Gendered legitimacy and hybrid cultural logics in women’s international entrepreneurship: evidence from Nigerian female entrepreneurs

Purpose Research on women’s international entrepreneurship has increasingly acknowledged the importance of gender and institutional context. However, less attention has been paid to the mechanisms through which women entrepreneurs negotiate legitimacy while internationalizing within culturally embedded environments. This study examines how Nigerian female entrepreneurs navigate internationalization under conditions shaped by uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, collectivism and institutional volatility. We develop a process-oriented explanation by theorizing gendered legitimacy as the mechanism linking cultural expectations with women's international entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative multiple-case design grounded in abductive reasoning and reflexive thematic analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four Nigerian female entrepreneurs operating across diverse sectors and regions. Drawing on legitimacy theory, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, intersectionality and African feminist perspectives, the analysis explores how entrepreneurs interpret and strategically negotiate culturally embedded expectations during internationalization. Findings The findings demonstrate that women entrepreneurs actively reinterpret rather than passively experience cultural expectations. Uncertainty avoidance is transformed into structured flexibility, masculinity is negotiated through dual legitimacy combining performance-based and relational credibility and collectivism is selectively mobilized to facilitate cooperative internationalization. Collectively, these mechanisms explain how women construct entrepreneurial legitimacy while expanding across international markets under institutionally complex conditions. Research limitations/implications The qualitative multiple-case design prioritizes analytical depth and theory development rather than statistical generalizability. Based on four information-rich cases, the findings are contextually grounded in Nigeria and should be interpreted through analytical generalization. Future research could examine the transferability of the proposed framework across different institutional settings using comparative, longitudinal or mixed-methods designs. Studies exploring how gendered legitimacy, hybrid cultural logics and cooperative internationalization evolve across countries, industries and digitally mediated entrepreneurial ecosystems would further refine and extend the theoretical framework developed in this study. Practical implications The findings suggest that entrepreneurship support should extend beyond finance and training to include legitimacy-building mechanisms. Policymakers, incubators and export promotion agencies should strengthen mentoring, diaspora engagement, trust-based networking and community partnerships that enhance women entrepreneurs’ credibility in international markets. Recognizing relational legitimacy and cooperative internationalization as entrepreneurial resources can help create more inclusive and context-sensitive support programmes that reflect how women internationalize within culturally embedded and institutionally constrained environments. Social implications The study highlights that strengthening women’s international entrepreneurship requires addressing culturally embedded legitimacy barriers alongside economic constraints. Supporting women’s access to international markets contributes to more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems, advances gender equality and promotes broader participation in global economic opportunities. By recognizing the value of relational networks, community support and culturally grounded entrepreneurial pathways, policymakers and support organizations can foster more equitable and sustainable entrepreneurship, contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Originality/value This study contributes to women’s international entrepreneurship by identifying gendered legitimacy as the mechanism linking national culture and entrepreneurial internationalization. Rather than treating Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as static national characteristics, the study reconceptualizes them as hybrid cultural logics that entrepreneurs strategically reinterpret through legitimacy-oriented adaptation. In doing so, the study develops a context-sensitive framework explaining how women entrepreneurs construct internationally legitimate entrepreneurial identities within culturally and institutionally complex environments.