INVESTIGATING CRITICAL OBSTACLES TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN EMERGING ECONOMIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN MALES AND FEMALES IN QATAR

Qatar’s Entrepreneurship sector faces major obstacles that impede its growth prospects. While Qatar has started to focus more on improvement of the entrepreneurial environment through semi-governmental agencies and creation of economic free zones, the overall environment is still riddled with numerous problems that hinder the achievement of this goal. Emergence of private sector as a main force behind Qatar’s economic growth will depend heavily on country’s ability to catalyze positive change in this area. The main objective of this paper is to explore the main obstacles face Entrepreneurship sector in Qatar as an emerging economy and to find out if any differences could be found between males and females in assessing these obstacles. A mixed approach is followed starting with a qualitative study to determine obstacles followed by a quantitative examination of differences between males and females. Interviews with different entrepreneurship stakeholders reveal four main obstacles facing Qatari entrepreneurs. These obstacles include: bureaucratic requirements, limited access to funding, restrictive and biased legal conditions, and social constraints. Statistical results show that there is no difference between males and females in assessing these obstacles and that both genders face nearly the same barriers.