, the reality still shows that, whatever their profession, women must first take care of the home. This means that female entrepreneurship in Morocco is intrinsically dualistic, as women must take care of both business and family at the same time (Allali, 2018).

I.2- Country’s profile: socio-economic indicators

In addition to historical and geographical facts, demographic and socio-economic indicators help us understand female entrepreneurship in context. Morocco’s population was estimated to be 35 million inhabitants in 2020, with about half being women and 46% below 24 years of age. The median age is 29 years and the urban population represents 64% of the total population (World Factbook, 2021). The total literacy rate was 73.8% (male: 83.3%, female: 64.6%) as of 2018. Noticeably, the level of female literacy is still low in Morocco. In terms of GDP per capita, Morocco is ranked 156th out of 228 countries in the world and 14/54 countries in Africa (CIA, 2021). Regarding the ease of doing business, Morocco is ranked 53th out of 190 countries, making it the second highest-ranked African country after Rwanda (38) (World Bank, 2020b). Moreover, in terms of human development, considered as “the principal means for sustainable development”, the kingdom is placed in the medium category, ranking 121 of 189 countries according to the HDI index (UNDP, 2020). This low HDI score and high gender inequality can be attributed mainly to the comparatively low literacy rate, which is aggravated by a gap in labor force participation, and the marginalization of the rural areas that are deprived of basic health, education and transport facilities (BTI, 2019). Disparities between urban and rural, and rich and poor households persist (Indexmundi, 2020).⁴

The kingdom also suffers from high unemployment rates (9.2% in 2019), with a significantly higher rate among women, the youth, and those with tertiary education (World Bank, 2020a). Also, informality is significant in Morocco, with 17% of the economically active population having a formal job and less than 10% having a formal private-sector job (World Bank, 2020a). The majority of women and youths work in the informal sector, with little security or benefits (Indexmundi, 2020).

I.3- Country’s labor structure and gender gap

Development agencies indicate that Morocco has made significant improvements in terms of gender equality, especially regarding the literacy rates, with near parity in girls’ and boys’ enrollment in school, although this has yet to translate into increased labor force participation by women (Bosma et al., 2020). International comparisons indicate that women’s participation rate in Morocco has failed to keep pace with the country’s current level of development. This rate is well below that of Kenya or Rwanda and close to that of Senegal or Mauritania (Bargain & M, 2021). The highest rates of Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) for women are found in sub-Saharan Africa (21.8%) and Latin America (17.3%), representing a larger number of low-income countries in which necessity pushes women to participate in income generation. Also, according to the Africa Development Bank’s (ADB) Gender Equality Index (2019), Morocco is ranked 26th out of the 52 countries analyzed, far behind Tunisia, which is ranked 17th. The top ranking is shared by South Africa, Rwanda and Namibia. The rates of participation in Morocco (AGI 10.5%), Egypt (AGI 10.6%) and Tunisia (AGI 23.7%) are far lower for women than the average Africa Gender Index (AGI) score of 69.3% (Africa Development Bank, 2019). This index focuses particularly on identifying the existing gender gaps in labor force participation, wages and income, business ownership, and access to financial services. Morocco is noticeably lagging behind in these economic dimensions that empower women. That explains the need to further explore the constraining factors to women’s participation in the labor force notably through the barriers to female’s entrepreneurship.

Also, due to Morocco’s sectoral structure of female employment, which is dominated by agriculture, the share of vulnerable employment to the total female employment remains very high in Morocco (60% in 2017). Regarding the service sector, its share of the total female employment in Morocco has increased from 20% to 30% but remains one of the lowest in the world (the MENA region has recorded an increase in this share, from 60% to 70%, in most countries) (Bargain & M, 2021, p. 38).

In sum, insufficient job creation, compared to the growth of its working age population, is increasing Morocco’s unemployment rate. The trend is expected to be heavily affected by the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, causing widespread job and income losses. In such a context, fostering female entrepreneurship represents a crucial development issue and strategic priority. Women’s empowerment, notably through self-sufficiency, is considered a pillar of the reforms undertaken by Morocco and the efforts to modernize and strengthen its capacity and capability, notably through the decentralization of services, the rationalization of resources, and the digitalization of processes (Naguib, 2021b). Therefore, it is crucial to identify the main barriers and constraining factors preventing women from unleashing their full potential and effectively participating in entrepreneurial activity. In the meantime, it is important to understand the motivation of women to engage in entrepreneurial activity in Morocco to shed light on both the enabling and inhibiting factors to entrepreneurship. In the next section, we will review the literature related to the topic of female entrepreneurship in the context of Morocco and propose a conceptual framework to integrate the multiple identified factors affecting female’s entrepreneurship.

II- Literature review and conceptual framework

As a field of research, female entrepreneurship has long been denigrated in favor of a dominant male entrepreneurial paradigm. Research on female entrepreneurship only attracted the attention of researchers in the 1980s, as a subfield of entrepreneurship (Ahl, 2006; Jennings & Brush, 2013). In a systematic literature review (including 335 papers across 18 journals) covering 30 years (1983–2012) of research on gender and entrepreneurship, Henry et al. (2015, p. 7) state that “it is in the two most recent decades, starting from the millennium, that we see expansion to under-represented regions such as Africa, Asia and the Sub-Sahara”. Hence, Female Entrepreneurship is a relatively new field of research and few studies have been carried out in this area in the MENA region and even fewer in the context of Morocco.

II.1- Studies on female entrepreneurship in Morocco: a fragmented picture

Despite the growing popularity of female entrepreneurship in Morocco and its strategic importance for women’s empowerment and national development, only a few studies have been conducted (Bouzekraoui & Ferhane, 2017; Welsh, Kaciak, & Minialai, 2015;; Gray, Foster, & Howard, 2006; Gray & Finley-Hervey, 2005). As noted by Lopez-Acevedo et al. (2021), there exist only a few micro studies, and these are mostly out of date, on why Morocco’s female participation in the labor market remains very low. Therefore, the motivations and barriers to female entrepreneurship in Morocco do not seem to have been fully investigated. Also, the related available studies offer partial explanations, focusing on isolated factors that are presented as the main constraints to women entrepreneurs while overlooking the big picture.

