Gendered pathways: exploring entrepreneurial endeavours among African graduates

Abstract

Due to the high levels of unemployment and other structural challenges on the African continent, young people have to find alternate ways of generating livelihoods. While entrepreneurship presents a viable pathway, the gendered nature of entrepreneurial activities must be examined to design policies and support systems that reduce gender-specific barriers. The purpose of the paper is to describe how gender plays a role in the entrepreneurial activities of African graduates. This descriptive-analytic paper draws from a five-year longitudinal mixed-methods study of African graduates who were funded by scholarships and completed their degrees at 21 universities between 2017 and 2020. Quantitative data was collected at three time points while qualitative data was collected annually between 2020 and 2024. The study findings highlight the role of gender dynamics in the entrepreneurial motivations of the participants, revealing distinct patterns. Across the years, more male participants had started business ventures than their female counterparts. From the qualitative interviews, it emerged that a few males were serial entrepreneurs – having started multiple businesses. While participants reported facing various challenges, the profitability of ventures run by females was concerning. The findings capture the entrepreneurial experiences of a diverse cohort of African graduates. Being a multi-site longitudinal study, which uses quantitative and qualitative data, it has afforded a unique opportunity to document the nuances of youth entrepreneurial ventures and draw learnings that have relevance to entrepreneurship promotion programmes across the African continent.