Challenges for the new generation of female entrepreneurs: an assessment of the studies

Despite the increased interest in entrepreneurship across scientific and professional fields over the years, existing research in female entrepreneurship has remained largely disjointed in the academic literature, due to the different theories, approaches, methodologies, and research questions addressed, making it difficult to take stock of what is known about women’s entrepreneurial activity. Scholars have noted that economic and social contexts play strong roles in determining the entrepreneurial inclinations and success of women. In particular, in times of crisis and turbulence women may emerge as a key player in economic development of the nations, due to their superior ability to resilience, establish and maintain social ties, focus on the social importance of business, flexibility in making new decisions and focus on learning. In this regard, various sources of data confirm that new generation of entrepreneurs may contribute at creating employment activities, generating innovation and utilizing creativity. Nevertheless, women often still face difficulties both at the setting-up stage of business and during its running phase. The existence and persistence of a gap between men and women in entrepreneurship has long acknowledged and it is attracting increasing academic attention. The purpose of this paper is to explain the contribution of female entrepreneurship to the economic recovery by conducting a review of literature and a visualization analysis of the most frequent topics and their chronological evolution over time. We employ a two-step methodology combining two different approaches. We first conduct a systematic review of the literature based on a keyword search using the online library ISI Web of Science and illustrate the publication trend, the most prolific journals, and the country of authors’ affiliations. Then, we performed a cluster analysis visualization technique in order to understand main themes, evolution over time and literature background. This paper offers insights into what academics have learned so far about the opportunities and barrier that can explain the women's interest and motivation for entrepreneurship during hardships based on different field of research (i.e., performance, governance, disclosure, CSR). Therefore, we provide a structured reference point to carry research on gender entrepreneurship forward into specific sub-areas. The paper provides evidence-based recommendations on the strategies, policies, programs (i.e. subsidies, incentives, tax relief etc.) aimed to overcome and remove barriers to gender entrepreneurship and encourage women to become effective entrepreneurs and sustain the economic recovery.