II.1.1- Importance of socio-cultural factors

In this vein, Gray et al. (2006) considered personal characteristics (i.e. the motivation and aspirations of the entrepreneur) and external environment (i.e. culture, family background, formal education, work experience) as the major forces that shape and influence entrepreneurial decisions to start and grow a business. They highlight the “push-pull” factors that lead individuals to engage in entrepreneurship, either through frustration with their lifestyle, job or family environment or through innovation and entrepreneurial training (necessity vs opportunity entrepreneurs). In this study, a survey was conducted among 201 Moroccan entrepreneurs, with women representing less than 10% of the sample, and 33% of them being “pushed” into entrepreneurship compared to 10% for men. The study asserts that individual factors have a limited explanatory power regarding entrepreneurship and that the social context is more important in understanding this phenomenon.

Gray and Finley-Hervey (2005) explore the empowerment of female entrepreneurs through increased self-sufficiency by considering socio-cultural and religious factors. They chose to investigate the entrepreneurial pursuits of Muslim women in business in the context of Morocco. In this study involving 15 Moroccan women entrepreneurs, they present four cases (two educated women operating in the formal sector and two uneducated women operating in the informal sector) and propose four pillars, consisting of spirituality, education, strategy, and experience, that are supposed to pave the path to entrepreneurial success for women in Morocco.

II.1.2- Importance of psychological factors (attitudinal vs objective variables)

Welsh et al. (2015) use the family embeddedness perspective within the institutional economics framework to explore female entrepreneurship in Morocco, arguing that women’s entrepreneurial activity is strongly-rooted in family systems. They use subjective perceptions and focus on two attitudinal variables (self-evaluated management skills and perceived gender discrimination in obtaining funds) to explain how women start their businesses, claiming that these dimensions are often overlooked, even though they can be more important than the standard objective variables (i.e. income, education). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy, a social cognitive concept, which encompasses an individual’s belief that she will be able to succeed as an entrepreneur, is considered as one of the most relevant socio-cultural factors.

Women’s lack of self-confidence is often observed to be a barrier in developing countries, where women are assessed mainly through the lens of the family and household responsibilities. For this perspective, Siba (2019, p. 1) asserts that empowering female entrepreneurs in developing countries requires us “to move beyond basic access to financial and human capital and also tackle central psychological, social, and skills constraints on women entrepreneurs”. In such contexts, the success of female entrepreneurs depends on their personal traits and entrepreneurial skills, and how supportive institutions and stakeholders address these major constraints.

In a more recent study of the challenges and opportunities that women entrepreneurs face in Africa, Moreno-Gavara and Jiménez-Zarco (2019, p. 119) point out that the main barriers consist of a lack of professional qualifications and business skills, access to funding, and difficulties with accessing professional networks, in addition to the cultural or social barriers, legal discrimination (e.g. the lack of a right to access to own land), and the role that women occupy at the family level in terms of their responsibility for childcare and looking after the elderly. For Panda (2018, p. 315), “constraints faced by women entrepreneurs in developing countries arise 7 broad categories consisting in gender discrimination, work-family conflict, difficulty in raising capital, lack of infrastructure, unstable business, economic and political environments, lack of training and education and personality differences”. The study suggests that, in addition to financial constraints, unstable external environments need to be addressed as a top priority. It also argues that the attitudes and beliefs of women entrepreneurs are rarely discussed in the entrepreneurship literature.

II.1.3- Importance of institutional factors (public policy)

In a gendered national-level entrepreneurial activity analysis using a 14 year panel study of GEM, Hechavarria and Ingram (2019) assert that their prevalence in entrepreneurship is highest for women when the entrepreneurial ecosystem features low barriers to entry, a supportive government policy toward entrepreneurship, a minimal commercial and legal infrastructure, and a normative culture that supports entrepreneurship. The study emphasized the complex role played by social norms in influencing business venturing, depending on the level of the country’s development. On a related note, Foss et al. (2019, p. 410) highlight “the importance of policy as a core component of the entrepreneurial ecosystem”. In the same vein, Niethammer (2013) highlighted some of the typical challenges regarding the capacity-building programs targeted at women entrepreneurs beside the obstacles related to accessing credit, training, networks and information, as well as legal and policy constraints.

Accordingly, in her thesis investigating female entrepreneurship in Morocco, Rachdi (2016) points to the generic barriers, consisting of funding, red tape, a lack of information, and a lack of management training along with specific barriers focusing on the systemic discrimination inherent in the status of women within the socio-cultural context. These barriers translate into a lack of credibility attributed to women in relation to their male competitors, difficulties in entering networks due to the weight of gender representation, and challenges associated with reconciling private and professional life. In a nutshell, El Ouazzani (2018) identifies public policies, access to finance, and entrepreneurial education and training as the main constraints on entrepreneurship in Morocco, according to the El Ouazzani (2018).

II.1.4- Importance of the sector of activity

From their systematic literature review of the research on female entrepreneurship, Henry et al. (2015) note surprisingly that in the majority of articles the sector is unspecified. In order to approach the barriers to women’s employment and their effects on economic activity as a whole, Bargain and M (2021) estimated models covering the agriculture, industry and service sectors. These barriers, approached by the implicit taxation rates of the marginal production of women, were revealed to be high in the services sector and lower in the fields of industry and agriculture. The study concludes that “the results of quantifying barriers to women’s employment in Morocco attest to their importance, particularly in the services sector” (p. 110). Such results indicate the salience of industry-related factors and the need to take them into consideration when investigating the motivations and barriers to female entrepreneurship. Akehurst, Simarro, and Mas-Tur (2012) have also called for a particular focus on female entrepreneurs in the service sector to identify their motives and barriers. In this paper, we respond to this call by focusing on the service sector.

II.2- Conceptual and theoretical framework: an integrative lens

The seminal review of female entrepreneurship in the context of Morocco reveals multiple variables and a multitude of factors affecting women entrepreneurs offering a fragmented picture. It noticeably highlights the need for a holistic approach and a heuristic tool to apprehend female entrepreneurship and capture its complexity. Therefore, in order to enhance our understanding of the multi-dimensional factors affecting female entrepreneurship, we propose a multi-level analytical framework and an integrated approach, in line with the recent literature arguing for a multidimensional research design (De Bruin et al. (2007); Jamali (2009); Naguib and Jamali (2015); Poggesi, Mari, and De Vita (2016); Bastian, Sidani, and El Amine (2018); Yunis, Hashim, and Anderson (2019).

