Analyzing the Influence of Gender Stereotypes and Social Norms on Female IT Entrepreneurial Intention in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Technological entrepreneurship is continuously growing, and given the lack of women’s IT entrepreneurial activities there is a need for further investigation. However, a comprehensive literature review indicates that innovation, technology and female entrepreneurs are rarely discussed in the same context, though each has a vital value for human and economy development. Furthermore, most of the literature on women’s entrepreneurship in general and more specifically in Saudi context is focused on non-technological businesses. Therefore, this research in progress examines the relationship between social influence and women’s IT entrepreneurial intention and decision-making processes that lead women to become tech-entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia. The investigation reveals that understanding entrepreneurial intention as well as its antecedents is a strong predictor to perform behaviors. So, by understanding women’s IT entrepreneurial intention, better guidance can be a new driver of entrepreneurial behavior in the technology context.