let’s all consider how $0.6 trillion can be added to the GDP of MENA countries and $12 trillion to global GDP by 2025 if gender equality is accelerated.
ABOUT MENAGEN
The Middle East and North Africa Gender and Enterprise Network (MENAGEN) focuses on supporting and enhancing gender and entrepreneurship scholarship in the Arab world. In an environment of momentous change, both in the Arab world and globally, the need to consider gender and entrepreneurship research through engaged scholarship and collaboration in the MENA region are more essential than ever before.
Middle East and North Africa Gender and Enterprise Network (MENAGEN); an affiliate of the UK Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Gender and Enterprise Network (GEN). The co-founders of MENAGEN; Professor Haya Al-Dajani – a founding member and co-chair of GEN and Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Mohammad Bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC), Dr Hayfaa Tlaiss – Associate Professor of Management and the Chair of the Management Department at the College of Business at Alfaisal University, and Dr. Sara Alshareef – Assistant Professor of Women’s Entrepreneurship at the Business Administration Department and the Head of the Scientific Research Unit at the Faculty of Economics and Administration at King Abdulaziz University.
The Middle East and North Africa Gender and Enterprise Network (MENAGEN) focuses on supporting and enhancing gender and entrepreneurship scholarship in the Arab world. In an environment of momentous change, both in the Arab world and globally, the need to consider gender and entrepreneurship research through engaged scholarship and collaboration in the MENA region are more essential than ever before.
the Team
MENAGEN E-FORUM
CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOME CRISIS:
THE ROLE OF WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESEARCH
Entrepreneurship is applauded globally by governments and international agencies including the United Nations, as a potential solution for a multitude of global challenges. Indeed, within the MENA region, entrepreneurship is upheld as a significant pathway for reducing unemployment and achieving sustainable development and prosperity. To maximize and accelerate the benefits of entrepreneurship for individual entrepreneurs and their communities, a gender-aware, gender-sensitive and gender inclusive approach to entrepreneurship education, research, policy and practice is required. Easy to say, hard to put into practice! A tried and tested approach in other parts of the world is ‘engaged scholarship’ that allows us to successfully travel this path by creating a community of responsible stakeholders with a common purpose at the intersection of research, policy and practice. Co-sponsored by the Saudi Ministry of Education Research and Innovation Deputyship, the Babson Global Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (BGCEL) and the Gender and Enterprise Network (GEN) – a special interest group of the UK based Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), and under the patronage of His Excellency the Deputy Minister for Research and Innovation at the Saudi Ministry of Education Professor Nasser Aloqaily, the aim of the global E-Forum held on February 25th, 2021 was to enhance engagement between international, regional and local gender and entrepreneurship scholars, share world-class women’s entrepreneurship engaged scholarship addressing challenges and solutions to overcome crises, and launch MENAGEN – the regional network for gender and entrepreneurship researchers with the common objective of advancing entrepreneurship and engaged scholarship in the Arab world. The overall purpose of MENAGEN is to empower gender and entrepreneurship researchers and scholars in the Arab world, especially in light of a post Covid-19 world.
Enhancing Gender and
Entrepreneurship Research
in the Arab World
AIMS OF
THE E-FORUM
Engaging the gender and entrepreneurship
research community with international and local
scholars to launch a regional network of
researchers (MENAGEN) with the common
objective of enhancing women’s
entrepreneurship research in the region.
Sponsors of the E-Forum
The Saudi Ministry of Education Research & Innovation Deputyship supports and empowers the Kingdom’s universities in fostering research excellence and innovation contributing to the ambitious national goals and social and economic transformation of the nation, as well as the professional development of faculty in Saudi universities.
The Babson Global Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (BGCEL) was established with a mission to promote a sustainable entrepreneurial leadership culture and ecosystem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region. To advance its mission, BGCEL facilitates entrepreneurship research, education and outreach initiatives serving the business, education and public sectors. In addition, BGCEL supports experiential learning opportunities for MBSC students.
The Gender and Enterprise Network (GEN) is a Special Interest Group of the UK Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE). Since its creation in 2010, GEN promotes scholarly research and knowledge exchange on the relationships between entrepreneurship and gender, with the aim of enabling the development of gender‐aware entrepreneurship research, policy and practice globally. At present, GEN has 900 international members.
OUTCOMES OF THE E-FORUM
1.
SIGNIFICANT PARTNERSHIP The underlying themes of collaboration and partnership that empower research were represented throughout the E-Forum. Indeed, the momentous partnership between the Ministry of Education’s Research and Innovation Deputyship, BGCEL, and GEN is testament to the recognition of the importance of the role of women’s entrepreneurship research in addressing pressing global challenges, and finding solutions for overcoming crises.
