Entrepreneurship in exile: the experiences of refugee women in Egypt

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to find out how Syrian women entrepreneurs in the Egyptian context evaluate their entrepreneurial experience. Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative study comprises semi-structured interviews with 50 Syrian women entrepreneurs in Egypt. The Gioia mechanism was employed to analyze the interview data. Findings – The findings reveal three overarching categories that characterize the entrepreneurial experiences of Syrian women in Egypt: start-up factors, including supportive governmental policies and access to essential resources; gender-related factors, such as the influence of shared cultural norms, instances of unwanted social expressions, and the perception that being a woman can attract client interest; and cultural factors, including the tendency to limit Syrian women’s capabilities to traditional roles (e.g. cooking) and persistent critique from Egyptian women. Originality/value – This paper contributes by filling a gap in the literature on refugee entrepreneurship in the context of non-Western countries in which studies on refugee women entrepreneurs and their experience with self-employment outside their home countries have been limited so far.