This research examines how entrepreneurship can influence Mauritian women entrepreneurs’ sense of empowerment. It seeks to shed light on the empowerment of women entrepreneurs in a fast-developing,...Show moreThis research examines how entrepreneurship can influence Mauritian women entrepreneurs’ sense of empowerment. It seeks to shed light on the empowerment of women entrepreneurs in a fast-developing, ethnically diverse country. A critical approach was adopted, in which an analysis was made on the different areas in life (dimensions) in which women feel (more) empowered by their business or not. Furthermore, it recognized women as a heterogeneous group and researches how personal and entrepreneurial background influence sense of empowerment. During a fieldwork period of six months in Mauritius, data was collected. A mixed-methods approach was adopted and two datasets were created in order to both demonstrate (quantitative data) and explain (qualitative data) differences in empowerment. A main conclusion that can be drawn is that women generally do feel empowered by their business. However, entrepreneurship affects women’s areas of life in different ways, which can partly be explained by the woman’s background. Also, it was found that a sense of community and collective groups of women entrepreneur contributed enormously to women’s sense of empowerment in multiple ways. This research thus contributes to discussions about women’s empowerment through entrepreneurship by emphasizing that empowerment is an inherent individual process and that women have different backgrounds and entrepreneurial experiences, which in turn influences the way they feel empowered by their own business.Show less
