Women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia: Creative responses to gendered opportunities

Female entrepreneurs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) experience barriers to their action which require creative strategies to navigate. Despite regulatory efforts to advance female entrepreneurial ventures, sociocultural ascriptions remain and these can be detrimental to women’s business experiences. This chapter explores the exogenous and endogenous circumstances integral to establishing a new venture in Saudi Arabia and the hindrances these can pose to female entrepreneurship. Barriers are identified that frame female entrepreneurial action and their creative responses are highlighted to demonstrate how they can play a crucial role in formulating women’s entrepreneurial identities and their entrepreneurial action. A conceptual framework for future research is outlined that seeks to understand these creative responses.