WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP FRAMEWORK IN ALBANIA

Women's entrepreneurship is an important driver of economic and social development even in developing countries in Europe such as Albania. In a country that opened to a market economy more than 30 years ago, women's participation in entrepreneurship remains low compared to male entrepreneurs. There are several external factors affecting women's entrepreneurship. External factors are divided into two categories: the entrepreneurial environment and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The business environment includes economic, socio-cultural, political and technological factors. The entrepreneurial ecosystem includes policies, access to finance, entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship support structures and networks. Considering the fact that external factors related to the entrepreneurial environment and the entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs in Albania have not been investigated so far, the aim of this research is to investigate the relevance and importance of external factors within both categories of women's entrepreneurship in Albania. For this purpose, a qualitative methodological approach was used. Specifically, the research was conducted on two focus groups with 12 female entrepreneurs. The focus group interview was conducted in Albania, online and in person in March 2021. The results show that all external factors are important for the entrepreneurship framework for women in Albania, but access to finance, entrepreneurship education and networks are the most important.