As noted, the limited available research on this topic has examined separately the micro, meso and macro level factors constraining female entrepreneurship. Our paper offers to consider, systematically and simultaneously, the micro-meso-macro level factors affecting female entrepreneurship in the context of Morocco. As explained by Naguib and Jamali (2015, p. 138), micro-level factors are used to exhibit the influence of individual characteristics (i.e. education, age, choice/motive related to becoming self-employed, self-perception/self-confidence, fear of failure, personal characteristics) on female entrepreneurial ventures. Macro-level factors are intended to capture more broadly the labor market dynamics and both the formal and informal institutions’ effects on female entrepreneurship (i.e. the political, economic, historical, social, cultural and educational institutions). The meso level of analysis focuses on phenomena that occur at the level of the organization and sector of activity (including planning, budgeting and accessing capital).

So, in order to capture both the motivations and barriers related to female entrepreneurship, we adopt a framework combining institutional and feminist theory. From a theoretical perspective, many studies considering entrepreneurship as “a process constrained by gender ideologies” have adopted a feminist theoretical framework (Bianco et al., 2017, p. 339). Meanwhile, as highlighted by Busenitz, Gómez, and Spencer (2000, p. 995), “Cross-national differences in entrepreneurship are best explained by a broader set of institutions that guide and constrain private business behavior in every national economy”. Additionally, according to Welter and Smallbone (2008), the popular approaches used to study women’s entrepreneurship include social cognitive theory, network and social capital approaches, while among the less used ones we find the resource-based view (RBV) and institutional theory. Therefore, as pointed out by Yunis et al. (2019), the combination of institutional and feminist theory helps developing a clear understanding of female entrepreneurship with respect to context.

Institutional theory helps explain the regulative and normative pressures constraining female entrepreneurship (Bruton, Ahlstrom, & Li, 2010; Jamali, 2009; Naguib & Jamali, 2015; Welter, 2011). Concurrently, feminist theory through women’s empowerment contributes to understanding women’s motivations and agency related to entrepreneurship (Beşpınar, 2010; Kabeer et al., 2013; Minniti & Naude, 2010; Pathak, Goltz, Buche, & Julia Rouse, Lorna Treanor And Dr Emma Fleck, 2013). According to Scott (2008), the regulative institutional dimension refers to codified rules and laws enforced by state machinery, while the normative pressures emanate from moral beliefs and norms providing a basis for social meaning and order. The pursuit of economic opportunities is considered as an indicator of agency which is critical for women’s empowerment (Alkire, 2008; Bianco et al., 2017; Hanmer & Klugman, 2016; Ibrahim & Alkire, 2007).

The process of entrepreneurship starts with motivation (Cabrera & Mauricio, 2017; Rey-Marti, Tur, & Mas-Tur, 2015; Stay, Durrieu, & Akhter, 2013). For that reason, understanding motivation “helps to inform how increased agency can lead to empowerment” Hanmer and Klugman (2016, p. 241). In the meantime, as noticed by Charrad (2010, p. 519, 521), “women’s agency cannot be imagined outside established gender hierarchies and institutional contexts”, and needs to be considered “within structural constraints, situational conditions and interactional dynamics”. Therefore, both feminist and institutional lenses are needed to provide an integrative conceptual framework allowing us to capture the dynamic interplay of enablers pulling toward change, and constraints pushing toward stability as faced by female entrepreneurs in a specific context. Accordingly, the conceptual framework along with the theoretical lens adopted help capture the big picture related to the different dimensions and multiple factors affecting women entrepreneurs and shed light on the imbrication and interaction between them. It highlights both fostering and inhibiting factors. In order to identify these factors empirically and understand the dynamic and motivations of female entrepreneurs, field research adopting a qualitative approach has been conducted as presented in the following section.

III- Research methodology

To explore the motivations and barriers to female entrepreneurship in Morocco, we used qualitative research methods, combining focus groups and semi-structured interviews involving twenty women entrepreneurs.⁵ According to Henry et al. (2015, p. 19), following a systematic literature review to identify the methodological trends in the field of gender and entrepreneurship, there is “an overwhelming trend towards large-scale, quantitatively based male–female comparative research (using secondary data, large datasets and explanatory and descriptive designs) that avoids adopting sector-specific focus and within-group comparative analysis”, and “reinforces a static and acontextual view” of women entrepreneurs. In this perspective, the authors recommend shifting toward more “focused qualitative and innovative methodologies such as in-depth interviews, case studies and ethnography”. Also, as stated by Beşpınar (2010, p. 258), in order to get “richer understanding about opportunities and constraints, subjective and qualitative information is clearly important”.

For these reasons, this paper adopts a qualitative approach allowing us to explore the phenomenon in its complexity and consider its multifold dimensions by focusing on women entrepreneurs in the service sector in the Moroccan context. Furthermore, as stated by Rachdi (2016, p. 146), the choice of a qualitative methodology permits easy access to the representations of the actors to gain a clearer understanding of the context and analyze it in depth, something that does not occur when adopting a quantitative approach.

III.1- Sample and data collection

In addition to the challenges and difficulties related to the field work in developing countries, it is noteworthy that this research was undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic, which meant that the data collection methods and protocols had to be adjusted and adapted. The sampling was purposeful. To recruit Moroccan female entrepreneurs active in the service sector, we used a two-step method. First, using social media and the network of Enactus⁶ members, we invited female entrepreneurs in service businesses on a voluntary basis to complete an online questionnaire form. Of the 26 completed questionnaires received, 20 participants who had answered all of the mandatory questions and who are active in independent service businesses were selected. The profiles of the female participants are summarized in Table 1.

TABLE 1. Profile of the Participants in the Study.

