The Role of Entrepreneurship in Empowering Women and Girls with Disabilities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35516/Hum.2026.10615Keywords:
Entrepreneurship, empowerment, women and girls with disabilities.Abstract
Objectives: This study explores the role of entrepreneurship in empowering women and girls with disabilities, aiming to understand how entrepreneurial engagement influences their socio-economic status. The research focuses on the experiences of women and girls who have pursued entrepreneurship, particularly within the Dakhla Centre in Egypt.
Methods: A descriptive qualitative approach was employed, utilizing structured face-to-face interviews with women and girls with disabilities engaged in entrepreneurship. A probability sample of 20 participants was selected through a multi-stage sampling method to ensure diverse representation. The study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial activities and participants' empowerment, emphasizing social and economic outcomes.
Results: The findings indicate that individuals with entrepreneurial traits—regardless of gender—are well-positioned to establish successful businesses. However, most projects led by women with disabilities in the Dakhla Centre focus on consumer services with modest financial returns, limiting their broader economic impact. Additionally, most participants work outside their educational fields, underscoring entrepreneurship’s role in job creation. While 15 out of 20 participants were familiar with the concept of entrepreneurship, some equated it with small businesses due to limited education and awareness. Notably, 95% of participants did not perceive disability as a barrier to entrepreneurship, and 18 participants confirmed that their ventures enhanced their social capital.
Conclusions: The findings highlight that entrepreneurial success is driven by innovation, risk-taking, and community awareness. Despite challenges, entrepreneurship serves as a powerful tool for the social and economic empowerment of women and girls with disabilities.
Downloads
References
Aboim, S. (2022). Fragmented recognition: Gender identity between moral and legal spheres. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 29(1), 71–93. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxac002
Afsahi, A. (2021). Gender difference in willingness and capacity for deliberation. Social Politics, 28(4), 1047–1072. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxab001
Cooke, L. P., Hägglund, A. E., & Icardi, R. (2022). Paradox or mitigation? Childless and parent gender gaps across British, Finnish, and German wage distributions. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 29(3), 955–979. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxac018
Cornell, J., Malherbe, N., Seedat, M., & Suffla, S. (2022). Discourses of gender and political violence in South Africa. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 29(1), 309–332. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxab032
Eggebø, H., Lundberg, A. K., & Teigen, M. (2023). Gaps and silences: Gender and climate policies in the Global North. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 30(1), 164–187. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxac038
Elliott, A. (2010). Concept of the self (2nd ed.). Polity Press.
Elomäki, A. (2021). Economization of expert knowledge about gender equality in the European Union. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 28(4), 1162–1184. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxab003
Engin, C., & Pals, H. (2018). Patriarchal attitudes in Turkey 1990–2011: The influence of religion and political conservatism. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 25(3), 383–409. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxy014
Freidenvall, L. (2020). Gender knowledge and gender expertise: The implementation of gender mainstreaming in Swedish state agencies. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 27(4), 742–764. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa001
Giorgi, A., & Loner, E. (2023). Populist female MPs and the discourse around gender and gender-based violence in the Italian Twittersphere during the pandemic. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 30(1), 268–289. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxac040
Hamilton, P. (1985). Readings from Talcott Parsons. Tavistock Publications.
Healy, A. E. (2020). Gender role attitudes and religious denomination: Context matters. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, 27(2), 282–311. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxz015
Joel, M. C. (2010). Symbolic interactionism: An interpretation, an introduction, an integration (10th ed.). Prentice Hall.
Jozwiak, A. (2022). It’s a family (policy) affair: Family policies and heterogeneity in gender attitudes. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 29(1), 215–239. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxab025
Kang, J. Y. (2021). The effects of skill regimes and family policies on the gender employment gap. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 28(2), 359–384. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa015
Knize, V. J. (2022). What gender-neutral activation? Understanding the gender sanction gap in Germany’s welfare system. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 29(4), 1286–1313. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxac004
Korolczuk, E. (2020). Counteracting challenges to gender equality in the era of anti-gender campaigns: Competing gender knowledges and affective solidarity. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 27(4), 694–717. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa004
Korpi, W., Ferrarini, T., & Englund, S. (2013). Women's opportunities under different family policy constellations: Gender, class, and inequality tradeoffs in Western countries re-examined. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 20(1), 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxs002
Lacomba, C. (2016). Gender and politics in comparative perspective: The case of Ecuadorean immigrants in Madrid and New York City. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, 23(4), 531–554. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxw010
Liu, F. (2015). Stereotype: A productive force and its new danger, reinterpretation of Chinese women in Sinology. International Communication of Chinese Culture, 2(1), 77–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40636-015-0020-5
Mace, E. (2018). From patriarchy to composite gender arrangements? Theorizing the historicity of social relations of gender. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 25(3), 317–336. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxy016
Macionis, J. J. (2012). Sociology (14th ed.). Pearson.
Madhok, S. (2019). On reading the logics of gender justice. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 26(4), 503–511. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxz030
Maes, E. L., & Debusscher, P. (2024). The EU as a global gender actor: Tracing intersectionality in the European gender action plans for external relations 2010–2025. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 31(1), 49–71. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxad006
María, A., Mirian, G., & Valeria, V. (2023). Older working persons and the gender pay gap: Estimations using gender norm variables in Peru. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 30(4), 1186–1210. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxad004
Mead, G. H. (2001). Play, school, and society. Peter Lang.
Minkus, L., & Busch-Heizmann, A. (2020). Gender wage inequalities between historical heritage and structural adjustments: A German–German comparison over time. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, 27(1), 156–186. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxz004
Newsome, L. (2021). Gender and citizenship in Australia: Government approaches to paid parental leave policy 1996–2017. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 28(2), 477–500. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa020
Ozbay, C., & Soybakis, O. (2020). Political masculinities: Gender, power, and change in Turkey. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 27(1), 27–50. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxz002
Parsons, T. (1964). Social structure and personality. The Free Press.
Philipp, M. (2024). Multiple dimensions of gender ideologies: How they relate to normative judgments of the gender division of parental leave. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 31(2), 404–428. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxad008
Rao, S. (2009). Sociology: Principles of sociology within introduction to social thought. Iiooss Company Ltd.
Reisel, L., Østbakken, K., & Attewell, P. (2019). Dynamics of claims making and gender wage gaps in the United States and Norway. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 26(1), 87–115. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxz005
Rousseau, N. (2002). Self, symbols, and society: Classic readings in social psychology. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Santana, A. S., & Aguilar, S. (2021). Heroines of the ballot: The gender gap and the costs of voting. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 28(1), 215–240. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa010
Schmid, C. B., Cook, R., & Jones, L. (2023). Measuring gender inequality in Great Britain: Proposal for a subnational gender inequality index. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 30(2), 580–606. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxac045
Sievers, T., & Warner, R. (2023). (In) stability of gender attitudes in times of family policy change: A latent class analysis of Germany, Austria, and Sweden. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 30(2), 470–495. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxac042
Toyofuku, M. (2024). Tradeoff between gender and class equality: An analysis of tax policy in Japan. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 31(2), 376–403. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxad007
Waylen, G., & Southern, R. (2021). When are women as corrupt as men? Gender, corruption, and accountability in the UK parliamentary expenses scandal. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 28(1), 119–142. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa009
Wotschack, P. (2019). Exploring the (missing) gender training gap in Germany: The role of organizations and sectors in continuing training participation. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 26(3), 444–474. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxz008.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Dirasat: Human and Social Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
