Abstract

Extant entrepreneurship literature presents a diverse and disjointed view of entrepreneurship. Among these ontological and epistemological debates, a prevailing theme is the argument around who qualifies to be identified as an entrepreneur. The use of western and masculine traits to define entrepreneurial characteristics continues to other both men and women who do not embody these characteristics, and are often categorised as underperformers. The traditional identities of men and women are intertwined with gender roles even today, resulting in a misleading representation of women entrepreneurs. The prevalent view of western women entrepreneurs as representative of all women ignores the sociocultural factors that shape how women in emerging economies engage in entrepreneurship. When women from emerging economies have been studied, overarching stereotypes surrounding their gendered role as mothers/wives/daughters and gendered understandings of women-owned businesses continue to present a very narrow understanding of women entrepreneurs from the global south. Drawing on the lived experiences of 44 women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, this study examines how entrepreneurship is conceptualised and the implications of these views on how women identify with and engage in entrepreneurship to contextualise women entrepreneurs in the global south.