Exploring Socio-Cultural Barriers and Entrepreneurial Meaning Among Indonesian Women Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as a driver of economic development and social transformation, with women entrepreneurs contributing significantly to both. Yet, within business incubation programs, women often face socio-cultural barriers that shape their entrepreneurial experiences in distinctive ways. Despite increasing scholarly attention, little is known about how women interpret and negotiate these barriers within the incubation context, raising the central question: how do women entrepreneurs make sense of socio-cultural constraints during their entrepreneurial journeys? Here, we show that an interpretative phenomenological approach provides critical insights into the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs, capturing meanings often overlooked in quantitative or structural studies. Using semi-structured interviews with twelve participants from Indonesian incubation programs, the study identified four interrelated themes: negotiating gendered expectations, experiencing marginalization, developing resilience, and constructing peer support networks. These themes illustrate how women not only encounter socio-cultural barriers but also reinterpret them as part of their entrepreneurial identity, transforming challenges into opportunities for growth. The findings suggest that business incubators should integrate gender-sensitive mentorship, peer collaboration platforms, and flexible program designs to better support women entrepreneurs. The study demonstrates that women’s lived experiences are central to understanding the dynamics of entrepreneurship in developing contexts, offering richer perspectives than those derived solely from economic or structural measures. However, the research is limited by its small sample size and focus on a single national context, indicating the need for broader comparative studies in future research.