Unpacking Women’s Entrepreneurial Success in Iraq: The Mediating Role of Family Support

HRMARS - Women’s entrepreneurship plays an important role in economic growth and social inclusion, yet women entrepreneurs in fragile and patriarchal contexts continue to face substantial structural, institutional, and socio-cultural constraints. Prior research identifies socio-cultural conditions, government support, financial support, and self-motivation as key determinants of women’s entrepreneurial outcomes, little is known about mechanisms through which these factors influence business success, particularly role of family support. Drawing on Resource-Based View and Social Capital Theory, this study examines direct effects of socio-cultural factors, government support, financial support, and self-motivation on women entrepreneurs’ business success in Iraq and tests mediating role of family support. Using survey data from 493 women entrepreneurs and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), results show family support and financial support strongly enhance business success, while socio-cultural factors also have a significant positive effect. Government support exhibits a statistically significant but small direct effect on success. Self-motivation is negatively associated with business success but positively related to family support. Family support significantly mediates effects of financial support, government support, and self-motivation on business success, whereas its mediation of socio-cultural effects is weak. Study advances women’s entrepreneurship research by demonstrating family support operates as a central mechanism through which key resources and motivations translate into performance. Findings further suggest that policies aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs in fragile contexts should complement financial and institutional support with family-sensitive and socially embedded interventions.