The Problem The number of Thai women entrepreneurs has increased to nearly half of all Thai entrepreneurs over the past years with 80% of them reported to have entered into opportunity-driven entrepreneurship. This growing social phenomenon, however, remains underexplored by limited numbers of academic studies on Thai women entrepreneurship. Extending the understanding of opportunity-driven women entrepreneurs in the changing Thai context is therefore significant for developing national human resources. The Solution This study highlights the opportunity-driven category of women entrepreneurs defined by Cromie and Hayes as Innovators. Taking the phenomenological approach as a research method, in-depth interviews from 13 innovative women business owners in Thailand were analyzed to understand their motivations, challenges, and success factors, as well as the contemporary worldview of the Thai culture and values concerning gender roles and social norms. The Stakeholders National policymakers, educators, human resource development professionals, and parents can craft policies and practices that align with key learnings from the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs. Aspiring women entrepreneurs can also vicariously learn from the study participants who serve as role models.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.