How Do Unexpected Networks Help Female Entrepreneurs in the Global South Survive in Adverse Contexts? A Case Study of Bangladesh

Sharmin Nahar, Mohammed Shamsul Karim and Vania Sena

Gender, Work and Organization, 2026, vol. 33, issue 1, 132-163

Abstract: This study investigates the role of various unexpected networks in supporting the survival of female‐owned SMEs in the Global South. The research focuses upon Bangladesh, which is a context marked by institutional adversity and postcolonial legacies. Grounded in Social Network Theory and informed by a decolonial perspective, the research examines personal, professional, and virtual networks to identify how these relational resources are able to empower women entrepreneurs, in an area where formal systems tend not to be inclusive. Using a sample of 156 female entrepreneurs, hierarchical regression analysis reveals that personal and virtual networks significantly enhance business survival, while professional networks do not show a significant effect. The interaction of personal and virtual networks with adverse contexts further strengthens their impact, highlighting their role as adaptive infrastructures in constrained environments. In contrast, professional networks remain limited in their influence. These findings challenge Western‐centric assumptions about entrepreneurial networking and underscore the importance of inclusive context‐sensitive strategies for supporting female entrepreneurship in the Global South.

Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.70030

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:gender:v:33:y:2026:i:1:p:132-163

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0968-6673

Access Statistics for this article

Gender, Work and Organization is currently edited by David Knights, Deborah Kerfoot and Ida Sabelis

More articles in Gender, Work and Organization from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().