Factors affecting women entrepreneurs in Malta and Indonesia

Abstract

There is a growing body of research on women entrepreneurs around the globe and studies on women entrepreneurs have witnessed a rapid growth over the past 30 years. There are many studies on either the environmental factors or on individuals’ characteristics that influence entrepreneurial attitudes from different socio-cultural profiles across the world. However, this is the only study which compares and contrasts women entrepreneurs in Malta and Indonesia, as two significantly different religious and cultural settings. Malta is predominantly Catholic while the majority in Indonesia are Muslim. Malta is an archipelago in the middle of the Mediterranean, 96 km south of the Italian island of Sicily. It has a total area of 316 km2 and the projected total population in 2030 will be around 511,000 people. Indonesia is an archipelago in Southeast Asia that lies across the Equator in the Indian and Pacific oceans, with a total area of 1,913,578 km2 and the projected total population in 2030 is expected to exceed 298 million. According to the World Bank, in 2017, Malta had a GDP per capita in PPP of $39,534 (ranking 30th) while Indonesia’s was $12,284 (ranking 95th). This means that Malta and Indonesia are both archipelagos but are very different in terms of size, geography, religion, culture and level of development. Within this context, the authors examined if the internal characteristics of women entrepreneurs and the external strategies that these women have at their disposal are different or similar in these two very diverse countries. . This paper thus presents the issues facing these two groups of women, from a comparative perspective. In-depth interviews were conducted with several women in Malta and in the West Java province in Indonesia in order to investigate the specific obstacles and support structures facing them, when they engage in an entrepreneurial process. The findings reveals that women in both countries face similar issues when starting a business such as: lack of finances, need for more encouraging support structures, need for more training programmes, need for strong networks, and both groups are confronted by a strong culture which favours men. These issues lead to challenges for both Maltese and Indonesian women. This study concludes with recommendations for entrepreneurial-responsive policy approaches that support women entrepreneurs to sustain them in their business activities, not only in the initial stages but also in their growth prospects.