N^o	Age	Marital Status	Type of Business	Education level	Household’s Approximate Monthly Income	Legal Status of Business	Year of Inception
1	25–30	Single	Editorial content	Master’s in marketing	5,000–10,000 DH	Self-employed	2020
2	40–45	Married	Consulting and training	Master’s in management	+ 20,000	SARLAU	2014
3	40–45	Divorced	Media and digital influence	Bachelor’s	NA	SARL	2020
4	+ 45	Married	ICT	Bachelor’s in computer sc.	+ 20,000	SARL	1999
5	+ 45	Single	Photographic production	High school	NA	SARLAU	2009
6	+ 45	Divorced	Event planning and organization	High school	NA	SARLAU	2015
7	40–45	Single	Photographic production	High school	NA	SARLAU	2009
8	40–45	Married	Car rental	High school	+ 20,000	SARL	1989
9	40–45	Married	Design office	Bachelor’s in marketing	NA	SARLAU	2015
10	20–25	Single	Hospitality	High school	NA	SARLAU	2017
11	20–25	Single	Support platform	College	5,000–10,000	SARLAU	2020
12	30–35	Single	Support and training services for entrepreneurs and businesses	Master’s in management	10,000–15,000	SARLAU	2015
13	25–30	Married	Learning and experimentation programmes	Master’s in education	10,000–15,000	SARL	2017
14	20–25	Single	Training	Master’s in management	10,000–15,000	SARL	2019
15	40–45	Single	Photographic production	High school	NA	SARLAU	2009
16	20–25	Married	Marketing of organic cosmetic products	High school	10,000–15,000	SARL	2016
17	30–35	Single	Water recycling	Bachelor’s in engineering	5,000–10,000	SARLAU	2021
18	30–35	Married	Upcycling of paper, plastic and fabric	Bachelor’s in sciences	NA	SARLAU	2017
19	35–40	Divorced	HR services	Master’s in HR	NA	SARLAU	2013
20	20–25	Single	Marketing of biodegradable utensils	High school	NA	SARL	2020

SARL: LLC SARLAU: LLC with only one associate

The 20 participants were invited to attend two online focus groups, designed to collect rich, diverse data and encourage discussions that would reveal the participants’ perspectives and opinions (Blackburn & Stokes, 2000; Winslow, Honein, & Elzubeir, 2002). In fact, debate, which is encouraged in the context of a focus group, provides new, unexpected insights, while a more structured approach to questioning might inhibit such spontaneity (Naguib & Jamali, 2015). However, to respect the confidentiality of the shared data and as some of the female respondents declined to speak in public, the focus groups were complemented and supplemented by one-to-one online interviews. Prior to the focus groups and interviews, the participants provided verbal informed consent.

During the focus group, as an ice breaker, the participants were asked to introduce themselves and freely talk about their experiences as female entrepreneurs. After that, the themes of the interview guide were presented and explained and the participants were invited to address each one of them from their own perspective. The focus group lasted about two hours each. The focus group was meant, on one hand, to deepen and clarify some answers provided online, and on the other hand, to seek some additional insights from participants in reaction to other respondents’ answers. During the focus group as well as the one-to-one discussions, a semi-structured interview protocol was used, comprising open-ended questions grouped into the themes captured in the interview guide (Table 2). The interviews were recorded, then translated and summarized in English. All of the collected data were deidentified to ensure confidentiality.

TABLE 2. Interview Guide.

Levels of analysis	Motivational or limiting factors	Category	Script
Micro	Motives and stimuli	External factors that drove the female to become an entrepreneur	Explore with the participants what motivated them to become entrepreneurs; whether they decided to do so on their own, by necessity, or as an opportunity quest.
	Personal traits	Internal traits and characteristics for entrepreneurship	Explore with the participants whether they have role models in their family or surroundings.
Meso	Financial	Savings and access to funds	Ask the participants what they did to fund their business; whether they faced any difficulties accessing the necessary capital.
	Logistics	Support and assistance	Explore with the participants whether they were supported and helped to start their business by women’s associations and/or other entities and how they evaluate such assistance.
Macro	Businessenvironment	Is the business environment perceived as conducive to female entrepreneurship?	Ask how the participants evaluate the local business environment and if they find it conducive or constraining.
	Socio-cultural environment	How is female entrepreneurship perceived in society?	Ask the participants whether being a woman made any difference to their entrepreneurial activities.

III.2- Data analysis

The collected data was categorized and analyzed thematically (Yunis et al., 2019; Ritchie and Spencer, 1994; Attride-Stirling, 2001). Data was coded and sorted by theme following our conceptual framework and theoretical lenses, unlike in a grounded theory approach. The enabling and constraining factors were then identified according to the multiple levels of analysis (micro, meso and macro). Given the small sample, we resorted to manual coding rather than using data analysis software (i.e. Nvivo or Atlas.ti). The participants’ answers to each question were compared using a within-group comparison involving only women entrepreneurs. By following this methodological approach, this paper is filling a gap in the literature and responding to the call by Henry et al. (2015, p. 20) to “balance quantitative studies with qualitative insights” and “introducing sector, region and country explorations that involve within-group comparisons”.

Sample profile: The demographics and key characteristics of interviewees

Our sample of Moroccan women entrepreneurs represent the following characteristics:

Table

Marital status	Single	54.50%
	Married	31.80%
	Divorced	13.60%
Age	20–25	22.70%
	25–30	9.10%
	30–35	13.60%
	35–40	4.50%
	40–45	40.90%
	>45	9.10%
Education	College	5%
	High school	40%
	Bachelor’s	25%
	Master’s	30%
Legal status of business	Self-employed	4.50%
	LLC	31.80%
	LLC 1A (one associate)	63.60%
Date of Creation of the company	2009	22.70%
	2015	13.60%
	2017	13.60%
	2020	18.20%
Household approximate monthly income	5,000–10,000	30%
	10,000–15,000	30%
	>20,000	40%

III.3- Key findings

Starting with the choice of the sector of activity, three main reasons clearly emerged from the discussion about why the participants chose the service sector rather than the manufacturing or agriculture sectors. First, all of the participants lacked sufficient seed money to engage in a capital-intensive activity. Second, most of the participants were unsure whether or not they would succeed in their endeavor and wanted to be prepared in case they needed to terminate their activity. So, possessing fewer assets that would need to be sold off seemed more appealing to them. Third, most of the participants did not have any manufacturing or agricultural know-how. Therefore, women’s agency starts with the choice of the sector of activity that allows them to become entrepreneurs while overcoming major constraints like the lack of capital, know-how, and self-efficacy. The following excerpts show how women enact agency and turn constraints into opportunities.

“As a woman, I have to prove myself every day. If I fail, others will see me as a female entrepreneur who failed, not just an entrepreneur who failed! But I see this as an additional motivation.”

“I saw each constraint as an opportunity. From such a perspective, being a young woman entrepreneur becomes more of an opportunity than a constraint.”

Following the adopted conceptual framework, the fostering and inhibiting factors to female entrepreneurship are presented according to multi-levels of analysis (micro, meso, and macro).

III.3.1- Micro-level factors

As a reminder, two categories of factors have been selected at the micro level of analysis: motives and stimuli on one hand, and personal traits on the other. The former pertains mainly to external factors related to entrepreneurship whereas the latter alludes to the internal traits and characteristics of the female entrepreneur.

