The role of Psychological, Socio-Cultural and Institutional Factors in Influencing Venture Growth Intentions of Women Entrepreneurs: A Qualitative Enquiry

Purpose: This research explores and identifies the factors influencing growth intentions of women entrepreneurs in a patriarchal emerging economy. It goes beyond traditional factor identification and examines the social negotiation, relationality, and dynamic nature of growth aspirations in a gendered entrepreneurial ecosystem. Design/Methodology/Approach: A qualitative interpretivist approach is used with in-depth semi-structured interviews with 32 women entrepreneurs from various sectors and districts of Rajasthan, India. The data were analysed by inductive thematic analysis using NVivo 14 software. Findings: The analysis identified ten factors across three dimensions: psychological (risk propensity, self-efficacy and motivation), socio-cultural (work-life balance, social support and gender stereotypes), and institutional/resource (government support, access to finance, entrepreneurial education and technology adoption). Rather than operating independently, these factors interacted through a constraining pathway linking gender stereotypes with self-efficacy and risk-taking, an enabling bridge through which social capital facilitated institutional access, and a dynamic negotiation between growth motivation and family responsibilities. Growth intentions therefore emerged as evolving orientations that women continuously recalibrated in relation to family expectations, social norms and institutional and material condition. Originality/Value: The study reconceptualises growth intentions, stating that they are not individually formed but socially negotiated. The research also adds to the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) by explaining how gendered social structures modify its constructs in a patriarchal context. The article proposes the concept of bounded growth aspiration and develops a contextualised process model that challenges masculine-normative assumptions about entrepreneurial success. JEL Classification: J16; L25; L26; M13