An Inquiry into Improving Women Participation in Entrepreneurship in Turkey

This research examines female small business owners who run and operate companies and start-ups in two different cities in Turkey; Istanbul and Izmir. The research takes a look at the challenges women face in founding and running their businesses and how to manage work-family conflicts that arise. By taking a look at the level of progress of Turkish female entrepreneurs, the research draws a line between the differences and similarities between female entrepreneurs in Turkey and those in developed countries and seeks to find how their venture into entrepreneurship affects their cultural social and economic standing. This is primarily an exploratory research, and therefore the findings are peculiar to female entrepreneurs in the two cities mentioned earlier. The research hopes to serve as an eye opener and a guide to further research. The research presents its findings and recommendations that could be carried out by government and implemented as government policies to encourage other women to go into entrepreneurship. One way government can go about this is to increase the number of spaces for women in social, economic, cultural, legal and political sectors, as these will improve the chances of women becoming employers of labour.