As for the motives and stimuli, identifying and seizing an opportunity (an opportunity quest) that matched the entrepreneur’s skills seems to be a prominent external factor, dominating 36.4% of the responses. However, internal factors definitely have a far greater influence on the entrepreneur. These factors are twofold. Namely, those stemming from the entrepreneur’s passion (63.60%), and those that can be perceived as a reaction to the failure to find a decent job (18.10%).

The aforementioned figures regarding entrepreneurial passion can be enriched by some of the factors enlisted under “Other motivations” such as:

“I wanted to satisfy my love for entrepreneurial adventures;”

“I wanted to make a difference;”

“I needed to work on social issues;”

“I have always been passionate about innovation”,

The other reasons in this category include:

“It was not a deliberate decision. I inherited the business from my father;”

“I just did it. I didn’t think about it. It was a kind of a spontaneous reaction”.

As we can see, becoming a female entrepreneur in the service sector can be motivated primarily by both entrepreneurial passion and an opportunity quest. The necessity, or “displacement” as Shapero and Sokol (1982) put it, can explain only a small slice of the female entrepreneur experience in Morocco.

According to many scholars, successful role models reinforce role model identification, thus enhancing self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention. Likewise, unsuccessful entrepreneurial role models can also impact on the relationship between self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention (Laviolette, Lefebvre, & Brunel, 2012). In our sample, about one in four of the female entrepreneurs (27.3%) had a role model who influenced her decision to become an entrepreneur.

III.3.2- Meso-level factors

At this level, we considered two main families of factors that can either facilitate the entrepreneurial act or, on the contrary, prevent and constrain it. These factors pertain to savings and access to funds on one hand, and support and assistance on the other. Regarding access to funds, almost 50% of the participants in our study encountered difficulty when seeking to obtain credit and grants to fund their business. However, it was the lack of assistance and support from the women’s associations and other support entities that they pinpointed as being the most important impediment they faced (54.5%).

“I didn’t know where to start, and I feared failing. Frequently, I was about to give up. I asked for help, but nobody helped me. I went to many women’s associations here [in Casablanca]. All they did was recommend that I attended some of their training sessions. That was far from enough! Later, after I started my business, I learned that many government-funded programmes existed. That was too late.”

As for family support, 13.6% of the respondents stated that not only there was no support from the family but even worse, many family members, including their husbands, tried to dissuade them. No wonder this percentage is the same as that for the divorced female entrepreneurs in the sample. This intriguing finding points to a social transformation and change in female entrepreneurs’ profile generally consisting of married women benefiting from the support of their family.

III.3.3- Macro-level factors

The female entrepreneurs’ opinions about whether or not the business environment is conducive to female entrepreneurship were very mixed. More than four in ten of the female entrepreneurs (40.9%) find the administrative procedures and red tape that they must deal with highly challenging. However, another four in ten recognize that important progress has been made in simplifying these procedures and removing the obstacles. Surprisingly, only two of the female entrepreneurs (out of the sample of 20) identify these constraints as being related to their status as female entrepreneurs. However, there were frequent expressions of dismay during the discussion, as captured in the following excerpts:

“The business world is full of problems, stemming especially from the vision of men vis-à-vis women (a view of inferiority);”

“Being a young entrepreneur is already complicated, and by adding the fact of being a woman, it becomes an impossible mission;”

“The expression of my leadership and notoriety as the manager of a company, where the managers of the workshops are men, has not been one of the simplest questions. Add to this the question of the legitimacy of women and even more of young women in their late twenties, I was considered too young to be a leader;”

“I suffered from gender discrimination only when I ran into potential clients who tried to hit on me but, luckily, this is not systematic.”

As a conclusion to the interview, the participants were asked to address two questions: given what they know now, what they would have probably done differently; and what advice would they offer to a would-be female entrepreneur.

Concerning the first question, some of the provided answers were related to seeking more opportunities and acquiring more skills, reported as follows:

“I’d take more time instead of rushing, I’d analyse all of the questions better and I wouldn’t always trust people;”

“I’d have strengthened my marketing skills;”

“Present myself more as a woman entrepreneur, despite the obstacles;”

“I wouldn’t have formed this company. I’d have invested in another area, ideally aimed at individuals (doing more BtoC). The Moroccan market is very limited in terms of BtoB opportunities in the provision of HR services.”

As for the second question, the participants offered advice related to the challenges encountered by women entrepreneurs and ways to overcome them, as summarized in the following excerpts:

“Study your project and its environment well, then go for it and follow your heart. Keep up your courage and never let go, no matter what;”

“It’s a big challenge. Don’t let go and don’t expect support from those around you;”

“It’s an everyday battle. You have to be well-equipped and prepared;”

“Prepare well, be convinced of your project idea, surround yourself with the right people to make your project a success;”

“Only your work and determination can define who you are. Focus on your goals and transform every constraint into an opportunity for growth;”

“Failure is only one step towards success. Surround yourself with passionate people who motivate you. Self-learning is very important in the entrepreneurial experience.”

IV- Discussion

This study explores the enabling and constraining factors affecting women entrepreneurs in the context of Morocco, using a holistic multi-level perspective along with feminist and institutional lenses. The findings underpin the importance of taking into consideration the multi-dimensional aspects of female entrepreneurship and highlight the dynamic relationship and interplay between the multiple levels of analysis. They also portray women’s motivations and their ability to overcome structural and institutional constraining factors illustrating agency through the search for business opportunities and work-life balance.

IV.1- Motivation and individual enabling/constraining factors

Starting with the micro-level factors, our findings show that individual characteristics are invariably important in making sense of female entrepreneurship.

IV.1.1- Education

The profile of the women entrepreneurs in our sample corresponds to that drawn by GEM (2017) and previous studies in terms of age structure (between 25 and 45 years-old), education (degree), and size of the business (mainly very small enterprises and a few SMEs with limited liability) (El Ouazzani, 2018, ILO, 2016, 2018; Bouzekraoui & Ferhane, 2017). Regarding education, the research shows that it significantly affects women’s employment. It can work both as an enabler or a constraint. The findings of Bargain and Lo (2021:39) “attest to a marked increase in women’s access to education in Morocco over the past three decades”. However, Morocco’s levels of education remain lower than those in the MENA countries indicating that this area needs special attention from women and the Moroccan government.

