WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP UNDER SOCIO ECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW AND BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

Women's entrepreneurship plays a pivotal role in economic growth, employment generation, rural development and socio-economic empowerment, particularly in developing and emerging economies. Beyond self employment, women's entrepreneurial endeavours help achieve important sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 8 (decent and economic growth), and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), as well as financial independence, social recognition, and higher living standards. Women entrepreneurs continue to encounter enduring socioeconomic, cultural, and institutional challenges that restrict their entry, growth, and sustainability despite their increasing involvement and contributions. This study combines bibliometric analysis with a systematic literature review to provide a thorough analysis of the socioeconomic factors influencing women's entrepreneurship. The goals are to map national and international research contributions, identify emerging and dominant socioeconomic issues, analyze major socioeconomic barriers affecting women entrepreneurs, and look at trends in author output. Using carefully crafted keyword combinations of women's entrepreneurship, empowerment, gender, and institutional variables, peer-reviewed journal papers published between 2015 and 2025 have been extracted from the Scopus database. 102 publications were chosen for final analysis in accordance with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria and PRISMA guidelines. The research on women's entrepreneurship is heavily focused on employment, gender roles, microfinance, and socioeconomic development, while highlighting enduring obstacles like gender stereotypes, limited financial literacy, inadequate managerial skills, work-life balance, and weak institutional support. Bibliometric tools like R Studio, Biblioshiny, and VOSviewer were used to examine co-authorship networks, keyword co-occurrence, thematic evolution, and publication trends. In order to improve women's entrepreneurial engagement, performance, and long-term economic empowerment, the study highlights the socially embedded character of women's entrepreneurship and highlights the necessity of gender-sensitive policies, capacity-building programs, and inclusive institutional frameworks.