Gender Bias and Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis

Öz

This qualitative meta-synthesis explores the multidimensional structure of gender bias and its impact on female entrepreneurs’ access to finance, synthesizing insights from 20 scholarly articles. The study identifies six key themes including Gender Bias in Financial Access, Societal and Cultural Influences, Entrepreneurial Challenges and Opportunities, the Impact of Social Networks, Perceptions and Attitudes toward Entrepreneurial Finance, and the Role of Financial Institutions. These themes are analyzed across five levels including Individual, Institutional, Societal, Policy, and Economic. The findings highlight persistent gender biases in commercial bank lending and venture capital investments, significant societal and cultural barriers, and the essential role of social networks and institutional support in enhancing financial access for women entrepreneurs. By integrating fragmented empirical findings into a multi-layered interpretive framework, the study advances theoretical understanding of how gender bias operates across interconnected structural levels. This comprehensive analysis sheds light on the structural and cultural obstacles women face in the financial landscape and emphasizes the need for policy and institutional reforms to foster gender equality in entrepreneurial finance.
 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Female Entrepreneurs
• Access to Finance
• Gender Bias
• Cultural Influences
• Entrepreneurial Challenges

Kaynakça

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