IV.1.2- Marital status

Our sample’s profile diverges from available studies in terms of marital status and alludes to important, ongoing social and demographic changes in Morocco. Generally, the majority of women entrepreneurs are found to be married with children (Asli & Nour, 2018; Rachdi, 2016; Welsh et al., 2015). In our sample, the majority of women are single and the percentage who are divorced is high. Even though the sample is not largely nor significantly representative, yet it captures a reality and a paradox highlighted by the current studies.⁷ Using a multivariate analysis to identify the factors that determine women’s access to activity, while taking the Moroccan context into account, Bargain and Lo (2021) show that demographic factors, particularly marital status (single, divorced or widowed), determine the decision about women’s participation in the labour market. The Africa Development Bank (2019) and Lopez-Acevedo et al. (2021) also confirm that women’s participation in the labor market is lower after marriage. In the same vein, Bouzekraoui and Ferhane (2017) report that single females, widows or divorced women are more creative and undertake more business ventures because they have fewer family responsibilities. This factor simultaneously plays a fostering and an inhibiting role as it shapes women’s lives and agency.

IV.1.3- Work-family life balance

Women are facing serious challenges to reconcile their social/private life and economic empowerment. They constantly struggle to maintain a work-family life balance. This factor refers to several structural and societal issues, notably the drop in birth rate, which is thought to provide women with more opportunities outside the home (Welsh et al., 2015). In their analysis, Bargain and Lo (2021:45) show that “the fertility level in Morocco is quite low, compared to the average recorded by sub-Saharan countries with a higher female participation rate”, and is converging toward that of Western countries. Yet, women’s involvement in entrepreneurial activity is reported to be quite low in the kingdom (El Ouazzani, 2018).⁸ That shows the dilemma and tradeoffs women have to deal with in notably becoming entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, this factor is perceived as an enabler by many women venturing into their own business because they want to balance their domestic and business roles.

IV.1.4- Motivation: opportunity-driven

In terms of the motivation to engage in entrepreneurial activities, our findings show a combination of pull and push factors, with more women motivated by opportunity, especially in the service sector. Women effectively chose the service sector due to their lack of seed capital and manufacturing know-how. Generally, the ratio of opportunity to necessity entrepreneurship is higher in high-income than in low-income and developing countries, where economic necessity is the primary motivation that pushes women to start a business (Poggesi et al., 2016). In other words, “the poorer the country, the more likely that women’s entrepreneurship is driven by necessity” (Niethammer, 2013: 31). Paradoxically, despite being a low-income country, the motivation of women regarding TEA is more opportunity-driven than necessity-driven (Elam et al., 2019). Intriguingly, Morocco seems to follow the trend of efficiency-driven economies (GEM, 2017). Moroccan women appear to be motivated by opportunity, aiming to secure their own employment (self-employed) in order to improve their situation and income or for the sake of independence. Furthermore, as asserted by El Ouazzani (2018: 46), in the Moroccan context, “opportunity entrepreneurship is more evident in the service sector”, given the lower start-up cost and fewer entry barriers. This case shows how women enact agency by investing in low capital activities to reduce financial barriers along with regulative and normative constraints related to access to capital and the role women have to play in their family and community. It illustrates how women maneuver to cope with the individual constraints and structural limitations surrounding them.

IV.2- Regulative constraints: access to finance and assistance related factors

At the meso level, the findings show a link between the type of business activities women are involved in and their educational background and experience. Furthermore, the participants clearly stated that they chose the service sector because they lacked access to seed capital. They also highlighted the lack of organizational assistance as a hindering factor.

IV.2.1- Limited access to capital

Access to capital is repeatedly mentioned as one of the main inhibiting factors regarding female entrepreneurship. Hence, even in the service sector, half of the participants complained that they faced difficulties in obtaining the funds they needed. This finding corroborates previous related studies. Rachdi (2016: 161) states that, in Morocco, female entrepreneurs tend “to avoid bank loans and are inclined to use financial assistance from the family entourage or invest their personal savings”. Informal investment or “Love money”, as opposed to funds invested by professional structures, is an important source of financing in countries like Morocco (El Ouazzani, 2018, p. 50). The Africa Gender Index shows that there exists a high gender gap (AGI 73.4%) regarding access to credit, with some countries offering little opportunity for women to borrow compared to men, noticeably in Morocco (AGI 40.1%), compared to Niger (22.6%), and Burundi (AGI 37.0%) (Africa Development Bank, 2019, p. 57). Hence, as pointed out by Niethammer (2013: 33), “since financing choices and capital availability are key enabling factors for entrepreneurship, it is critical to ensure that women are aware of the availability of financing and have full access to it”.

IV.2.2- Lack of assistance

Unfortunately, as reported by most of the participants, there is a frustrating lack of assistance and support for female entrepreneurs at the beginning of their journey. This issue is confirmed by Welsh et al. (2015), who noted that little public funding in Morocco has been devoted to women entrepreneurs. However, there are many initiatives and support programmes implemented by NGOs and international organizations as well as a high number of female business associations in Morocco. Yet, despite the availability of such associations and programmes, huge efforts are still needed to disseminate the right information to would-be female entrepreneurs. Therefore, given their role as a catalyst in improving entrepreneurial activity among women, the number of mentoring programs and networking organizations need to be increased and the accessibility issues need to be addressed (ILO, 2018). In this regard, Bouzekraoui and Ferhane (2017) stressed the importance of network involvement as one of the key success factors for women entrepreneurs. Contact networks are considered “an asset for women since their business ventures generally depend on developing close and lasting relationships with customers, suppliers and collaborators” (Cabrera & Mauricio, 2017, p. 59).

IV. 3- Normative constraints: Institutional and entrepreneurial ecosystem related factors

At the macro level, socio-cultural norms, institutional environment, and entrepreneurial ecosystems are often cited as the main constraints on female entrepreneurship.

IV.3.1- Gender stereotypes/socio-cultural beliefs

The participants’ responses show mixed results, especially regarding discriminatory gender norms and social perceptions. While some confirm the prevailing gender stereotypes and related discriminatory aspects pervasive in Moroccan culture, others perceive it as a challenge to overcome and an opportunity to enact agency. That makes Morocco, as reported by Gray and Finley-Hervey (2005:206), “an intriguing theater to investigate entrepreneurial pursuits of Muslim women in business”. In this regard, religion can be considered a salient, societal-level institutional order, affecting female entrepreneurship. However, as noticed in a Middle-Eastern context, “while religion can provide an emancipatory path for females seeking entrepreneurship, social customs and tribal traditions work as constraining factors due to the phalanx of patriarchal attitudes and internalized cultural norms” (Naguib & Jamali, 2015, p. 155). This observation is echoed by Rachdi (2016) in Morocco, asserting that, contrary to the prevalent beliefs, Islam does not prohibit women from engaging in business activity.