%
Were women
OUTCOMES OF THE E-FORUM
2.
REACH Almost 700 scholars registered to attend the E-Forum through the Saudi MoE platform. Of these:
Whilst the number of registrations indicated the significant interest and need for such research oriented events in the region, it far exceeded the capacity of the platform. As such, 150 registrants were selected and invited to attend the E-Forum. This selection included those who had registered to attend the GEN cancelled event in February 2020, and a mix of Saudi, regional and international scholars interested in gender and entrepreneurship research in the Arab world. All attendees received a ‘certificate of attendance’ for the E-Forum. Due to the Saudi Ministry of Education’s data protection policies, we are unable to share the list of delegates.
%
Were women
%
Were PhD holders
OUTCOMES OF THE E-FORUM
3.
SIGNIFICANT PARTNERSHIP The underlying themes of collaboration and partnership that empower research were represented throughout the E-Forum. Indeed, the momentous partnership between the Ministry of Education’s Research and Innovation Deputyship, BGCEL, and GEN is testament to the recognition of the importance of the role of women’s entrepreneurship research in addressing pressing global challenges, and finding solutions for overcoming crises.
%
Were women
%
Were PhD holders
%
Were from Saudi Arabia
OUTCOMES OF THE E-FORUM
4.
RECOGNIZING WOMEN’S SCHOLARSHIP IN ADVANCING THE FIELD OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP By deliberately focusing upon the role of women’s entrepreneurship research in addressing challenges and solutions to overcome crises, the E-Forum recognized the advances made in entrepreneurship research by women scholars in the MENA region and further afield. To this extent, some of the gender and entrepreneurship research areas focused upon by the attendees of the E-Forum included:
OUTCOMES OF THE E-FORUM
4.
Displacement and refugee women entrepreneurs
Eco sustainability and Saudi female fashion design entrepreneurship
Empowerment, emancipation, and women’s entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial legitimacy and motivations
Entrepreneurship education in providing students with the knowledge, skills, and motivation in various settings and how it can be taught across different disciplines and schools rather than within business schools only.
Gender inclusiveness and gender balance in composition of teams
Science, creativity, entrepreneurship, and gender STEMM, women, and entrepreneurship
The digital divide and women’s entrepreneurship
The role of educators in fostering an entrepreneurial mindset amongst students.
Women entrepreneurs, creativity, and creative thinking
Women’s entrepreneurship through an individualist vs collectivist lens
OUTCOMES OF THE E-FORUM
1.
SIGNIFICANT PARTNERSHIP The underlying themes of collaboration and partnership that empower research were represented throughout the E-Forum. Indeed, the momentous partnership between the Ministry of Education’s Research and Innovation Deputyship, BGCEL, and GEN is testament to the recognition of the importance of the role of women’s entrepreneurship research in addressing pressing global challenges, and finding solutions for overcoming crises.
%
Were women
OUTCOMES OF THE E-FORUM
1.
SIGNIFICANT PARTNERSHIP The underlying themes of collaboration and partnership that empower research were represented throughout the E-Forum. Indeed, the momentous partnership between the Ministry of Education’s Research and Innovation Deputyship, BGCEL, and GEN is testament to the recognition of the importance of the role of women’s entrepreneurship research in addressing pressing global challenges, and finding solutions for overcoming crises.
%
Were women
2.
REACH Almost 700 scholars registered to attend the E-Forum through the Saudi MoE platform. Of these:
Whilst the number of registrations indicated the significant interest and need for such research oriented events in the region, it far exceeded the capacity of the platform. As such, 150 registrants were selected and invited to attend the E-Forum. This selection included those who had registered to attend the GEN cancelled event in February 2020, and a mix of Saudi, regional and international scholars interested in gender and entrepreneurship research in the Arab world. All attendees received a ‘certificate of attendance’ for the E-Forum. Due to the Saudi Ministry of Education’s data protection policies, we are unable to share the list of delegates.
%
Were women
%
Were PhD holders
2.
REACH Almost 700 scholars registered to attend the E-Forum through the Saudi MoE platform. Of these:
Whilst the number of registrations indicated the significant interest and need for such research oriented events in the region, it far exceeded the capacity of the platform. As such, 150 registrants were selected and invited to attend the E-Forum. This selection included those who had registered to attend the GEN cancelled event in February 2020, and a mix of Saudi, regional and international scholars interested in gender and entrepreneurship research in the Arab world. All attendees received a ‘certificate of attendance’ for the E-Forum. Due to the Saudi Ministry of Education’s data protection policies, we are unable to share the list of delegates.
