The Attractiveness of Entrepreneurship for Females and Males in a Developing Arab Muslim Country; Entrepreneurial Intentions in Tunisia

Abstract

This article examines the entrepreneurial intentions of young well educated people in Tunisia. Tunisia is a Muslim country which is “catching up”. Hence, understanding the attitudes and entrepreneurial intentions of females, and contrasting these with males, will provide an account of cultural attitudes towards female enterprise. Our survey of 332 students showed that male and female intentions were very positive, but varied by gender. We found that cultural gender expectations continued to play a major role, but that this was most obvious in how female enterprise could be operated, rather than in the attractiveness of entrepreneurship itself.