Women's Leadership as a Driver of Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises Sustainability and Green Transition: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review

ABSTRACT This study combines a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review (SLR) to provide a comprehensive understanding of women's leadership and entrepreneurship within small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the context of sustainability and the green transition. A two‐stage mixed‐methods approach is employed, integrating quantitative bibliometric techniques with qualitative systematic synthesis. The bibliometric analysis examines 6420 peer‐reviewed journal articles indexed in the Web of Science, published between 2015 and 2025, using performance indicators, science mapping, co‐authorship networks, and keyword co‐occurrence analysis processed with VOSviewer. Complementarily, the SLR follows the PRISMA protocol and is based on a rigorous screening process applied to Web of Science and Scopus databases, resulting in a final sample of 30 journal articles subjected to structured content analysis. While the bibliometric analysis offers a macro‐level overview of publication trends, thematic clusters, and networks of scientific influence, the SLR provides qualitative depth by examining conceptual and empirical insights and identifying research gaps and future directions. Used together, these methods provide a nuanced and integrative perspective on the existing body of knowledge, clarify fragmentation in the literature, and support the development of stronger theoretical insights. The findings reveal that women's leadership acts as a key factor and catalyst for SME sustainability and the transition to a green economy, offering a solid empirical foundation for future research and policy development.