These distorted perceptions and interpretations are often the result of a failure to distinguish between tradition and religion in a male-dominated field and a patriarchal society, thereby generating multiple unconscious biases toward women. As highlighted by Siba (2019), women entrepreneurs suffer from mind-set constraints. In the same vein, Bouzekraoui and Ferhane (2017:14) point out the “weight of mentalities” as one of the main barriers confronting Moroccan women entrepreneurs. From their review of literature, Cabrera and Mauricio (2017:52) highlight the “negative effects of the socio-cultural rules and regulations, values and perceptions generally influenced by gender-based stereotypes”. Therefore, one of the basic challenges in the context of Morocco consists of the “change of mentalities and socio-cultural beliefs that inform the socialization process”, while identifying parts of the local “tradition, history and culture that can be used as building blocks” (Gray, 2007:66, 73). Such changes can be achieved through education and training, and require policy initiatives.

IV.3.2- Entrepreneurship education

In this regard, the weak development of entrepreneurship education is highlighted by experts in the GEM report (2017) as one of the major causes of the weak entrepreneurial dynamics recorded in Morocco (El Ouazzani, 2018).⁹ Bosma et al. (2020) advocate an early exposure to entrepreneurship education and training to address this imbalance. Several studies have confirmed the important role of education as the primary determinant of entrepreneurial intent among women and younger people. Hence, revamping the university curriculum to include courses related to entrepreneurship, stress management, personality development, and communication skills is key to facilitating female entrepreneurship (Africa Development Bank, 2019, p. 33).

Furthermore, it is vital to develop entrepreneurial skills through training that is adapted to the specific needs of Moroccan entrepreneurs (Asli & Nour, 2018). Naguib (2021a) highlights the critical importance of localizing entrepreneurship education and introducing ethical and gendered perspectives within an integrative framework. Additionally, training programmes and courses for would-be female entrepreneurs also need to be adapted to include the service sector. Indeed, the issues and problems faced by female entrepreneurs in the service sector are highly specific and stem from the characteristics of the services (i.e. immateriality, simultaneity of production, distribution and consumption, difficulty of transportation and storage).

IV.3.3- Public policy and government initiatives

Initiatives seeking to address and alleviate constraints and barriers facing women entrepreneurs are primarily the responsibility of the government, in collaboration with the private sector. As noted by Ahl and Nelson (2014: 274), “governments develop policies and then programs to promote business start-up and growth because the creation and support of infrastructure that encourages innovation and business development is seen as a worthwhile national investment in future economic prosperity”. This explains why public policy is regarded as an influential factor that either fosters or inhibits female entrepreneurship. As implied by Charrad (2010: 518), “state policies are shaping the context for women’s lives and agency”. In fact, formal policies are born out of a normative and idealized patterns of practice (Pathak et al., 2013).

Additionally,, as confirmed by our interviewees, and reported in other studies, women entrepreneurs lack knowledge about business creation as well as information about the available programmes when starting their project. This statement corroborates the lack of coordination and absence of participation by women in the dynamic institutional relationships and programs dedicated to them despite the noticeable efforts to promote female entrepreneurship in Morocco (ILO, 2016).¹⁰ Regarding the institutional environment, several national and international reports refer to the Moroccan tax system, the complexity of the procedures and the quality of the services provided by the administration as major hurdles and obstacles facing entrepreneurs (Haut Commissariat au Plan, 2019).¹¹ As spotlighted by Beşpınar (2010:531), “only institutional remedies such as socio-economic policies focusing on women’s economic, social and political rights can bring about influential resources for women to develop their agencies towards collective empowerment”. In the same vein, Nziku and Struthers (2018) stress the role of public policy in addressing the institutional obstacles facing women entrepreneurs, especially in Africa, through training, mentoring and other capacity building activities. Hence, under both national and international pressures, Morocco has implemented reforms and programmes to promote good governance (Naguib, 2021b). However, results on the ground are far from being significant nor satisfactory.¹²

Limitations and future research directions

By exploring the motivations and barriers to female entrepreneurship in a developing country, this paper tackles a complex topic dealing with a manifold phenomenon involving multiple factors. It has the merit of adopting a holistic and integrative framework to help to analyze and understand the enablers and constraints faced by women entrepreneurs in a specific context. However, a number of limitations related to this study need to be acknowledged. The main limitation concerns the size and the restricted location of the sample affecting its generalizability. The sample is too small in size and scope to be representative of Moroccan women entrepreneurs and offers only one case study. It also focuses on only the service sector and on one urban region. The sector and regions are far from being homogenous, given the interregional disparities in the country. Hence, choosing a larger sample and distinguishing between different branches of services would help to clarify both the motives and barriers that female entrepreneurs face in the chosen context and in other countries. In terms of data collection, the research faced many challenges linked to the dearth of secondary data and difficulty of collecting primary data. Due to the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, all of the interviews and interactions with the participants were conducted online, which affected the data collection process, participation rate, and interaction with the participants.

Nevertheless, the study presents promising avenues for future research. Further studies adopting the same theoretical framework and using different methodologies to explore this topic either longitudinally, comparatively, or through discourse analysis, narrative approaches and case studies, would help to deepen and broaden our understanding of female entrepreneurship. We also encourage a further exploration of the nexus of female entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment in African contexts to investigate further how women enact agency; and the strategies devised to cope with institutional constraints and structural barriers.

