Redefining success beyond economic growth and wealth generation: the case of Ethiopia

Abstract

Atsede T. Hailemariam and Brigitte Kroon explore the meaning of success for female Ethiopian entrepreneurs. Taking a contextually embedded approach using qualitative data and considering structural, familial and cultural constraints, the authors challenge the notion of the underperformance of women entrepreneurs by highlighting how various female entrepreneurs define success. They explain that women entrepreneurs evaluate success in business both in financial and non-financial terms. While some women entrepreneurs define success as achieving self-fulfilment and in terms of their contribution to society and family, others emphasize communal and religious values in their definition of success. It tends to be the young, educated females and those who have experience and operate more than one business or engage in male-dominated sectors who define their success in terms of profit and growth. The implication for policy-makers relates to the need to pay more attention to the heterogeneity of women entrepreneurs and to non-financial measures of performance as they design policy and support programs to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that is conducive to entrepreneurship.

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