Purpose <p>This study examines how entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial self efficacy relate to women’s career success, and investigates the mediating role of opportunity recognition in these relationships.</p> Design/methodology/approach <p>Data were collected from 131 women entrepreneurs through a structured questionnaire using stratified random sampling. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to assess the measurement model, structural model, and mediation effects.</p> Findings <p>The results show that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is not significantly associated with career success, whereas entrepreneurial passion demonstrates a strong positive relationship with career success. Opportunity recognition significantly mediates the effects of both entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial self-efficacy on women’s career success.</p> Practical implications <p>The findings highlight the importance of fostering entrepreneurial passion and enhancing women’s opportunity-recognition capabilities. Organizations and policymakers should design interventions and training programs that strengthen these competencies to support female entrepreneurs’ career advancement.</p> Originality/value <p>This study contributes to women’s entrepreneurship literature by demonstrating that entrepreneurial passion, rather than self-efficacy alone, directly predicts career success. It also introduces opportunity recognition as a key mediating mechanism, offering new theoretical and practical insights into how entrepreneurial antecedents shape women’s career trajectories.</p>