This chapter examines a widely repeated assumption: that Muslim-majority societies are systematically less supportive of women’s entrepreneurship. The authors ask whether that assumption actually holds when we look at country-level data on female entrepreneurial activity.
The chapter also asks a second question that matters a lot for policy: does secularism make a difference? In particular, it compares Muslim-majority countries and looks closely at Turkey as a constitutionally secular Muslim-majority case.
Public debates often treat Islam as naturally hostile to women’s economic agency. This chapter argues that the reality is more complicated. It shows that the relationship between religion, gender, and entrepreneurship is indirect, context-dependent, and shaped by law, culture, institutions, education, and social norms.
The authors begin by noting that entrepreneurship research on women has often been Western in focus. They push the conversation into Muslim societies, where gender roles, legal systems, religious interpretation, and political structures interact in complex ways.
The chapter argues that Islam is frequently oversimplified in both academic and popular discourse. It stresses that Islam is not a single uniform social reality, and that many restrictions on women in Muslim societies come not from sacred text alone but from historical, cultural, patriarchal, and institutional interpretations.
H1
Female entrepreneurship will be lower in Muslim-majority societies.
H2
Female entrepreneurship will be higher in secular Muslim-majority societies than in Sharia or mixed systems.
H3
Female entrepreneurship will be higher in Turkey than in non-secular Muslim-majority countries.
The chapter uses data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), specifically the adult population survey measure of female total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (FTEA) for women aged 18 to 64. The authors examine selected years between 2001 and 2015, using 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2015 for their analyses.
- Muslim-majorityCountries where more than 50 percent of the population identifies as Muslim.
- Secular vs non-secularMuslim-majority countries categorized as secular, Sharia-based, or mixed systems.
- Turkey focusTurkey treated as a special comparison case within Muslim-majority contexts.
- Analysist-tests and, where possible, Welch’s t-tests to compare mean FTEA across groups.
The most important result is that the three hypotheses are not supported in the expected way. The study does not find a consistent significant difference in female entrepreneurial activity between Muslim-majority and non-Muslim countries, between secular and non-secular Muslim-majority countries, or between Turkey and non-secular Muslim-majority countries.
| Question | Expectation | What the chapter found |
|---|---|---|
| Muslim vs non-Muslim countries | Muslim-majority countries would have lower female entrepreneurship | No consistent significant difference across the years examined |
| Secular vs non-secular Muslim countries | Secular systems would show higher female entrepreneurship | No significant difference found |
| Turkey vs non-secular Muslim countries | Turkey would show higher female entrepreneurship | No significant difference found |
The authors say these results should make scholars and policymakers cautious. Religion’s effect on entrepreneurship is likely indirect and mediated by other forces such as culture, social values, education, networks, political systems, and gender expectations.
What the chapter challenges
The assumption that Muslim societies are automatically less entrepreneurial for women.
What the chapter opens up
A richer research agenda on culture, values, law, and gender-role expectations.
If aggregate female entrepreneurship rates do not differ as expected, then policy should not stop at religion-based explanations. It should look at access to finance, childcare, education, mobility, legal rights, social stigma, network access, and the structure of opportunities available to women.
- TheoryThe chapter pushes entrepreneurship research beyond Western settings and beyond simplistic religious determinism.
- MechanismsIt points toward mediators such as cultural values, patriarchal norms, and gender-role expectations.
- Research designIt shows the value of combining comparative data with context-sensitive interpretation.
- Do not essentializePolicies should not assume religion alone explains women’s entrepreneurial outcomes.
- Target barriersFocus on legal rights, childcare, mobility, training, networks, and finance.
- Watch structure, not just rateEven if rates look similar, women may still be concentrated in smaller, lower-growth, or more constrained business forms.
- Ecosystem buildersDo not rely on stereotypes about markets in Muslim societies. Real constraints are often institutional and operational.
- Investors and incubatorsSupport design should account for work-family pressures, mobility restrictions, and access asymmetries.
- Corporate and NGO partnersPrograms for women founders need local social legitimacy as well as financial and training support.
- Dataset coverageGEM covers only a subset of countries, and secular Muslim-majority cases were especially limited.
- Macro-level measureThe chapter studies country-level affiliation, not individual religiosity or interpretation of Islam.
- Rate, not structureIt studies how much female entrepreneurship exists, not what types of businesses women run or what goals they pursue.
This chapter is especially useful for the Religion and Entrepreneurship series because it pushes back against civilizational stereotypes and asks for better evidence. It also connects religion with policy, women’s empowerment, and institutional design in a direct and usable way.