Conclusion and policy implications

On their entrepreneurial journey, women face multiple barriers arising from internal and individual factors combined with external hurdles related to the business and their sector of activity, including limited access to funding and the lack of a support network, as well as institutional constraints stemming from the socio-cultural norms and entrepreneurial ecosystem and ultimately the striking of a work-family balance. Therefore, the barriers to female entrepreneurship are found at multiple levels (micro, meso and macro). They also vary depending on the context (Brush et al., 2009; De Bruin et al., 2007; Welter, 2011). As highlighted by the Global Entrepreneurship Development Index, there is no one self-explanatory or single weakness that hinders female entrepreneurship development and consequently impedes women’s empowerment. Actually, most countries are confronted by their own unique combination and constellation of factors that shape the female entrepreneurship experience (GEDI, 2013; Naguib & Jamali, 2015). Interestingly, this experience in Morocco shows that, while facing many constraining factors, women are persistently enacting agency and constantly seeking to turn challenges into opportunities. The study shows the salience of combining institutional and feminist lenses and showcases the dynamic interplay and imbrications of enablers and constraints to female entrepreneurship. It stresses the importance of adopting an integrative multi-level approach and contextualized perspective to investigate a multi-dimensional and complex phenomenon.

In this regard, our paper contributes to a better understanding of female entrepreneurship from a holistic perspective and also advances the limited and nascent research in this area. Meanwhile, it makes an empirical contribution by investigating women entrepreneurs in Morocco using an in-depth qualitative approach that seeks to “put qualitative research methods on the agenda of the female entrepreneurship field”, as underlined by Henry et al. (2015:4). Furthermore, this paper is addressing policymakers to help them comprehend female entrepreneurship in an integrative way while taking into consideration the uniqueness and peculiarities of the context. By doing so, the paper responds to the call to scholars by Foss et al. (2019: 424) “to account for the contextual and institutional dimensions of the entrepreneurial ecosystems”, as well as the need for policy-makers “to adopt a holistic approach to develop an overarching ecosystem strategy”, in order to improve female entrepreneurship in both theory and practice.

Moreover, this research stresses the need for a localized approach and the adoption of specific measures and intervention programs to foster women’s empowerment through female entrepreneurship as part of the national development strategy. It echoes the call by Wood et al. (2011:12) “to understand female entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment with regard to the local context and the socio-cultural realities”. As judiciously pointed out by these authors, the concept of “empowerment through entrepreneurship” raises a definitional issue, given its underlying assumptions that reflect “a neoliberal Western vision of women”. Such a vision might not necessarily be shared by women in Africa and the MENA region, nor suit their context.

Concurrently, contextual embeddedness related to female entrepreneurship should also be industry-specific. We argue in this paper that even if most researchers are aware of the heterogeneity of female entrepreneurs in Morocco, they tend to assume that the motives and barriers are similar, whatever the sector. Similarly, the same assumption is made when they recommend actions designed to increase the involvement of female entrepreneurs in business. In fact, identifying the right barriers for female entrepreneurs in each sector, and recommending the right measures, accordingly, would be very valuable in effectively adapting the existing measures on a sectoral basis, and laser-targeting other actions to be decided.

In a systematic literature review covering a period of more than 30 years (1983–2015), Foss et al. (2019) explore the policy implications of the women’s entrepreneurship research. The findings show that little variance in the types of policy implications have been identified by scholars and support the view that “one size” policies do not “fit all”. Consequently, and most importantly, they highlight the need to embed the policies in the actual context whether be geographical or industry specific. Therefore, both academics and policymakers need to develop conceptual frameworks and practical mechanisms, drawn from the local context and the specific sector of activity. Moreover, they must give a voice to the concerned stakeholders in female entrepreneurship, starting with the women themselves. The participation of women in entrepreneurial activity as well as in the policy dialogue is key to their empowerment.

Acknowledgments

Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14121438

2 HCP (2013). « Femmes marocaines et marché du travail – Caractéristiques et évolution »

3 Chicha, M-T. (2013). « Inégalité de genre et pratiques d’entreprise au Maroc », BIT.

4 (https://www.indexmundi.com/morocco/demographics_profile.html

5 This research was undertaken under the IRB Protocol Number: DI-IRB-2021-F06 provided by Qatar Biomedical Research Institute.

6 An international NGO established in Morocco in 2003, whose goal is “Enabling progress through entrepreneurial action”. It comprises a large network of professionals and entrepreneurs.

7 Morocco is undergoing a demographic transition, with a declining growth rate, as a result of increased female educational attainment, delayed marriage, and the desire for smaller families with fewer children (the fertility rate has dropped from five children in the 1980s to two in 2020) (CIA, 2021) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/morocco/

8 According to the Haut-Commissariat au Plan (2019), in a sample of 2101 units, 12.8% of companies are run by women and the presence of women leaders is greater in the tertiary sector than in industry.

9 Morocco is ranked 53^rd out of 54 countries in terms of Entrepreneurship Education (primary and secondary level). The country has not exceeded the 2/9 average since 2015. Morocco is ranked 48th for post-secondary education, with insufficient training available for business start-ups (El Ouazzani, 2018, p. 54).

10 Among the initiatives aimed at promoting female entrepreneurship is the creation in 2000 of the Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises du Maroc (AFEM). In 2002, the institutional framework for SMEs at the national economy level was adopted by an SME charter (Law 53–00). Since 2009, the evolution of the institutional system has initiated a multitude of programs and projects aimed at the development of SMEs (i.e. Moussanada, Imtiaz, Moukawalati, the National Compact for Industrial Emergence 2009–2015, the Memorandum of Understanding between the private sector and the State, and the Government Plan for Equality 2012–2016) (ILO, 2016). In 2011, following the Arab Spring, a new constitution was promulgated, stipulating the creation of the High Authority for Parity and the Fight against All Forms of Discrimination and the implementation of a national strategy of parity, aimed at institutionalizing the principles of equity, equality and integration of the gender approach in all areas. The government also introduced specific measures for women’s economic empowerment as part of its strategy and established several related bodies, notably, the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development (considered the first national institutional structure to focus on women’s issues), the Advisory Council of the Family and Children, the National Observatory for the Improvement of the Image of Women in the Media (2015), the Observatory on Violence against Women (2013), and the Gender Equality in the Public Service Observatory (ILO, 2018). However, many women starting businesses are unaware that these structures exist (Asli & Nour, 2018).

11 In the categories “taxes and bureaucracy” and “support and relevance” related to governments policies, as rated by experts on the entrepreneurial framework conditions, Morocco is ranked 30th and 37th out of 54, respectively, but is ranked 45th and 44th in terms of “cultural and social norms” and “entrepreneurial finance” (Bosma et al., 2020).

12 Experts rank Morocco 44^th among the 54 countries participating in the GEM 2017 study in terms of government policy, estimating that the country has failed to adopt significant effective support measures and programs that promote the creation and development of newly-created companies (El Ouazzani: 53).