This is a fascinating piece of research. What particularly stood out to me is your finding on social capital and community networks as drivers of rural women’s entrepreneurship.

In many institutional environments where formal support systems are limited, it is often relationships, trust, and community ties that function as the real entrepreneurial infrastructure. Your findings strongly echo what I see in my own research on Change Readiness, particularly the pillar of collectivism.

In that framework, entrepreneurial success in constrained environments often depends less on individual resources and more on the strength of collaborative networks—peer groups, mentors, community associations, and trusted intermediaries. These collective structures help entrepreneurs share information, mobilize resources, and reduce the risks of venturing.

Your work highlights exactly how these community-based ecosystems can enable women to pursue entrepreneurship even when formal institutions are weak. It’s a powerful reminder that building inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems is not only about capital or policy, but also about strengthening the social fabric that supports entrepreneurial action.

@Bridget Irene  

Thank you for this thoughtful reflection.

Your point about women redefining success really resonates. In many African contexts, women entrepreneurs are not optimizing for rapid growth or investor returns, but for resilience, family stability, and community wellbeing—outcomes that mainstream entrepreneurship research often overlooks.

Your post actually inspired me to start drafting a short piece on change readiness and women entrepreneurs, exploring whether women operating in constrained environments may sometimes be more change-ready than investor-ready.

Excited to see the Palgrave Studies in Gender and Sustainable Enterprise series grow.

@giandomenica becchio  Thank you for this thoughtful reflection on Barbara Bergmann’s work. Her insight that inequality is structurally produced resonates strongly with my own research on women entrepreneurs. It inspired me to explore how we might move beyond the dominant “investor readiness” lens—which often privileges finance and capital—to what I call change readiness: the adaptive, relational, and commitment-driven capabilities entrepreneurs use to build trust, coordinate others, and sustain ventures in complex environments.

Interestingly, our data suggest that among women-led SMEs, change readiness is often a stronger predictor of performance and job creation than investor readiness alone, and may even act as a barometer for access to finance rather than its consequence. I’m currently developing this idea further in a piece titled “Ready for Change, Not Just Capital.”

Bergmann’s work reminds us that if institutions shape inequality, then our frameworks for entrepreneurship must also evolve to recognise the capabilities women already bring to building inclusive growth.

Thank you, @Liz Barlow  for curating such a rich and meaningful series. The idea of “giving to gain” resonates deeply in entrepreneurship research—progress happens when knowledge, mentorship, and visibility are shared generously. I’m honoured to contribute alongside colleagues whose work expands how we think about gender, enterprise, and economic development across contexts. Hopefully these conversations continue to inspire both research and practical action toward more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems.