For decades, efforts to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs have focused on familiar challenges: improving access to finance, reducing discrimination, increasing mentoring opportunities, and helping women balance business with family responsibilities. While these barriers remain important, researchers now argue that the conversation needs to move beyond them.
According to a new study published in the Journal of Management Development, the rapid digital transformation of work has fundamentally changed how businesses are created and managed. Rather than simply adapting traditional entrepreneurship programmes for women, the authors suggest that policymakers, educators and business organisations should rethink the entire framework through the lens of digital workplace innovation.
The researchers reviewed approximately fifty years of academic literature, analysing more than 12,000 published studies on women’s entrepreneurship before proposing a new conceptual model designed for the digital economy. Instead of concentrating solely on long-established barriers, the framework highlights the growing importance of digital skills, flexible working, online collaboration and cloud-based technologies in helping women establish and expand successful businesses.
Their argument reflects a broader shift taking place across the global economy. Digital technologies have reduced many of the costs traditionally associated with starting a business. Entrepreneurs can now sell products worldwide through e-commerce platforms, market their services through social media, collaborate remotely with clients and colleagues, and manage companies using cloud-based software—all without needing expensive offices or large numbers of employees.
For many women, these changes could prove particularly significant.
Entrepreneurship is changing
Historically, launching a business often required substantial financial investment, dedicated office space and extensive professional networks. Many of those requirements presented additional challenges for women, who in many countries continue to have less access to finance, spend more time on unpaid caregiving responsibilities and remain underrepresented in senior business leadership.
The researchers argue that digital workplace innovation offers opportunities to reduce some of these obstacles. Flexible working arrangements, remote collaboration and digital business tools can make entrepreneurship more compatible with caring responsibilities while allowing women to gain experience, develop confidence and build professional networks in new ways.
Professor Kirk Chang, from the University of East London’s Royal School of Business and Law, believes support systems need to evolve alongside technological change.
“For years we’ve talked about the barriers women face in business, and those barriers remain real. But the world of work has changed dramatically. If we want more women to build successful businesses, we need to rethink the support we give them. Digital skills, flexible ways of working and access to technology should no longer be treated as optional extras. They should be part of the foundation.”
Rather than suggesting technology alone can eliminate inequality, the study presents digital innovation as one component of a broader strategy for improving entrepreneurial opportunities.
A wider trend beyond one study
The researchers’ proposal aligns with developments identified by several international organisations.
The World Bank has reported that digital technologies are lowering barriers to entrepreneurship in many developing and developed economies by expanding access to markets, financial services and business information. Meanwhile, the International Labour Organization has highlighted how digital platforms and remote work have created new forms of employment and self-employment, although they also introduce new challenges related to skills, income security and regulation.
Similarly, the OECD has repeatedly argued that digital transformation is reshaping labour markets and that governments need to invest in digital skills if individuals and businesses are to benefit fully from technological change.
These broader trends help explain why the University of East London researchers believe entrepreneurship policies should place greater emphasis on digital capabilities rather than viewing technology as simply another optional business tool.
Beyond access to finance
One of the most interesting aspects of the paper is that it does not dismiss traditional explanations for the gender gap in entrepreneurship.
Access to finance remains an important issue. Numerous international studies have found that women often receive less venture capital funding than men and may encounter greater difficulties securing business loans, particularly for high-growth companies.
Likewise, caring responsibilities continue to influence entrepreneurial decisions in many countries. Women still perform a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic and caregiving work, limiting the time available to develop businesses or participate in networking events that often take place outside normal working hours.
The researchers acknowledge these longstanding challenges but argue they should no longer dominate discussions about entrepreneurship policy. Instead, they propose integrating digital workplace innovation into the centre of future support programmes.
Digital tools may enable entrepreneurs to attend meetings virtually, collaborate across different time zones, automate administrative tasks and reach customers without maintaining physical premises. While none of these developments removes structural inequalities, together they may reduce some of the practical obstacles that have historically affected women entrepreneurs.
Experience still matters
Another theme emerging from the researchers’ framework is the importance of experienced entrepreneurs supporting newcomers.
The study argues that established women business leaders have an important role to play by mentoring others, sharing practical knowledge and helping future entrepreneurs overcome barriers that cannot be solved by technology alone.
