Title: Is the gender gap in entrepreneurship closing? An investigation with a technologically empowered systematic literature review

Authors: Rohail Hassan; Meghna Chhabra; Ridhi Bhatia; Monika Agarwal; Sahil Malik

Addresses: Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business (OYAGSB), Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia; University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw, Poland ' Delhi School of Business, Outer Ring Rd, AU Block, Ranikhet, Pitampura, New Delhi 110034, India ' Faculty of Management Studies, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, Haryana, India ' Jagan Institute of Management Studies Technical Campus, Sector 5 Rohini, India ' Centre for Distance and Online Education, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, Haryana, India

Abstract: The objective of this study is to seek an answer to the question of whether the gender gap in entrepreneurship (GGIE) still persists. For this objective, the study explores the thematic landscape of the research field of 'GGIE' and contributes toward exploring relationships among specific constructs in the area of GGIE like leading contributors in the field regarding countries, research organisations, authors, and source titles. Keyword's co-occurrence analysis technique categorises and explores prominent and emerging topics. The findings of the study reveal that there still exists a wide disparity in the men's and women's entrepreneurship rates with the former still predominant in entrepreneurship. Besides women's entrepreneurial propensity is negatively affected by gender stenotypes. A lack of theoretical support also marks the field. The research field of GGIE has gained significant attention in advanced economies. However, key didactical issues related to the opportunities and challenges of women entrepreneurs remain debatable worldwide.

Keywords: gender gap in entrepreneurship; GGIE; bibliometric analysis; review.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2025.149434

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2025 Vol.41 No.3, pp.200 - 227

Received: 02 Nov 2022
Received in revised form: 19 Jun 2023
Accepted: 19 Jun 2023
Published online: 31 Oct 2025 *

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