Women’s entrepreneurial identity: Insights from agriculturally intensive small island economy

Despite the recognized importance and active promotion of entrepreneurship, a significant gap persists between genders in terms of entrepreneurial engagement. We delve into the entrepreneurial identity and propensity among women in the agricultural and agri-food industries of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), analyzing the entrepreneurship environment within this agriculture-centric small island economy. We aim to unravel the reasons behind the limited advancement of women in entrepreneurship, notwithstanding the array of institutional and policy interventions established on the island. We conducted twelve semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs within the agricultural and agri-food industries in SVG. Data analysis was approached through a constructivist lens, employing narrative analysis to discern emergent themes within the interview transcripts. Furthermore, we integrated a post-structuralist feminist perspective to deepen our examination of gender dynamics, assessing how they bolster or impede the entrepreneurial identity and propensity among women in SVG. The interviews indicated that SVG’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, comprising factors that facilitate entrepreneurship, is imbued with gender biases, making it challenging for women to penetrate entrepreneurship networks and secure financial and institutional support, attributed to prevalent gender stereotypes. Crucially, the interaction with fellow women entrepreneurs emerged as vital, affording participants a sense of identity and community. Observing and interacting with successful female entrepreneurs facilitates the development and reinforcement of women’s entrepreneurial identities. Moreover, regional attributes characterizing women-led businesses in SVG suggest that societal expectations typically confine women’s entrepreneurial efforts to the cottage industry, which are perceived to be smaller in scale compared to men’s firms, reinforcing the stereotype that women lack the capacity for successful business leadership.