Zug, Switzerland, August 13, 2024
Monarch Business School is pleased to announce that Dr. Miray Barsoum has graduated the Dual PhD / DBA Combined program in Entrepreneurship with Distinction. The defense took place on August 9th, 2024. The dissertation was entitled, “Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Developing Economies: A Case Study of Egypt”. The dissertation covered both theory and application of the new “WEMPOWER” model, “Women Empowerment” model. The outgrowth of the dissertation is already being implemented on the ground and has received support through USAID in Egypt.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Barsoum on an excellent dissertation and defense.
Abstract
Entrepreneurship is crucial for economic development, driving GDP growth, job creation, innovation, and regional resilience (Mazzarol & Reboud, 2020; Milovic, Jocovic, & Djurisic, 2020). Despite their potential, women entrepreneurs remain underrepresented, especially in developing economies. This is particularly evident in regions like the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where Egypt ranks among the lowest globally for women’s participation in entrepreneurship (Business Insider Africa, 2023). Enhancing support for women entrepreneurs could contribute an additional USD 7 trillion to the global economy and create more than 400 million new jobs (CITI, 2022; United Nations Women, 2024).
The research addresses the critical issue of empowering women entrepreneurs in developing economies, specifically in Egypt. Using the Monarch Standard Research Method (MSRM), the study combines a literature review, content analysis, and qualitative field research. It examines the intersection of entrepreneurship, social justice, and empowerment theories within the academic literature, applying a quasi-technical analysis of industry publications to contextualize these concepts for women entrepreneurs in Egypt. The utilized phenomenological approach explores the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs and ecosystem experts in Egypt, bringing a holistic perspective to the research findings.
Analysis of the findings identifies personal, social, and ecosystem factors influencing women entrepreneurs, and provides insights about their definition and measurement of success. It also reveals significant challenges facing women entrepreneurs in Egypt, including limited access to resources and opportunities, inadequate training and mentorship, regulatory hurdles, societal biases, and difficulty in balancing family and business responsibilities. Despite these obstacles, women entrepreneurs demonstrate resilience, adaptability, resourcefulness, and a strong drive for achievement and impact.
The WEMPOWER model, developed as a culmination of the research, outlines the empowerment journey in three phases: Preconditions of Empowerment, Process of Empowerment, and Outcomes of Empowerment. The model emphasizes the necessity of creating supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems and inclusive policies tailored to the unique needs of women entrepreneurs. It provides tangible and intangible measures to assess the effectiveness of the proposed ecosystem enhancements.
The research bridges gaps in the literature on women’s entrepreneurship in developing economies and offers practical recommendations for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars. It connects theory with practice, providing actionable and comprehensive guidelines for designing targeted interventions to empower women entrepreneurs, thereby driving sustainable economic growth and social progress.
Keywords:
Women Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, Women’s Empowerment, Egyptian Women Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Empowering Women Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship in Developing Economies.
About Dr. Barsoum
Dr. Miray Barsoum holds the position of Director of the BBA Program and Professor of Marketing at Monarch Business School Switzerland. She holds a PhD and DBA in Entrepreneurship as well as an M.Phil. in Business Research from Monarch Business School, a Master of Strategic Marketing from the London School of Business and Finance, UK, and an MBA from the Maastricht School of Management (MsM), the Netherlands. She is a Certified Marketing Analyst from UC Berkeley, USA, and holds a Certificate in Marketing Strategy from Cornell University, USA, and a Certificate of Digital Marketing from the Instituto de Empresa (IE) Business School, Spain. Dr. Barsoum also hold a M.B.BCh Bachelor degree in Medicine and Surgery from Cairo University.
Professor Barsoum’s academic interests include Business Strategy, Management, Strategic Marketing, Marketing Communications, Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Economics, Business Research, Consumer Behavior and Entrepreneurship.
Professionally, Professor Barsoum is the founder of MethodZ, a business consultancy firm located in Cairo, Egypt. Prof. Barsoum also holds the position of Professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo (AUC), and a Professor of Marketing, Critical Thinking, Positive Psychology and Social Sciences at Nile University (NU), Cairo. Previous to this, she was the Director of Marketing and Communications at Nile University. She also headed a Digital Marketing Agency, Raya Social Media, and was a business case writer for El-Khazindar Business Research and Case Center (KCC) at the American University in Cairo.