Marching toward Women’s Entrepreneurial Success: The Moderating Role of Family Stress and Support

Objective: In contexts where women entrepreneurs must navigate overlapping business and family roles, the path to entrepreneurial success is often shaped not only by internal capacities, but also by familial dynamics. Drawing from Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study investigates how entrepreneurial mindset influences women’s entrepreneurial success through experiential learning, while accounting for the conditional effects of family-related stress and family support. Research Design & Methods: Using Hayes' PROCESS Model 9, this study tests a conditional process model where experiential learning mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial success. Furthermore, family-related stress and family support are positioned as moderators in the relationship. Data were collected from 180 women entrepreneurs in West Java, and analyzed using conditional process analysis. Findings: The findings provide insight into whether and how the dual roles of family, as a potential source of emotional strain and/or support, impact women’s learning and success in entrepreneurial environments. Implications & Recommendations: Practical implications include strategies for strengthening support systems for women entrepreneurs and addressing the hidden costs of family-related stress in entrepreneurial contexts. Contribution & Value Added: The study contributes to the literature on women entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial cognition, and learning, while also highlighting the nuanced role of the family system within women’s entrepreneurial activity.