%
Were PhD holders
3.
SIGNIFICANT PARTNERSHIP The underlying themes of collaboration and partnership that empower research were represented throughout the E-Forum. Indeed, the momentous partnership between the Ministry of Education’s Research and Innovation Deputyship, BGCEL, and GEN is testament to the recognition of the importance of the role of women’s entrepreneurship research in addressing pressing global challenges, and finding solutions for overcoming crises.
%
Were women
%
Were PhD holders
%
Were from Saudi Arabia
3.
SIGNIFICANT PARTNERSHIP The underlying themes of collaboration and partnership that empower research were represented throughout the E-Forum. Indeed, the momentous partnership between the Ministry of Education’s Research and Innovation Deputyship, BGCEL, and GEN is testament to the recognition of the importance of the role of women’s entrepreneurship research in addressing pressing global challenges, and finding solutions for overcoming crises.
%
Were from Saudi Arabia
4.
RECOGNIZING WOMEN’S SCHOLARSHIP IN ADVANCING THE FIELD OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP By deliberately focusing upon the role of women’s entrepreneurship research in addressing challenges and solutions to overcome crises, the E-Forum recognized the advances made in entrepreneurship research by women scholars in the MENA region and further afield. To this extent, some of the gender and entrepreneurship research areas focused upon by the attendees of the E-Forum included:
Displacement and refugee women entrepreneurs
Eco sustainability and Saudi female fashion design entrepreneurship
Empowerment, emancipation, and women’s entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial legitimacy and motivations
Entrepreneurship education in providing students with the knowledge, skills, and motivation in various settings and how it can be taught across different disciplines and schools rather than within business schools only.
Gender inclusiveness and gender balance in composition of teams
Science, creativity, entrepreneurship, and gender STEMM, women, and entrepreneurship
The digital divide and women’s entrepreneurship
The role of educators in fostering an entrepreneurial mindset amongst students.
Women entrepreneurs, creativity, and creative thinking
Women’s entrepreneurship through an individualist vs collectivist lens
Testimonials
Professor Haya Al-Dajani is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Signature Learning Experience (SLE) at the Mohammad Bin Salman College for Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC) in the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) and co-chair of the Gender and Enterprise Network (Special Interest Group of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship). Prior to joining MBSC, Haya’s academic career over the past 10 years was at the University of East Anglia and the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom. She earned her PhD from the UK Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde in 2007. Since then, she has secured over two million GBPs in research funding from world leading international funding bodies, and her award-winning research focuses upon gender, entrepreneurship and sustainable development. Haya is a member of Editorial Boards of leading entrepreneurship journals, and an advisor to several entrepreneurship education, research and policy centres around the world.
Dr Hayfaa is an Associate Professor of Management and the Chair of the Management Department at the College of Business at Alfaisal University in Riyadh. Prior to joining Alfaisal University, Hayfaa held various positions in Canada and the United Kingdom and completed her PhD from The Alliance Business School, University of Manchester, UK. Hayfaa’s research is published in top tier international journals including Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Small Business Management, International Journal of Human Resources Management, International Small Business Management, and Entrepreneurship & Regional Development. Her research has been widely recognized through various awards including the “Highly Commended Paper Award” in 2018 and 2016 and the “Outstanding Paper Award” in 2012 by the Literati Network Awards for Excellence, “University Research Excellence Award” from Deanship of Scientific Research at King Abdulaziz University, KSA and the “Woman Role Model Award” in 2017 by the Arabian Society of Human Resources Management.
Dr Sara Alshareef is an Assistant Professor of Women Entrepreneurship at the Business Administration Department and the Head of the Scientific Research Unit at the Faculty of Economics and Administration at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. Sara received her PhD from Royal Holloway University of London in 2018. Her research focuses on the spatial context of women’s entrepreneurship. During her studies, Sara spoke at public events including London School of Economics (LSE), the Middle East Centre and the Middle East Association. She was a committee member of the Saudi British Society. Sara is actively engaged in working on research projects and in presenting her work at regional and international conferences. She won the best paper award at the Diana International Research conference held at Babson College in 2019.
Hebah received her bachelor’s degree from Jordan University of Science and Technology. As a result of her 11 year career focusing upon public relations within the education sector, she developed outstanding skills in management, communication, networking, and public speaking in both Arabic and English. She earned her MBA in 2019 from the Mohammad Bin Salman College for Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC) in Saudi Arabia, and is launching her entrepreneurial venture which she initiated during her MBA studies. She is currently the Executive MBA Manager at Mohammed Bin Salman College since October, 2021.