Mentoring has long been recognised as an important factor in entrepreneurial success. Experienced founders can provide advice on financing, hiring, product development, leadership and navigating business setbacks—areas where textbooks and online courses often provide only limited guidance.
By combining mentoring with digital skills development, the researchers believe entrepreneurship programmes could become more effective and better suited to today’s business environment.
Technology is only part of the answer
Despite the paper’s emphasis on digital workplace innovation, the researchers are careful not to portray technology as a cure-all. Access to digital tools alone is unlikely to transform women’s entrepreneurship if other barriers remain unchanged.
Instead, they argue that digital technologies should be supported by investment in digital skills, inclusive workplace design and stronger institutional support. In other words, governments, universities and business organisations should not simply encourage entrepreneurs to use new technologies—they should also help ensure people have the knowledge and opportunities needed to use them effectively.
Dr Ozlem Ozdemir, Senior Lecturer in Business Administration at the University of East London, believes that entrepreneurship itself needs to be viewed differently.
“Too often we ask how women can succeed within traditional models of entrepreneurship. Our research suggests it is time to rethink the model itself. As business becomes increasingly digital, we need new ways of supporting women that reflect how modern businesses actually operate.”
That shift in thinking reflects how dramatically business has changed over the past two decades. Today’s entrepreneurs may never meet many of their customers face to face. Marketing campaigns are increasingly run through social media platforms, accounting software operates in the cloud, and meetings are conducted by video conference.
As a result, digital competence is becoming as important as traditional business knowledge.
A growing economic opportunity
Women’s entrepreneurship is increasingly recognised as an important contributor to economic growth rather than simply an equality issue.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), millions of women around the world start businesses every year, although participation rates vary widely between countries and regions. Many operate small businesses serving local communities, while others build companies capable of competing internationally.
International organisations have argued that reducing barriers to women’s entrepreneurship could strengthen economic growth by enabling more people to participate fully in business creation.
Digital technologies may accelerate those trends by lowering barriers to market entry. Online marketplaces allow small businesses to reach customers without investing heavily in physical stores, while digital payment systems, cloud computing and online advertising have reduced many of the fixed costs traditionally associated with launching a company.
These developments do not guarantee success, but they do create opportunities that were far less accessible to previous generations of entrepreneurs.
Not every challenge disappears
The study also avoids suggesting that digitalisation automatically produces equal opportunities.
Reliable internet access, affordable technology and digital literacy remain unevenly distributed both within and between countries. In lower-income regions, limited infrastructure or high connectivity costs may prevent many aspiring entrepreneurs from benefiting fully from digital business models.
also create new challenges for small businesses. Entrepreneurs must continually update their knowledge while navigating increasingly competitive online markets.
For these reasons, the researchers argue that technology should complement—not replace—broader support programmes aimed at helping women build successful businesses.
Looking beyond traditional policies
Perhaps the paper’s most significant contribution is its attempt to modernise entrepreneurship theory itself.
Rather than adding digital tools to existing support programmes, the authors propose placing digital workplace innovation at the centre of future thinking about women’s entrepreneurship. Their conceptual framework reflects a business environment in which remote working, online collaboration and digital platforms are no longer unusual but increasingly commonplace.
Because the study is a literature review rather than an experimental or survey-based investigation, it does not test whether the proposed framework directly improves business outcomes. Instead, it synthesises existing research spanning roughly half a century and proposes a new way of interpreting that evidence for today’s digital economy.
That means future empirical research will be needed to examine how effectively digital workplace innovation translates into higher business formation, stronger company growth or improved long-term success for women entrepreneurs.
Why the findings matter
Entrepreneurship has always evolved alongside technological change. The arrival of personal computers, the internet, smartphones and cloud computing transformed how companies are launched and managed.
Against that backdrop, the researchers argue that support for women entrepreneurs should evolve as well. Policies designed for a pre-digital economy may overlook opportunities created by flexible working, online collaboration and digital business ecosystems.
Whether governments adopt the proposed framework remains to be seen. However, the paper contributes to a growing discussion about how entrepreneurship support should adapt to a rapidly changing workplace.
Rather than asking only how women can fit into existing entrepreneurial models, the authors suggest policymakers should ask whether those models themselves need updating for the digital age.
Citation
Chang, K., Ozdemir, O., & Kumari, R. Women entrepreneurship theory through digital workplace innovation: a new concept. Journal of Management Development. DOI: 10.1108/JMD-06-2025-0331.
